James Knox Polk, and a history of his administration; embracing the annexation of Texas, the difficulties with Mexico, the settlement of the Oregon question, and other important events

Front matter

A ^ o s\ fr'

A-

LIFE OF JAMES KNOX POLK.

Preface

The life of any American President, I feel confident, would not need to be specially commended to the attention of his countrymen, — and certainly not that of James K. Polk, — for whatever may be the opinions entertained in regard to the administration of which he was the head, it must be conceded that great and important measures were submitted to their consideration and action, and that interests of the deepest magnitude were confided to their hands.

Mr. Polk could not have said, with Augustus Caesar, that he found the capital of the republic built of brick, and left it constructed of marble ; but he might have claimed that he found her territories bounded on the south by the Sabine and the 42d parallel, and her authority west of the Rocky Mountains existing only in name, — and when he transferred the government to other hands, New Mexico and California were annexed to her domain, and her flag floated in token of sovereignty on

X PREFACE.

the banks of the Rio Grande, on the shores of the Straits of Fuca, and in the bay of San Francisco.

How and in what manner these territorial acquisitions were made, is a question worthy of inquiry. Mr. Polk did not want for able defenders to vindicate the policy of his administration ; nor did his conduct escape censure and criticism. By some, as in the pamphlet of the late Mr. Gallatin, one of the most important measures with which the late President was identified — the war with Mexico — was reviewed in a spirit of candor and frankness, yet, as I think, under the influence of erroneous impressions with regard to the facts upon which conclusions were based ; and by others, as in the Review of Mr. Jay and the productions of those who have followed in his wake — sed longo inter v alio — with pure and honest motives, but with dogmatic assumptions, and appeals to the passions and the sympathies, rather than with well-founded arguments.

It is not claimed for this volume, that it is entirely impartial. Entertaining his own views in all sincerity, the writer has not hesitated to express them ; and this right he is quite willing should be exercised by those who differ from him in opinion.

It has not appeared to me to be advisable, to present a detailed history of the war in Mexico, for two reasons. In the first place, so much has been written on the sub-

PREFACE. XI

ject, tLat there is very little left to add to the accounts of the campaigns ; and secondly, it would seem like claiming for Mr. Polk individually, the merit of transactions in which he had no direct participation, and therefore doing his memory a positive injustice.

Aside from all political considerations, there is something in the character of Mr. Polk, in his early struggles and in his triumphs, which is worthy of notice, and will challenge admiration. " There is nothing so interesting to me," says Joanna Bailiie, " as to trace the course of a prosperous man through this varied world. First, he is seen like a little stream, wearing its shallow bed through the grass, circling and winding, and gleaning up its treasures from every twinkling rill as it passes ; further on, the brown sand fences its margin, the dark rushes thicken on its side ; further on still, the broad flags shake their green ranks, the willows bend their wide boughs o'er its course ; and yonder, at last, the fair river appears, spreading his bright waves to the light."*

For a great portion of the materials from which this book has been prepared, I am indebted to the kindness of many friends, all of whom I could scarcely enumerate ; but each individually will please accept my sincere thanks.

* Comedy of the " Second Marriage "

Chapter I

Thomas Jefferson — Declaration of American Independence — Origin of the Movement— Early Settlers of North Carolina — Character— The Mecklenburg Resolutions — The Polk Family— Their History — Patriotio Conduct during the Revolution • .17

Chapter II

Birth of James K. Polk — His Parents — Their Children — Removal to Tennessee — Early Life and Character of James— Youthful Ambition — His Education — Enters the University of North Carolina — Character as a Student— Graduates— Honors bestowed upon him by his Alma Mater 35

Chapter III

Commences the Study of the Law in the Office of Felix Grundy— Secures the Friendship of Andrew Jackson — Admitted to the Bar— Success in the Practice of his Profession — His Political Associations — Style and Manner as a Public Speaker — Chief Clerk and Member of the Ten nessee Legislature — Duelling Law — Internal Improvements— His Marriage—Mrs. Polk ....... 45

XIV CONTENTS.

Chapter IV

Chosen a Member of Congress— Repeated ReClections— Opposition to Mr Adams' Administration— The Panama Mis-ion and the American System—Support of General Jackson and Mr. Van Euren— The Tariff Question — Internal Improvements — The Pension Laws — United States Bank — Independent Treasury ...... 57

Chapter V

Dissensions in the Republican Party in Tennessee — Nomination of Judge White for the Presidency— Course of Mr. Polk— Chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives — Reelected— Character as a Presiding Officer — Vote of Thanks — Farewell Address . . » . 85

Chapter VI

Mr. Polk supported by the Democratic Party in Tennessee as their Candidate for Governor — The Canvass— His Election— Inaugural Address — Executive Recommendations — His Administration — A Candidate for Reelection— Defeat— State Politics .... 100

Chapter VII

Presidential Canvass of 18-14— The Texas Question— Letter of Mr. Polk to the Citizens of Cincinnati — The Baltimore Convention — Nomination of Mr. Polk— His Acceptance— Resolutions of the Convention— The Election—Reception at Nashville— Journey of the President Elect to Washington—His Inauguration — Address . s . . 118

CONTENTS. XV

Chapter VIII

Position of the President — His Cabinet — The Washington Globe and The Union — Meeting of Congress — First Annual Message — The Oregon Boundary Question — History and Progress of the Negotiation — Ultimatum of the American Government — Proposition of Great Britain — Conclusion and Ratification of a Treaty . 161

Chapter IX

Opposition of Mexico to the Annexation of Texas — The Question of Boundary — American troops ordered to Texas — Attempt to Negotiate — Refusal to receive a Minister — Advance of General Taylor to the Rio Grande — Commencement of Hostilities — Incidents of the war — Repeated efforts to open negotiations — The Armistice— Treaty of Peace . 230

Chapter X

The Independent Treasury — Tariff of 1346— Course in regard to Appointments — River and Harbor Veto — Second Annual Message — Special Message on the Improvement Bill — Thirtieth Congress — President's Message — Refusal to Communicate Diplomatic Correspondence — Oregon Territorial Bill — Views of Mr. Polk — Presidential Election — Last Congress during his administration — Inauguration of his successor. 230

Chapter XI

Return to Tennessee — Speech at Richmond — Arrival Home — Prospects for the Future— Vanity of Human Hopes and Expectations — His Death — Funeral Honors — Personal Appearance and Character — Conclusion 325

LIFE

OP

JAMES K. POLK.

Chapter I

Thomas Jefferson. — Declaration of American Independence. — Origin of the Movement. — Early Settlers of North Carolina. — Character. — The Mecklenburg Resolutions. — The Polk Family. — Their History. — Patriotic Conduct during the II evolution

On the southwestern slope of Monticello, — in the midst of the native forest hallowed by associations which have protected it from the faggot and the axe, and where the soft winds that disturb its solemn stillness murmur ceaselessly of the storied past. — there stands a plain granite obelisk, looking forth over the fair land, which he, who reposes there in the silence of death, loved with the affection of a son, and whose institutions he regarded with peculiar veneration. No heraldic blazonry may be witnessed there, — none of the sculptured pomp of woe. All is simple, chaste, appropriate — yet impressive.

Read the few lines graven upon this humble memento, in remembrance of one who asked no nobler monument ! — The inscription, in brief but eloquent words, relates a whole chapter, and that the brightest and the proudest in the life of him whose memory is thus consecrated. — " Here lies buried, Thomas Jefferson," — so runs the record, — " Author of the Declaration of Independence I"

This is not merely the assertion of a claim to the authorship of that memorable document, which can perish only with the nation that it called into existence ; but it is also an important historical fact, and one of which the party directly concerned, and those interested in his memory, have just right to be proud. It is. as it were, the impartial judgment of the recording Muse. As such, it will live in the history, and be perpetuated in the traditions, of the American people. But neither the Sage of Monticello, nor his most ardent admirer, ever claimed that he was the sole originator of the great movement to which the Declaration of '76 gave form and substance. Its germs were planted in ten thousand hearts, long before the resolutions of Patrick Henry concerning the Stamp Act were offered, or his eloquent voice had sounded the alarm ; its hopes and its impulses throbbed in ten thousand bosoms long before the chimes of the old State-house bell in Philadelphia proclaimed " liberty throughout this land, unto all the inhabitants thereof ;" and they only waited " the hour and the man" to call them into action, and give them expression.

Occasions were not wanting, when the intolerance of oppression, and the stern resistance to tyranny, which were characteristic of the colonists, found utterance in something more than mere words and protestations. Such were the opposition of Massachusetts, in 1680. to ■ the commercial restrictions ; the refusal to surrender the charter of Connecticut to Sir Edmund Andros ; the

EARLY INHABITANTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 19

public sympathy evinced in New York, in behalf of those who were prosecuted for libels on Governor Cosby ; Bacon's rebellion in Virginia : and the repeated efforts made in the.Carolinas to resist the oppressions of the proprietaries. At a later day, as the time approached for the general outbreak, its foreboding thunders were heard not only among the hills of New England, but they were echoed amid the leafy forests and luxuriant savannas of the sunny South ; and when the signal of war was given at Lexington, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, in fardistant North Carolina, assembled in Convention, and were the first solemnly and deliberately to proclaim their independence of the British crown.

The first settlers and inhabitants of North Carolina had conceived a strong " passion for representative government;" they were opposed, alike from prejudice and from principle, to excessive taxation, to commercial monopolies and restrictions, and to any abridgment of their political liberties. They were men " who had been led to the choice of their residence from a hatred of restraint, and had lost themselves among the woods in search of independence. Are there any who doubt man's capacity for self-government, let them study the history of North Carolina ; its inhabitants were restless and turbulent in their imperfect submission to a government imposed on them from abroad ; the administration of the colony was firm, humane, and tranquil, when they were left to take care of themselves. Any government but one of their own institution was oppressive."*

* Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. ii., p. 158.

We cannot wonder that such was the character of the founders of this colony, when we inquire into their origin. They were the descendants and kinsmen of the Scottish Covenanters; of the men who, at all times opposed to the exercise of arbitrary authority, resisted the tyrannous measures of Charles I., and set Cromwell at defiance ; of the Seceders of 1741 and 1843, who would not consent to allow the right of patronage, or permit the civil power to interfere in the affairs of the Church endeared to them by the associations of infancy, and the recollections of age. They sprung, in great part, from the Scottish colonists who emigrated to Ireland under the auspices of James I., and settled there to disseminate the reformed religion, "for conscience sake."

From Ireland, the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians journeyed across the Atlantic, in search of the freedom in matters of religion which had been denied to them at home. Pilgrims in quest of "a faith's pure shrine," — where he who ministered in holy things should be the faithful and devoted servant of his G-od, and not the miserable dependent on royal favor, — they braved persecution and danger, the perils of the sea and of the land, to erect their standard and practice their creed, unquestioned of man, amid the solitudes of the Western World. Not in vain were these trials undergone, or these perils encountered. Their patient endurance was rewarded by the discovery of the object which they earnestly longed to secure. They planted the groves and the orchards, whose rich fruitage has blessed and cheered their posterity.

" They have left unstained what there they found, — Freedom to worship God !"

1735. J EMIGRATION FROM IRELAND. 21

About the year 1735, or shortly thereafter, the emigrants from Ireland " sought the wilds of America by two avenues ; the one, by the Delaware River, whose chief port was Philadelphia, and the other by a more southern landing, the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Those landing at the southern port, immediately sought the fertile forests of the upper country, approaching North Carolina on one side, and Georgia on the other ; and not being very particular about boundaries, extended southward at pleasure, while, on the north, they were checked by a counter tide of emigration. Those who landed on the Delaware, after the desirable lands east of the Alleghanies, in Pennsylvania, were occupied, turned their course southward, and were speedily on the Catawba : passing on, they met the southern tide, and the stream turned westward, to the wilderness long known as ' Beyond the Mountains;' now, as Tennessee. These two streams, from the same original fountain, Ireland, meeting and intermingling in this new soil, preserve the characteristic difference ; the one, possessing some of the air and manner of Pennsylvania ; and the other, of Charleston. These are the Puritans, the Roundheads of the South, the Blue-stockings of all countries ; men that settled the wilderness on principle, and for principle's sake ; that built churches from principle, and fought for liberty of person and conscience, as their acquisition, and the birthright of their children."*

From what has been said, it must not be inferred, that tlie inhabitants of North Carolina J during the Revolution,

• Fofotfe's Sketches of North .Carolina;, f. 188.

were, to a man, devoted to the Whig cause, — that there were no Loyalists among them. That was not the case. North Carolina differed not in this respect from her sister colonies ; and the remarks of Judge Marshall, with reference to the citizens of the Southern States generally, are particularly applicable to her population. " Being almost equally divided," he says, " between the two contending parties, reciprocal injuries had gradually sharpened their resentments against each other, and had armed neighbor against neighbor, until it became a war of extermination. As the parties alternately triumphed, opportunities were alternately given for the exercise of their vindictive passions."* In the lower counties of North Carolina, within the atmosphere of the provincial court, nearly all the inhabitants were infected with loyalty, while in the upper counties there was as great a preponderance of Whigs. Between the two parties, or factions, a fierce and unrelenting warfare was incessantly waged. Occupied as they were with enemies at home, the Whigs of North Carolina were therefore unable to spare many of their number for service in distant sections of the Confederacy ; and it cannot, in justice, be mentioned to their reproach, that they remained at home, to protect their wives and children, their property and their firesides, from their infuriated opponents.

In the mountain district of North Carolina, the seeds of independence were early sown, and they soon germinated and ripened for the harvest. In this remote region there were thousands of spectators, who watched

* Life of Washington^ vtol. iv. p. 4S&

1775. J THE MECKLENBURG MEETING. 23

•with eager anxiety the progress of the controversy in the Eastern provinces. The Boston Port Bill, and the act for restricting the commerce of the colonies, — though North Carolina, with New York, was excepted from the provisions of the latter,* — Avere not viewed with indifference. Frequent public meetings were held in Mecklenburg county, then embracing the present county of Cabarrus, in the spring of 1775, at which the tyrannical measures of the British government were freely discussed. Those who participated in these discussions were sober, reflecting men ; moderate in speech and prudent in counsel, yet firm as their native hills, and whose patriotism was as real and as pure as the virgin gold that slept undisturbed beneath them.

As the result of their deliberations, it was finally agreed " that Thomas Polk, Colonel of the militia, long a surveyor in the province, frequently a member of the Colonial Assembly, well known and well acquainted in the surrounding counties, a man of great excellence and merited popularity, should be empowered to call a convention of the representatives of the people, whenever it should appear advisable. It was also agreed that these representatives should be chosen from the militia districts, by the people themselves ; and that when assembled for counsel and debate, their decision should be binding on

* This exception was made, partly because the provincial assemblies of New York and North Carolina had not yet officially recognized the measures of resistance adopted in the other colonies, and partly through the intercession of Governor Tryon, of New York, formerly the governor of North Carolina.— See Jonos' Defence of the .Revolutionary History of North Carolina* p 152> et seq.

the inhabitants of Mecklenburg."* The proclamation of Governor Martin, the last royal governor, dissolving the last provincial assembly that met in North Carolina, because its members could not be rendered subservient to his wishes, which was issued on the 8th of April, and the consequent excitement, seemed to present the emergency contemplated by the citizens of Mecklenburg.

Accordingly, Colonel Polk issued his summons calling upon the committee-men to assemble in Charlotte, the county town, on the 19th day of May, 1775. Promptly obeying the call, between twenty and thirty of the most respectable and influential citizens of Mecklenburg, being the delegates chosen in the several districts, met in council at the appointed time. The occasion, also, called together a large concourse of citizens, who did not directly participate in the proceedings, although heartily concurring in them. Of this convention Abraham Alexander was made chairman, and John McKnitt Alexander officiated as clerk. After the organization was completed, papers, brought by express that day, were read in the presence of the assembled multitude, announcing that the first blood of the Rovolution had been shed at Lexington.

The effect of this announcement was electrical. Every pulse throbbed high with patriotism,— every heart swelled with honest indignation. One general cry was raised in favor of declaring themselves forever independent of a government that paid no heed to their just complaints, and sought to chastise them into submission. Resolutions tantamount to a declaration of independence, prepared by Dr. Ephraim Brevard, were then read to the

* FobtB's Sketbhcs, p. 84 no

J PROCEEDINGS. 25

Convention, and referred to a committee consisting of their author and William Kennon, Esq., and the Rev. Hezekiah James Balch, for revision. Eloquent speeches were also made by the members of the committee and other gentlemen. All the speakers concurred in expressing the opinion, that independence was both desirable and necessary ; but in the course of the animated discussion, a serious difficulty was suggested. After the defeat of the " Regulators" by Governor Tryon, on Alamance creek, in 1771, the inhabitants of that section of the colony had been forced to take the oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain ; and the question was now asked, Low could they absolve themselves from that allegiance'? Various replies were made to this inquiry ; some scouting at the idea, and others insisting that allegiance and protection were reciprocal, and when the latter was withdrawn, allegiance ceased.

At last one of the speakers carried his audience with him, by pointing to a green tree standing near the Court-house, in which they were assembled, and at the same time saying — " If I am sworn to do a thing as long as the leaves continue on that tree, I am bound by that oath as long as the leaves continue. But when the leaves fall, I am released from that obligation."* But it was not thought advisable hastily to come to a determination. One night was therefore given for further reflection and consultation, and the Convention adjourned till the following day at noon.

All that night long, and during the following morning,

* Foote's Sketches, p. 37.

the town of Charlotte presented a strange scene of excitement. The step proposed to be taken was the great theme of discussion. Grave men deliberated upon it in the privacy of their homes ; while their juniors collected in groups at the corners of the streets, to interchange their sentiments with more freedom, and with greater earnestness. When the time arrived fur the reassembling of the Convention, the decision at which all had arrived, might have been read in the kindling eye and the firmly-compressed lip. The people had collected in still greater numbers from the surrounding country ; and not the least interested among the spectators, were the wives and mothers of many of those who were foremost at this crisis, and who came there to encourage their husbands and sons by their kind words, and to cheer them with their smiles.

The resolutions of Dr. Brevard, as amended by the committee, were again read amid the most profound stillness. One universal a aye" was the response of the Convention ; and after the adjournment, Colonel Polk, from the court-house steps, read to the intensely-excited crowd that gathered round him, the following resolutions embodying the Declaration of Independence :

THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.

" 1st. Resolved, That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form, or manner, countenanced the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this country — to America — >vnd to the inherent and inalienable rights of man.

" 2d. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg Coun-

1775.] THE MECKLEXBURG DECLARATION. 27

ty, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or association, with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of American patriots at Lexington.

" 3d. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing Association, under the control of no power other than that of our God, and the general government of the Congress ; to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.

" 4th. Resolved, That as we now acknowledge the existence and control of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this county, we do hereby ordain and appoint as a rule of life, all, each and every of our former laws, — wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein.

" 5th. Resolved, That it is further decreed, that all, each and every military officer in this county, is hereby reinstated in his former command and authority, — he acting conformably to these regulations. And that every member present, of this delegation, shall henceforth be a civil officer, viz., a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a ' Committeeman,' to issue process, hear and determine all matters of controversy, according to said adopted laws, and to preserve peace, union and harmony, in said county ; — and to use every exertion to spi - ead the love of country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a more general and organized government be established in this province."

Loud cheers and other tokens of approbation followed the public reading of the resolutions by Colonel Polk ; and when the people separated to return to their homes, their countenances and their actions indicated that they were well pleased with what had been done.

The authenticity of the Mecklenburg Declaration was for a long time questioned. The resolutions were published in the Cape Fear Mercury, and were characterized by Governor Martin, in a proclamation issued on the 8th day of August, 1775, as " a most infamous publication, * * * importing to be the resolves of a set of people styling themselves a committee for the county of Mecklenburg, most traitorously declaring the entire dissolution of the laws, government, and constitution of this country, and setting up a system of rule and regulation repugnant to the laws and subversive of His Majesty's government."* Copies of them were likewise dispatched, by a special messenger, to the delegates of North Carolina in the Continental Congress, who approved of them in sentiment, but thought the step premature, and therefore did not present them to the body of which they were members, as they were requested to do.

Yet, from the local character of these proceedings, they did not attract public attention to as great a degree as they would otherwise have done, and consequently no mention was made of them in the histories of Ramsay and Marshall. Mr. Jefferson, in a letter written in July, 1819, in reply to one received from John Adams referring to an account of the Mecklenburg declaration then

* Jones' Defence, p. 185.

1775.] MR. JEFFERSON MISTAKEN. 29

recently published, treated the whole matter as a hoax.* The publication of this letter, shortly after the decease of the writer, created considerable excitement in North Carolina, and particularly among the descendants of the revolutionary patriots of Mecklenburg county. Measures were finally taken by the legislature of the state to collate and arrange the documents relating to the Mecklenburg declaration, with such other testimony having reference to the subject as might be obtained. These were published under the direction of Governor Stokes, in 1831 ; and by them, and other publications which have subsequently appeared, the authenticity of the Mecklenburg proceedings is established beyond cavil or doubt. f

Mr. Jefferson was certainly mistaken. It can no longer be questioned that the citizens of Mecklenburg county were the first to declare their independence, as the province itself was the first to empower her delegates in Congress " to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring Independency."! But it is unnecessary to calumniate the memory of Mr. Jefferson in order to render justice to North Carolina, as has been done by one of her writers. § He was in error, — honestly so, as the playful tone of his letter to Mr. Adams'most conclusively shows. The truth can harm no man ; and that will not deprive him of one of his laurels, or detract in aught from his well-earned fame.

* Jefferson's Works, vol. iv. p. 314.

t Mecklenburg Declaration and Accompanying Documents, published under the authority of the General Assembly of North Carolina, Raleigh, 1831 ; Jones' Defence, p. 294, et seq.; Foote's Sketches, p. 33, et seq. ; ibid., p. 204, et seq. n —

i Journal of the Provincial Congress, (Raleigh, 1831,) p. 12.

§ See Introduction to Jones' Defence.

Among the most active participants in the Mecklenburg proceedings, were Thomas Polk and Ezektel Polk, the former of whom resided in the immediate vicinity of Charlotte, and the latter in the neighboring province of South Carolina, just over the border. They, with other prominent and influential men, appeared to take the lead in the movement, and their opinions and their action had great weight with their fellow-citizens.* " Tradition ascribes to Thomas Polk the principal agency in bringing about the Declaration ;"f and it is said that an old resident of North Carolina, a Scotchman, being asked if he knew anything in relation to the matter, replied — " Och, aye, Tam Polk declared Independence long before anybody else /"J

The two Polks were brothers ; and the Alexanders, the chairman and clerk of the Mecklenburg meeting, and Dr. Brevard, the author of the resolutions, were their near relatives. Thomas Polk was the great uncle, and Ezekiel Polk the grandfather, of James K. Polk, the late President of the United States. The founder of the Polk family in America was Robert Polk. His ancestors were of Scotch origin. They were among the colonists who settled in Ireland, and the family name is obviously the Irish corruption of Pollock. Robert Polk was born in Ireland, and was the fifth son of Robert Polk the elder, a native of the same country, who married Magdalen Tusker, the heiress of a considerable estate.

Robert Polk, the younger, married a Miss Gullet, by

* Mecklenburg Declaration and Accompanying Documents, p. 16. t Jones' Defence, p. 295. % Mecklenburg Declaration, &c, p. 26.

1775.'] THE POLK FAMILY. 31

whom he had several children ; and among them were Thomas and Ezekiel Polk. Soon after his marriage — probably between 1735 and 17-10 — he removed to America with others of the Scotch Irish immigrants, and established himself in Somerset County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Some of his descendants are still to be found in that state ; and they were known for many years, in Somerset, as the republican, or democratic family, because they were the only persons in the county occupying prominent positions in society, whose political sentiments were of that complexion. Other members of the family, including Thomas, Ezekiel, and Charles Polk, followed the current of emigration which swept onward to the base of the Alleghanies, and located temporarily in the neighborhood of Carlisle, in Pennsylvania. From thence the tliree brothers, Thomas, Ezekiel, and Charles, removed to the southwestern frontier of North Carolina, about the year 1750, and settled in the county of .Mecklenburg, then a part of Anson county, in the rich champaign country watered on the one hand by the noble Yadkin, and on the other by the romantic Catawba. Ezekiel subsequently changed his residence to South Carolina.