whom he had several children; and among them were. Thomas and Ezekiel Polk. Soon after his marriageprobably between 1735 and 1740-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 three 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.

The citizens of Mecklenburg county were not unmindful of the pledges they had given, mutually among each other, to maintain, at every hazard, the independence which they had declared; and when the tide of war rolled thitherward, and their borders were harried with fire and sword, they remained firm and steadfast in their adherence to the cause they had espoused. In the contest for independence the Polks were especially conspicuous.

Thomas being the eldest, he was naturally looked up to as the head of the family, and was put forward more prominently he was a delegate to the Provincial Congress, colonel of the second battalion of minute-men raised in Salisbury district, the commanding officer of the militia of Mecklenburg county, and afterwards colonel of the fourth North Carolina regiment in the Continental service. But Ezekiel was not a whit behind his brother in zeal and devotion; his support of the cause was as earnest and disinterested, his attachment to it as honest and sincere. In May, 1775, he received a captain's commission from the authorities of South Carolina, upon the recommendation of the Provincial Congress, and immediately thereafter raised a volunteer company of Rangers, who were employed against the Cherokee Indians and the Tories. So faithfully did he execute the duties required of him, that he became particularly obnoxious to the latter, and when the country was overrun by Cornwallis and his troops, he found it necessary to "take protection," in order to save himself, his family and his property, from their vengeance.

Charlotte and the adjacent country had long been regarded by the British officers in command at the South, as the harboring-place of "traitors and rebels ;" and when the Whigs of the lower counties in the two Carolinas were forced to flee before the myrmidons of Rawdon and Tarleton, they were sure to be welcomed here with open hands and hearts. After the disastrous battle of Camden, in 1780, Lord Cornwallis established the headquarters of his army at Charlotte, which he termed the "hornet's nest," and "the hotbed of rebellion." He

1775.]

CALIFORNIA

OUTRAGES OF THE TORIES.

33

quartered his troops in the dwellings of its inhabitants, and fed them on the provisions and supplies forcibly taken from their stores.

A dark cloud seemed at this moment to obscure the fortunes of America. Nearly all the states south of the Potomac were overrun by the royal troops, and their Tory allies were murdering and pillaging with impunity. "The British army was chiefly subsisted by plundering the Whigs, and a system of confiscation was adopted to transfer their real estate to their Tory neighbors by forced sales, the meagre proceeds of which went into the military chest. Stimulated by revenge and encouraged by example, it is not surprising that the Tories filled the country with rapine and blood. The farms of Whigs supposed to be in arms, were ravaged, their houses rifled and burned, and their wives and children turned out to perish, or subsist on charity, which dared not let the left hand know what the right hand did, lest it should be punished as a crime. If a husband and father ventured to look after his houseless flock, he was waylaid and murdered. Prisoners were hanged or shot down in cold blood, and even members of the same families became the unrelenting executioners of each other. ** * The laws were literally silent, and there were no courts to protect property or punish crime. Men hunted each other like beasts of prey, and the savages were outdone in cruelties to the living and indignities on the dead."*

It was in this hour of gloom, that many of the best and truest patriots in the land "took protection," as it was

* Kendall's Life of Jackson, pp. 42, 44.

called, of the invader. This was not in the nature of an oath of allegiance, but simply a pledge not to molest the British troops while occupying a particular section of the country, in consideration whereof, protection was to be afforded against the Tories, and the spoliations of foraging parties. It was never considered to be an impeachment of a man's fidelity to the colonial cause, that he "took protection ;" it was often done, in an emergency, from the best of motives,-the safety of one's family and home; it was done by the noble martyr Hayne, and no stain rests on his memory. Indeed, it was the highest evidence of patriotism, for no one suspected even of a leaning towards Toryism needed to "take protection."

The citizens of Mecklenburg county and the adjacent country, were the first to renounce their allegiance and declare themselves forever independent of the British crown. To that declaration they adhered in and through all. They "took protection," it is true, when the foot of the victorious Briton was planted upon their hearth stones. But they never despaired of the republic,—they never faltered in their faith: and one of the ablest and most untiring of their persecutors has borne willing and repeated testimony to the fact, that their patriotism, from first to last, was ardent and sincere.*

*Tarleton's Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, p. 159, et seq.-See, also, Steadman's History of the American War, vol. ii. p. 217, et seq.

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.

JAMES KNOX POLK was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on the second day of November, 1795, and was the oldest of ten children. His father was Samuel Polk, a son of Ezekiel Polk, before mentioned. His mother was Jane Knox, the daughter of James Knox, after whom her oldest son was named, a resident of Iredell County, North Carolina, and a Captain in the war of the Revolution.

His parents were married in 1794. Besides the late President, they had five sons and four daughters. Three of the latter are now living. Of the sons, Marshall T. married and settled in North Carolina, and died there; Franklin, John, and Samuel W., all died unmarried; and William H., appointed by President Tyler, in 1845, Chargé d'Affaires to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and a major of the 3d dragoons during the war with Mexico, now resides in Columbia, Tennessee.

Samuel Polk, the father, was a plain, unpretending farmer, but of enterprising character; from necessity and inclination, frugal in his habits and style of living, yet kind and generous in disposition. "Thrown upon his own resources in early life, he became the architect of