In honor of African American History Month, let's talk about Political Activist Elias Polk!
"I am for universal suffrage"
Born into slavery in 1806 in Mecklenburg County, NC, Elias Polk and his mother came to Maury County with Samuel Polk. After James K. Polk was elected President of the United States, Elias worked at the White House as a valet and coachman for a short time. During most of Polk's Presidency, Elias was in Tennessee. By April 1849, Elias was back in Nashville working for James and Sarah Polk at their home, "Polk Place."
Following the passage of the 13th Amendment and the end of slavery in the United States, Elias Polk began a public speaking career and became active in the Democratic Party, when most freedmen joined the Republican Party.
Polk took a leading role in the formation of the "Colored Men for Greeley" to support Horace Greeley's presidential campaign in 1872 and was the president of the "Independent Colored Union Conservative National Club" an association of African Americans fighting against the Radical Republican.
After the Civil War, the ex-Confederates were stripped of their voting rights and Congress debated the issue of African American suffrage while actively disenfranchising others. In 1867, Polk addressed the Independent Colored Union Conservative National Club and said, "I am for peace and harmony, and in my judgment there will always be confusion and strife while a part of the people are disfranchised. I am for universal suffrage. We must make all free, for we cannot live in peace any other way."
From 1871 to 1876, Polk worked as a porter, or custodian, at the Tennessee Senate in Nashville. He returned to Washington, D.C. to work at the United States Capitol.
Polk was married to Harriet James, who died shortly after their wedding. Later, he married Mary Mansfield and they lived in Washington, D.C. until his death in 1886. Elias's body was returned to Nashville, where a funeral was held at Clark's Chapel, later known as Clark Memorial United Methodist Church. He is buried in the Nashville City Cemetery.
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Author Jo Ann McClellan,
Maury County Historian African American Heritage Society, President