Sarah Childress Polk

                    Sarah Childress was born on September 4, 1803, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Colonel Joel Childress (d. 1819) and Elizabeth Whitsett Childress.  Sarah was the younger of two daughters and the third of six children.  Her ancestry was Scotch-Irish and English.

                    Colonel Childress was a planter, merchant, tavern keeper, and militia officer; he was "prosperous" and reared his children "in luxury".  Because of her father's social circles, Sarah learned early to love politics and politicians.

                    Sarah was "well educated for a woman of hertime and place."  She attended Danil Elam School in Murfreesboro.  She and her sister Susan were later tutored by the principle of Bradley Academy in Nashville -where her brother and James K. Polk were students.  While Sarah and Susan were boarding at (but not attending) the Abercrombie School in Nashville, Sarah met General and Mrs. Andrew Jackson.  The girls were sent to the Moravian Female Academy in Salem, North Carolina, in 1817 to further their education.  This academy was considered to be the "best girls school in the south".  The girls studied English, grammar, geography, needlework, history, music, drawing and the Bible and received "very strict moral" training that "became a permanent part of Sarah Polk's nature and personality."  The girls' education ended upon the death of their father and they returned home to help their mother.  Another source stated that Sarah attended another school, which is now Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of the few institutions that made higher education available to women at that time.

                    A description of Sarah states that she was "fairly tall, with black hair that was parted in the middle and worn in ringlets, brown eyes and sallow coloring.  She had prominent teeth that caused her to tighten her lips, giving her a disapproving look" - but she was considered to be a "handsome" beauty.  "She tended to dress in vibrant blues, reds and maroons, which suited her dark coloring.  Due to her coloring, she was given thenickname "Sahara Sarah".  

                    The same source describes her personality as being "serious, religious, a proper lady in every way except in her love of politics and gentlemanly conversation.  She was known to remain behind with the men to talk rather than retire to the parlor with the ladies."  Neither Sarah nor James was known for their humor. 

                    Sarah might have met James K. Polk when she was 12 and he was 19 while both were being taught by Samuel P. Black in Murfreesboro.  They began courting several years later and became engaged in 1823.  Sarah was 20 years old and James was 28 years old when they were married on January 1, 1824, at her parents' plantation near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  James and Sara had no children of their own, but they reared a nephew, Marshall Tate Polk (1831-1884); after James died, Sarah became the guardian of Sarah Polk Jetton (1847-1924), an orphaned niece, and reared her as her own child.

                    James was "an ambitious, earnest, rather silent young man" who won the approval of Andrew Jackson.  A legend says that Jackson encourage James to marry Sarah, a "wealthy, pretty, ambitious and intelligent" young woman.  Sarah encouraged James to run for the state legislature, and they were married soon after he was elected.  Sarah loved to read, particularly newspapers, and she eventually started acting as an unpaid secretary to her husband.

                    While James served as a congressman during the John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren Administrations, Sarah enjoyed her social duties.  She was considered to be "lively, charming, intelligent, and a good conversationalist".

                    As President, James discussed policy matters with Sarah, and Sarah helped him with his speeches privately, copies his correspondence, and advised him.  As a devout Presbyterian, First Lady Polk "banned dancing and hard liquor at official receptions and refused to attend horse races or the theatre."  She did however host the very first annual Thanksgiving dinner at the White House.

                    President Polk passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, just three months after leaving the White House - the shortest retirement of any former US President.  Sarah continued to live in their Nashville home for 42 years.  She always wore black and lived longer in retirement and widowhood than any former First Lady.  She died at age 87 on August 14, 1891, and was buried next to her husband at their Nashville home.  The former President and First Lady were later moved to the state capitol.