Sarah Polk Fall

Sarah Polk Fall
Born Sarah Polk Jetton
(1847-04-01)April 1, 1847
Rutherford County, Tennessee U.S.
Died (1924-07-22)July 22, 1924 (aged 77)
Nashville, Tennessee
Resting place Mount Olivet Cemetery
Nationality American
Known for Fostered daughter of
Sarah Childress Polk
Spouse(s)
George William Fall
(m. 1865; d. 1909)
Children Saidee Fall Grant[lower-alpha 1]

Sarah "Sallie" Polk Jetton Fall (April 1, 1847 –July 22, 1924) was a wealthy Nashville socialite and philanthropist. She was the great niece and unofficially adopted daughter to former First Lady Sarah Childress Polk.

Biography

Sallie with her aunt Sarah

Sarah "Sallie" Polk Jetton was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee in 1847 to Mary Childress and Robert Jetton, a wealthy farmer and land owner.[2][3] (Mary Childress was the daughter of Anderson Childress, the older brother of First Lady Sarah Childress Polk.)[4]

Sallie's mother died a few months after her birth from childbirth complications. Her father was unable to raise her alone, so she was taken in by her great-grandmother Elizabeth Childress. She stayed with her great-grandmother for a short period until the death of President James K. Polk in 1849. The president's wife Sarah mourned her husband's death deeply and became a recluse, rarely leaving her home Polk Place. Elizabeth, who was in her 70s, brought Sallie to Polk Place and suggested Sarah should care for her. Sarah agreed and assumed guardianship of Sallie after 1850.[5][6][7]

Many who knew Sarah seemed skeptical of her bringing a child into her home. Judge John Catron would make the comment, "You are not the one Madam, to have charge of a little child; you, who have always been absorbed in the political and social affairs..."[8][9] But nonetheless Sarah still assumed guardianship, and brought in a nurse and maid to watch the young girl.[10] Sarah would often refer to Sallie as her daughter, even going as far to list her as one in the 1880 census.[11][12] Sarah would take great pride in raising Sallie, even bringing in a governess when Sallie was older for a short period. Sallie lived with Sarah for a majority of her life, for over the next 30 years. Sarah hosted Sallie's marriage to George Fall in the main Parlor of Polk Place in 1865.[13] The newlyweds moved in with Sarah until after the birth of their child Saidee. Sarah greatly adored the little girl, whom she saw as her granddaughter.

After Sarah's death in 1891 Sallie became the only legal heir to the Polk estate. As Sarah willed the Polk belongings, the contents of Polk Place along with the presidential papers to Sallie.[14][15][16][17] Sarah bequeathed some of the personal items of the President to Sallie's daughter Saidee, including the president's watch and glasses.[18] Sallie sold and donated the presidential papers to the Library of Congress in the early 1900s. Soon parts of his diaries in 1910,[19][20]along with donating one of Sarah's inaugural gowns and a fan to the Smithsonian.[21][22][23] In 1905 Sallie opened her own home in Nashville for social gatherings to exhibit the items she had inherited from Sarah and to tell the legacy of her great uncle president Polk.[24][25] During these gatherings and other social events she would introduce herself as the daughter to the president.[lower-alpha 2]

Sallie's home displaying items from Polk Place.

Death and legacy

Presumed to be Sallie at the Tomb of the president in 1864.

Sallie fell ill in 1924 and died July 22, at the age of 77. Newspapers throughout the country published "The Adopted daughter of President Polk Dies."[26][27][28]

The vast majority of the items she did not donate to the Library of Congress or the Smithsonian were left to her daughter, Saidee. Shortly before her death she helped her daughter Saidee found the James K. Polk Memorial Association along with other Nashville women, with the main intent of preserving the president's legacy.[29]

In 1929 her daughter Saidee worked together with the state of Tennessee to purchase the only surviving private residence which the president lived in. The home, located in Columbia, Tennessee, was constructed by the president's father Samuel in 1816, and was the president's home for six years before his marriage to Sarah Childress in 1824. On acquisition of the home in 1929 The James K. Polk Memorial Association founded the James K. Polk Home, the presidential museum of James K. Polk.

The contents of Polk Place that Sallie inherited and later left to her daughter Saidee would be brought to the museum. Later the fountain, the garden urns, and a gate from the exterior of Polk Place were moved to the property.[30][31]

References

  1. ↑ "Prominent Banker Weds". Google Books. New York: Financier. 1917. p. 1649.
  2. ↑ Revolution, Daughters of the American (1899). Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. p. 302.
  3. ↑ Joann, Ford. "Sarah Fall's Grave". Find A Grave.
  4. ↑ Peterson, Barbara (2002). Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of Tennessee and Washington. Nova. p. 1.
  5. ↑ Nelson, Anson/Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk. A.D.F. Randolph. p. 161.
  6. ↑ History.com, Staff. "Sarah Polk". History.com. A+E Networks.
  7. ↑ "Sarah Childress Polk | James K. Polk Home". www.jameskpolk.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  8. ↑ Roberts, John B. B. (2004). Rating The First Ladies: The Women Who Influenced The Presidency. Citadel Press. p. 72. ISBN 9780806526089.
  9. ↑ Nelson, Anson; Nelson, Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk: Wife of the Eleventh President of the United States. A.D.F. Randolph. p. 162.
  10. ↑ Nelson, Anson/Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk. A.D.F. Randolph. pp. 161–162.
  11. ↑ "1880 Census". FamilySearch.com. U.S Government. (Registration required (help)).
  12. ↑ Carroll, Fonda. "Sarah 'Sallie' Polk Jetton". rootsweb.ancestry.com.
  13. ↑ "Sarah Polk | History of American Women". History of American Women. 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  14. ↑ Byrnes, Mark Eaton (2001). James K. Polk: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. p. 56. ISBN 9781576070567.
  15. ↑ Holtzapple, John C. "James K. Polk Ancestral Home". tennesseeencyclopedia.net. The Tennessee Encyclopedia.
  16. ↑ "Exhibit features 'Polk Place: Presidential Legacy Lost?'". www.columbiadailyherald.com. Columbia Daily Herald.
  17. ↑ Fry, Bernard M.; Hernon, Peter (2013-10-02). Government Publications: Key Papers. Elsevier. ISBN 9781483156019.
  18. ↑ Nelson, Anson/Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk. A.D.F. Randolph. p. 235.
  19. ↑ "James K. Polk Papers". www.loc.gov/. Libaray of Congress.
  20. ↑ Fry, Bernard M.; Hernon, Peter (2013-10-02). Government Publications: Key Papers. Elsevier. ISBN 9781483156019.
  21. ↑ Catalogue of American Historical Costumes: Including Those of the Mistresses of the White House, as Shown in the United States National Museum. 1915.
  22. ↑ Unknown. Sarah Polk's Lace Fan.
  23. ↑ "- First Ladies' Fashions". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  24. ↑ Taylor, Robert Love; Moore, John Trotwood; Jacobs, Thornwell (1905). The Taylor-Trotwood Magazine. Taylor Publishing Company.
  25. ↑ All about Nashville: A Complete Historical Guide Book to the City. Marshall & Bruce Company. 1912.
  26. ↑ "Adopted Daughter of President Polk Dies". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-07-28. (Registration required (help)).
  27. ↑ "Foster daughter of President Polk to be buried". Newspapers.com. The Tennessean. 1924. (Registration required (help)).
  28. ↑ "Sarah Falls's Death Certificate". www.familysearch.org. State of Tennessee. (Registration required (help)).
  29. ↑ "James K. Polk Ancestral Home | Entries | Tennessee Encyclopedia". tennesseeencyclopedia.net. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  30. ↑ "James K. Polk's Fountain". Flickr. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  31. ↑ "James K. Polk Ancestral Home | Entries | Tennessee Encyclopedia". tennesseeencyclopedia.net. Retrieved 2018-03-30.

Further reading

  • Gould, Lewis L. (2001). American First Ladies:. Taylor & Francis. p. 89.
  • Hendricks, Nancy (Oct 13, 2015). America's First Ladies:. ABC-CLIO. p. 91.

Notes

  1. ↑ Formally Saidee Fall Gardner she remarried, Rollin Grant, after the death of her first husband.[1]
  2. ↑ Throughout her life she seldom used her maiden name of Jetton, she always referred to herself as "Sarah Polk Fall".
  • "Sarah Fall's Portrait". Tennessee Portrait Project.
  • "Sarah Polk Biography". National First Ladies' Library. (Public Note:There are a few inaccuracies with this article. The elderly woman seated at the bottom of the page is in fact not Sarah Polk, but a niece of Rachel Jackson.)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.