Charles Polk, Jr.
| Charles Polk Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 27th and 30th Governor of Delaware | |
|
In office July 11, 1836 – January 17, 1837 |
|
| Preceded by | Caleb P. Bennett |
| Succeeded by | Cornelius P. Comegys |
|
In office January 16, 1827 – January 19, 1830 |
|
| Preceded by | Samuel Paynter |
| Succeeded by | David Hazzard |
| Member of the Delaware Senate | |
|
In office January 4, 1825 – January 16, 1827 January 6, 1835 – January 3, 1843 |
|
| Member of the Delaware House of Representatives | |
|
In office January 4, 1814 – January 2, 1816 January 6, 1818 – January 5, 1819 January 6, 1824 – January 4, 1825 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 15, 1788 Bridgeville, Delaware |
| Died | October 27, 1857 (aged 68) Milford, Delaware |
| Political party |
Federalist Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Elizabeth Purnell |
| Residence | Kent County, Delaware |
| Occupation | farmer |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Charles Polk, Jr. (November 15, 1788 – October 27, 1857) was an American farmer and politician from Big Stone Beach, in Milford Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, and later the Whig Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and twice as Governor of Delaware.
Polk was born near Bridgeville, Delaware, son of Charles and Mary Manlove Polk. The Polk family originally came from Scotland and U.S. President James K. Polk was a distant cousin. Robert Polk settled in Somerset County, Maryland in 1660 and the Delaware family descended from him. Charles Polk, Sr. was a veteran of the American Revolution, having served in Colonel David Hall's regiment in 1777. He was a large landowner in the Bridgeville area, served eight years in the State House, and was a member of the Delaware Constitutional Convention of 1792.
After his father's death in 1795, Charles, Jr. attended Westtown Boarding School in Chester County, Pennsylvania and then studied Law with Kensey Johns, Sr., but never practiced. By 1812 he was the owner of the Knife and Fork Tavern near Bridgeville. He married Mary Elizabeth Purnell and they had nine children, including, Charles, William Alexander, and Theodore. In 1816 Polk purchased a large tract of land at Big Stone Beach, near Milford, in what is now Milford Hundred, in Kent County, Delaware. He established his residence there on Delaware Bay. They were members of the Presbyterian Church.
Polk was a member of the Federalist Party, which was the majority party in Kent and Sussex County, but was nearly matched in popularity statewide by the Democratic-Republican Party because of that party's strength in New Castle County. As a result, statewide elections were usually close and hard-fought. Delaware was the last state in the country to have an effective Federalist Party, it having virtually disappeared everywhere else. By 1827 members of the old Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party had split into a Jacksonian, or Democratic faction or an Adams/Clay faction, known initially as the National Republicans, and later as Whigs. The remaining Federalists, which were many in Delaware, did likewise.
...
Wikipedia