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James Knox Polk,

ELEVENTH President of the United States, was born in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, on the 2d of November, 1795. The original name of his ancestors was Pollock, which, by an easy transition, assumed its present form. Connections of the family were honorably distinguished at the framing of the Mecklenburgh Declaration of Independence, and throughout the revolutionary struggle. In 1806, while James was very young, his family removed to Tennessee, and settled in the fertile valley of Duck river. The opportunities for instruction in this neighborhood were limited. With much exertion James acquired the elements of a good English education. In the autumn of 1815, he entered the University of North Carolina, being then in the twentieth year of his age. At the university, Mr. Polk's career was distinguished, and he graduated in 1818, with the highest honors of his class. In 1819, he commenced the study of the law in the office of Felix Grundy, so distinguished as a representative and senator in Congress. Being admitted to the bar in 1820, he commenced practice in the county of Maury. In 1823, he was chosen to represent his district in the State Legislature, where he became distinguished for ability in debate.

In August, 1825, Mr. Polk, then in his thirtieth year, was chosen to represent his district in Congress. He was a decided Democrat, and an early and warm friend of General Jackson. He resolutely opposed the administration of Mr. Adams: and, when General Jackson became President, was one of the leading advocates of his political measures. In December, 1835, Mr. Polk was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, and again chosen to that station in 1837. After a service of fourteen years in Congress, Mr. Polk, in 1839, declined a re-election from the district which had so long sustained him. In August of the same year, he was elected governor of Tennessee. In 1841, he was a candidate for re-election to the same office, but was defeated, the Whig candidate, James C. Jones, being elected.

On the 29th of May, 1844, Mr. Polk received the nomination of the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore, for President of the United States. To this high office he was elected in the fall of the same year, by a majority in the electoral college of 65 votes. His administration was one of the most eventful in the annals of the republic, and the duties of the administration were consequently arduous. The war with Mexico was vigorously and triumphantly prosecuted; a large extent of territory was added to the domain of the United States, and the Democratic system of measures fully carried into operation. After the close of his term, Mr. Polk retired to Tennessee, with a broken constitution. He died on the 15th of June, 1848, at the age on fifty-three years.