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MARY POLK BRANCH. 
 
 Nee Mary Jones Polk, Tennessee. 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OF A SOUTHERN WOMAN 
 
 " WITHIN THE LINES" 
 
 AND 
 
 A GENEALOGICAL RECORD 
 
 By Mary Polk Branch 
 
 THE JOSEPH G. BRANCH PUBLISHING CO. 
 Publishers, Chicago 
 
Copyright, 1912, 
 Joseph G. Branch. 
 
 
 £CU3200 5 4 
 
 u 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 THIS little book is written for my children 
 and the descendants of those whose lives are 
 herein chronicled. 
 
 From its perusal may they learn still more 
 to reverence the memory of their forefathers, 
 and to prize the heritage left by them of noble 
 and honorable lives. 
 
 To this record I have added my memories of 
 the home of my youth, under Southern skies. 
 Then later the experiences of a Southern woman 
 during the Civil War, ^'within the lines.'' 
 
 This long retrospect of mine, a retrospect of 
 eighty years, portrays faithfully life in the South 
 as it was in ante-bellum times, and afterward 
 in her mourning vestments, the beautiful, heroic 
 South. 
 
 I write with a loving hand as I pay this trib- 
 ute to the past. 
 
 IMary Polk Branch. 
 
 December, 1911. 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OF A SOUTHERN WOMAN 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN ANTE-BELLUM DAYS. 
 
 ]\Iy father, Dr. Wm. Julius Polk, was married 
 to my mother, Mary Rebecca Long, at Mt. Gal- 
 lant, Halifax County, North Carolina, in 1814. 
 
 ]\It. Gallant was an estate, inherited by my 
 mother, from her grandfather, Gen. Allen Jones. 
 In 1828 they moved from North Carolina to 
 Columbia, Tennessee, where five brothers had 
 already preceded my father — making their 
 homes on plantations near the town. My father 
 was a devoted member of the Episcopal church, 
 and noted for the purity and integrity of his 
 character — his word being considered ' ' as good 
 as his bond." 
 
 He Avas elected again and again president of 
 the First Bank, in Columbia, and for years trus- 
 tee of the old St. Peter's church. 
 
 My mother was an able assistant in all good 
 works, and the blameless lives of this old couple 
 were marked by deeds of neigh])orly kindness, 
 charity and hospitality, for which the South was 
 so noted in ante-bellum days. 
 
 Their nearest neighbor was Bishop Otey, who 
 lived on an adjoining place, called Ravencroft, 
 and as both he and my father had a keen sense 
 of humor, many a good joke had they at the 
 expense of the other. 
 
My mother and the bishop, both fine chess 
 players, usually ended the evening- with a hotly 
 contested game of chess — the victor triumphant 
 and the vanquished insisting- that the battle 
 should be renewed at a later day. 
 
 My mother was a woman of beauty and unus- 
 ual courage. She needed it as she said farewell 
 to her three soldier sons, and bade them do their 
 duty. But she had higher attributes than cour- 
 age—the charity which thinketh no evil, the 
 love which includes the sinning and the sinless, 
 recognizing the stumbling blocks that beset our 
 path. All beautiful things appealed to lier. flow- 
 ers and poetry. She often recited verses that she 
 had learned in her youth. She seemed to me to 
 be a link connecting us to a far-off period, bind- 
 ing the present to the past. The rare courtesy 
 of her manner, which told of her gentle breeding, 
 combined with a slight formality, which, while 
 very kindly, precluded any familiarity. As I 
 have looked at her lovely old face I have thought 
 her the embodiment of all the virtues of her race. 
 In her ninetieth year she joined the great cara- 
 van, and now, with the husband of her youth, 
 as much of her as coulcj die awaits tlie resurrec- 
 tion, at St. John's cemetery. 
 
 My fatlier first rented the house owned by his 
 cousin, tlien Governor of Tennessee, James K. 
 Polk, afterwards President of the United States. 
 Then he bought a home, whicli I owned later, at 
 present the property of ]Mrs. Towler. At this 
 house, at the dinner table, was first proposed the 
 buikling of tlu- Columbia Female Institute. Pres- 
 ent upon this occasion was Bishop Otey and my 
 
uncle, Leonidas Polk, who was afterwards bishop 
 of Louisiana. The building- was partly finished 
 in 1836, and I was carried there by my nurse to 
 be entered as a scholar. 
 
 Preparatory to the coming' of the Rev. F. G. 
 Smith, who was first principal, his assistant 
 teacher taught the school in a room back of the 
 old St. Peter's church. The church was the 
 second house at the corner of Garden street next 
 to the old Masonic hall. The lady whose portrait 
 is at the Institute was Mrs. Shaw, of Philadel- 
 phia; her daughter, a beautiful young woman, 
 taught music. She was engaged to be married 
 to the Rev. Mr. Odenheimer, then pastor of St. 
 Peter's church on Second street, in Philadelphia; 
 afterwards he became Bishop Odenheimer, of 
 New Jersey. 
 
 An event of those early days was a reception 
 on the Institute grounds to President Andrew 
 Jackson. He w^as on his way to visit his niece, 
 Mrs. Lucias Polk, at "Hamilton Place," accom- 
 panied by Paulding, the novelist. I do not know 
 why he should have selected Paulding as a com- 
 panion, as Paulding was not a politician. On the 
 important occasion two little girls were chosen 
 to present bouquets to the distinguished visitors. 
 Accordingly, little Kittie Puryear, and I, in our 
 best white frocks, and w^ith our hair curled, pre- 
 sented them. One bouquet was given to General 
 Jackson, mine to Paulding, who sent me a little 
 poem in response. This was, I think, in 1840. 
 
 Two years later my cousin, Sarah Jackson 
 Polk, and I were sent to a French school in New 
 York — Madame Cauda 's — and afterwards to a 
 
10 
 
 seho(>l in Philadelphia. 'Phis cousin, who niarriod 
 my mother's nephew, l\ol>in ap C. .lones. was one 
 of the kn-eliest eharaeters 1 have ever known, and 
 the dearest friend of my life. AVe went to Nash- 
 ville on our way to l*hiladelphia. in «>nr rarriaiics, 
 dininii' at Cartri^ht's. near Spriniihill : stayed 
 all ni^ht at a plaee a mile from Fi'anklin. and 
 next morninii' proceeded to Nashville, a ilistanee 
 of forty miles whieh now takes three hours ti) 
 travel. There we took passaije on a small stern- 
 wheel boat — there was no stateroom, and we 
 slept in a lar^e ladies' eabin witli berths piled 
 one above another. Our party was eomposed of 
 my unele. Lueias Polk, his dauahter imy eousin 
 Sarah ^. ^liss Dorothy Dix and myself. 
 
 ^liss Dix. the noteil philanthropist. Iiad known 
 my unele in Nashville, where he oeeupied some 
 publie position, in the leg:islature, I think. Her 
 visit to Nashville was to petition the legislature 
 to build an asylum for the insane. She had vis- 
 ited every State for that purpose, traveling: 
 alone, yet, she said, had never met with the 
 sliiihtest discourtesy. She was from Boston, 
 and had been en*:aired to be married, and her 
 lover became insane. She visited him. found 
 him in a eell with a rock tloor; not a eomfort ; 
 treated as thouirh he were a criminal." She then 
 bejran the erusade to which slie devoted her life, 
 and throuiih her instrumentality asylums were 
 built in many eities where before the insane had 
 been contined in jails. I think throuiili her 
 efforts the asylum in Nashville was founded. 
 This was about 1847. 
 
 She was charmiuii in appearance, and her 
 
 1 
 
11 
 
 sweet voice had a soothinjr effeet upon maniacs. 
 She often sanjf to them. 
 
 In Philaflelphia we were irjvit^d to the homes 
 of many of her friends, and introduced to some 
 f'f^Jebrities through her kindness, among others, 
 Doctor Hare, and I had the pleasure of dancing 
 with Weir Mitchell at his father's house. 
 
 After the return of my cousin and myself to 
 Tennessee our lives were like most Southern girls 
 of that period. Wealthy Southerners usually 
 r('s\(\('(\ r)n their plantations, and visited friends 
 in their carriages, many miles apart, staying two 
 or three days. Some of these carriages were very 
 liarjdsome, and drawn by four horses, as were 
 lliose of my uncles. George and Andrmv. 
 
 The Old Southern Mammy. 
 
 In the "quarters," as the negro cabins were 
 called, tlu-re was usually a band, which played at 
 night for the "white folks" to dance. "Old 
 Master" always led off in the "Virginia Reel." 
 Negroes are always fond of music, and as they 
 would play "Jim Crack Corn, I Don't Care." or 
 "Run, Nigger Run," or "The Patrolers AVill 
 Catch You," or some other especial favorite, they 
 would become wildly excited and beat the tam- 
 bourines over their heads. 
 
 Our nurses we always called "]\Iamiiiy."" and 
 it was not considered good manners to address 
 any old negro man or woman otherwise than as 
 "uncle" or "aunt," adding the name whatever 
 that might be — the surname was always the 
 master's. We were taught to treat them with 
 respect. 
 
There was such a kindly feeling on both sides 
 between the owners and their slaves — inherited 
 kindly feelings. How could it be otherwise? 
 Many were descendants of those who had served 
 in the same family for generations — for instance, 
 the nurse who nursed my children was the 
 daughter of my nurse, and her grandmother had 
 nursed my mother. My maid, Virginia (I can 
 not recall the time when she was not my maid) 
 was a very handsome young mulatto to whom I 
 was especially attached. When she was married 
 in her white dress and long veil flowing to her 
 feet, the ceremony was performed in our back 
 parlor, and Bishop Otey, the first bishop of 
 Tennessee, officiated. 
 
 How great the pride the negroes felt in the 
 wealth and importance of their owners, and 
 interest indeed in all of their affairs, amusingly 
 so, sometimes ! I recall an old woman, coal 
 black, a red bandanna handkerchief tied over her 
 kinky locks, and great dignity of manner, she 
 said to me : ' ' Young missis should marry her 
 cousin, ]\Iarse Tom, and keep our family likeness 
 in our family. ' ' 
 
 Our Social Life. 
 
 Indeed, ours was a gay and free-from-care life. 
 I can recall delightful summers at Old Point 
 Comfort, and the Greenbrier White, in Vir- 
 ginia — winters in which I journeyed from my 
 father's plantation, near Helena, Arkansas, to 
 New Orleans. 
 
 There were palatial boats on the ^Mississippi 
 river then, for there was no other way to reach 
 
13 
 
 New Orleans. At each landing-, often at night, 
 lighted by the pine torches on the bank, the 
 roustabouts would roll aboard the heavy bales of 
 cotton, singing as they crossed the gangway their 
 gay negro songs, often throwing piles of wood 
 into the roaring furnace as they raced with some 
 other boat, which they were trying to pass, amid 
 shouts of triumph, or cries of defiance for the 
 rival firemen. 
 
 At their nearest landing, planters would come 
 aboard with their wives and daughters to do 
 their annual shopping in the "city," and the 
 big boat would plow its way doAvn the broad 
 river with gay passengers laughing, dancing, 
 singing, and many a love tale, told upon the 
 guards until it rounded at the dock of delightful 
 New Orleans — the city of camelias, cape jas- 
 mines and violets. 
 
 But sailing down the broad jNIississippi was 
 not always an unalloj^ed pleasure, sometimes 
 there were terrible experiences. 
 
 I recall how my bright and beautiful cousin, 
 ]\Iary Brown Polk, and I started from Nashville 
 on "The America," for New Orleans. 
 
 After an evening of dancing and cards, we 
 retired to our staterooms. It was quite late, 
 and most of the passengers, including our 
 chaperones, had already sought their berths. 
 
 All at once there was a cry of "Fire!" and 
 looking out we saw a man dashing down the 
 cabin, while the carpet rose beneath his feet 
 from the gusts of March wind, while he cried to 
 the sleeping passengers : ' ' Fire ! ' ' 
 
 Hand in hand, my cousin and I ran to the 
 
14 
 
 deck. Around us women were shrieking wildly, 
 in every stage of undress. Men were getting 
 from their trunks money and valuables, for the 
 boat seemed doomed. 
 
 The angry river, lashed by the wind, bore 
 upon its troubled surface bales of burning cot- 
 ton, which burst as they were thrown into the 
 water, and floated otf like little boats afire, 
 lighting the dark and threatening river. The 
 pilot Avas ordered to land, threatened and im- 
 plored, but he was obdurate. He kept the boat 
 to the middle of the stream. He said: "The 
 river has overflowed its banks from the heavy 
 rains, and the boat would l)e burned before we 
 could reach the landing." He turned the boat 
 so the Avind swept through the deck, carrying 
 the flames far from the guards, which were cov- 
 ered with wet ])lankets, so to the strong winds 
 we owed our salvation. 
 
 When the morning came, lovely and calm, as 
 if to compensate for the terrors of the night, we 
 floated on our way to New (Orleans, the beautiful 
 metropolis of the South. 
 
 At Greenville, ^Mississippi, a large party came 
 on board, of young planters paying their an- 
 imal visit to their commission merchants, or 
 with their sisters and sweethearts, going to en- 
 joy the gaieties of the city. 
 
 Formerly all families of any prominence in 
 the South knew of each other, so we soon formed 
 one party, and they added nnich to our enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
15 
 
 Some Famous Beauties. 
 
 Patti was then on her first visit to New Or- 
 leans. She w^as very young, and accompanied 
 by her sister, Amalia Patti, whose husband, 
 Strakosch, played their accompaniments for 
 them. I remember how she pouted at some little 
 thing that did not please her. 
 
 The most beautiful assemblage of women I 
 have ever seen I then saw. There was Madame 
 Yznaga ; I had known her as a schoolmate as 
 Ellen Clement. Her husband was a Cuban 
 planter, and she owned plantations on the Yazoo 
 River, which -had taken her South. Her sym- 
 pathies were strongly Southern, and I heard of 
 her playing the banjo and singing Dixie songs 
 when abroad during the war. She was the 
 mother of the Duchess of IManchester, and grand- 
 mother of the young Duke, who married Miss 
 Zimmerman, of Cincinnati. 
 
 Among the beauties was IMiss Sallie Ward, of 
 Louisville, wdth the soft warm coloring and blue 
 eyes which Kentuckians often inherit from their 
 y i rgini a ancestry. 
 
 Then the Tennesseans, a very ditferent type, 
 with clearly cut, regular features, brunettes, and 
 slight, graceful forms, brilliant eyes, but not 
 v\'ith the languor which characterized the Creoles. 
 
 AVhile admiring them, a gentleman said: ''No 
 one here compares with Madame Bienvenu, ' ' 
 and looking where I was directed I certainly saw 
 a beautiful woman. I w^as told she was sixty, 
 ])ut it was beyond belief, although upon her 
 shapely head were piled puffs of sno^\y hair. 
 
16 
 
 Her large, velvety eyes had a lovely expression, 
 her creamy-white skin with but little color, but 
 her lips were crimson. Her neck and arms 
 showed to advantage in the black velvet gown 
 by contrast, and a single white camelia she wore 
 as a bouquet de corsage. I admired her en- 
 thusiastically. 
 
 The next summer I went to the "Greenbrier 
 White," in Virginia, with my uncle, Andrew 
 Polk, his wife and daughter, then a child, 
 Antoinette Polk, afterward the Baronne de 
 Charette. There could not have been a more 
 delightful place. Brilliant belles from all over 
 the South — gay cavaliers, chivak*ic and cour- 
 teous. I recall my saying: ''There is nothing 
 more I wish for on earth ; I am perfectly 
 happy." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 It was on the morning of November 29, 1859, 
 that Col. Joseph Branch and I were married at 
 "Buena Vista," my father's, afterwards my, 
 home, at Columbia, Tennessee. Colonel Branch 
 was finely educated, benevolent and honorable, 
 and I may be excused for saying, handsome, 
 though I have now no photograph of him. 
 
 Every advantage had been given him by liis 
 uncle, Governor Branch, of Florida, liis guardian, 
 who was Secretary of the Navy under Jackson. 
 First he was sent to Chapel Hill, North Carolina ; 
 afterwards to Princeton, where he graduated as 
 valedictorian, about 1835, in a w^arm contest be- 
 tween a Northern and Southern champion. His 
 
17 
 
 brother Laurence was salutatorian, afterwards 
 Congressman for many years from North Caro- 
 lina, and in the war brigadier-general, lie was 
 killed at Sharpsburg. The two brothers, after 
 their matriculation, went to their uncle's home, 
 "Live Oak," in Tallahassee, and practiced law 
 together. 
 
 Colonel Branch was very successful; a mem- 
 ber of the legislature at twenty-one, and presi- 
 dent of a bank, when he married his first wife, 
 Annie Pillow Martin, amiable and vivacious. She 
 died five years after her marriage, leaving two 
 sons, George Martin and Henry. 
 
 Colonel Branch then left Florida and formed 
 a partnership with his father-in-law, and their 
 plantations were in the name of Martin and 
 Branch. There were two plantations, seven miles 
 long-, in Desha and Arkansas Counties, Arkan- 
 sas — the Davis and Dayton plantations. The 
 Davis half-way encircled the lake, reflecting the 
 white cabins and green trees of the "quarters" 
 in the water. It was laid out in regular rows of 
 houses with streets between, two hospitals — one 
 for the men, one for the women — a nursery for 
 the children, and two old women to take charge 
 of them. 
 
 In approaching the place there Avas first a 
 cotton field of one thousand acres, level as the 
 floor, and at regular intervals sheds with light- 
 ning-rods attached in case of storms, and at each 
 shed a cistern. A field of cotton would be one 
 day white, the next day the blooms changing to 
 pink, and presenting a beautiful appearance. 
 
 Upon these plantations were four hundred 
 
18 
 
 slaves before mine came, <j:i\en me by my father 
 from his plantation near Helena, Arkansas. 
 
 Upon my arrival as a bride at the plantation 
 I found the house servants drawn up in a line 
 on the front porch to greet me, and the house 
 brilliantly illuminated. Among them was ''Aunt 
 Beck,'' a dignitary of great importance, my hus- 
 band's nurse and then his cook. She was a privi- 
 leged character. Colonel Branch's mother had 
 left the children to the care of this devoted nurse 
 on her deathbed, and her affection for them 
 was boundless. As Governor Branch's cook in 
 Washington, where he was Secretary of the 
 Navy, ghe had also been their consoler in many 
 an escapade. 
 
 She had no children of her own, and my hus- 
 band and his brothers, orphans, she considered 
 her own. They gave her her freedom when they 
 were grown, but she scorned it and said she 
 would never leave "INIarse Joe," my husband. 
 Good and faithful w^oman ! The bullet which 
 killed her favorite broke her heart, and she lived 
 but a short time afterwards. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 After arriving at the plantation, I was startled 
 late one niglit by the great bell of the "quarter" 
 tolling. I ran to the front porch, and could see 
 big fires lighted on the streets in the "quarter," 
 and could hear the women crying, "Two children 
 were lost in the cane back of the plantation." 
 
 The wild hogs in the canebrake were danger- 
 ous, and might attack and even devour the chil- 
 dren = So a great fire, fed by pine knots, was 
 
19 
 
 kept l)lazinL»' all the night, as a guide. 'IMu' hells 
 on all the plantations around took up the alarm, 
 and men on horsehaek eame dashing up to know 
 what was the trouble on the Branch plantation. 
 
 My husband and men with lighted torches 
 went in search, but the children were not found 
 until next morning, asleep under a Cottonwood 
 ti'ee. 
 
 Every day we went out on our horses, riding 
 through the canebrakes, bayous, down the turn 
 rows of immense fields of cotton, to the ditches 
 where Irish laborers were digging to drain the 
 marshes — to the nurseries, to the hospital with 
 fruit, or some delicacy for the sick. 
 
 In the evening w^e entertained ourselves with 
 the piano and the library ; among the books were 
 many religious ones, for Colonel Branch was 
 pious, and a member of the Episcopal church. 
 
 An innocent and ideal life ! 
 
 We varied it in a few months by going to New 
 Orleans and from thence to Cuba. At Matanzas 
 we had quite an experience. We got on a car 
 where the men were evidently going to a cock 
 fight, each with a cock under his arm. They had 
 seen our names upon the passport, which had 
 excited their suspicion. Laurence Branch, 
 Colonel Branch's brother, had introduced a bill 
 in Congress very o])noxious to the Cubans — for 
 the United States to buy Cuba for some millions, 
 and, suspecting this to be the Branch, our inter- 
 preter, who, of course, spoke Spanish, had great 
 trouble in keeping us from being mobbed l)y the 
 angry crowd. 
 
 The summer after my marriage, 18()0, I spent 
 
20 
 
 in the East, and until then I had no idea of the 
 feeling in the North against the South. My maid 
 was soon enticed away at Niagara. From thence 
 we w^ent to the Continental Hotel, in Philadel- 
 phia. The hotel was filled with Southerners. A 
 few evenings after our arrival a procession of a 
 thousand men, bearing torches, stopped in front 
 of the Continental, and were addressed from a 
 platform in front of the hotel by Charles Frances 
 Adams. I remember a part of his speech in 
 which he said: "The North should be made a 
 haven to the oppressed negro of the South, ' ' and 
 his other remarks were to the same purport. 
 
 We felt wantonly insulted, and for the first 
 time I had a foreboding for the future, which 
 grew stronger during our visit to the Greenbrier 
 White Sulphur Springs, of Virginia, soon after. 
 The "White'' was different from what I had ever 
 known it before. There was the "German" in 
 the morning and the ball at night, but there was 
 a tone of seriousness underneath it all. The 
 young men, and the old, could be seen in groups 
 discussiilg some point that was evidently exciting 
 them. 
 
 We felt the gathering clouds that foreboded 
 the coming storm. From White Sulphur we 
 returned to our home in Tennessee. Everything 
 there seemed beautifully peaceful and calm. 
 Tennessee's first vote against secession was sixty 
 thousand, as the old Whig party, which had great 
 strength in Tennessee, was opposed to it, but 
 when her sister States seceded, Tennessee went 
 with them, and her best blood flowed freely in the 
 cause. 
 
21 
 
 Tennessee was a border State and she and 
 Virginia bore the brunt of the war. It is stated 
 that one-fifth of the dead of both armies was on 
 Tennessee soil. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Oh, the horrors of civil war! My mother was 
 a Spartan mother, and she said to her four boys, 
 "Xto and do your duty." 
 
 There was my gay and handsome brother, 
 Tom, who left his wife and children ; Lucius, 
 whose name I can not write without a pang; 
 Cadwalader, and Rufus. 
 
 Colonel Branch was in jail for a few days in 
 Columbia, Tennessee, then exiled by General 
 Negley with the penalty, if ever caught in fed- 
 eral lines, to be hung as a spy, and property 
 confiscated. 
 
 In the meantime my mother and I were alone 
 at Buena Vista. There were five hundred sol- 
 diers — a cavalry command — encamped about 
 the place, but the officers were kind and placed 
 pickets at the doors for our safety. Yet, not- 
 withstanding, we had nightly alarms and the 
 house often searched. I recall one occasion, as 
 my mother and I were driving from Columbia, 
 with many contraband articles, we were stopped 
 by two pickets, who proceeded to search the car- 
 riage . 
 
 As one soldier picked up some trifling article 
 of my mother's, she exclaimed, "Would you 
 deprive me of that small pleasure?" The other 
 soldier, at the same time, saw a pair of soldier's 
 gauntlets, I intended for General Cleburne. He 
 
22 
 
 looked at me, saw the terror in my face, a vision 
 before me of Irving Block, in Nashville, where 
 rebel women were confined, and thfen turning to 
 the other soldier he winked at me and said, 
 "Come away, there is nothing there, let these 
 ladies go on/' 
 
 Many letters and supplies and these same 
 gauntlets Ave carried to Florence, Alabama, to 
 soldiers there. Of course, we ran a great risk, 
 but we relied upon our coachman, who was very 
 loyal to us, and secreted some of the letters upon 
 his person. 
 
 A federal raid had just taken place in the 
 country through which we passed, and houses, 
 farms and fences burned, the fire still smoulder- 
 ing where food had .been cooked. It became 
 dark and our coachman was blind at night, and 
 the road so covered Avith autumn leaves we lost 
 our way. I walked in front, putting aside the 
 leaves, to find traces of the road, and calling out, 
 "Drive to the right, drive to the left." At last 
 I saw a fence and, following it up, we came to 
 a substantial log house, and were barely in it 
 before a cavalry company came dashing up, 
 demanding if some of "Wheeler's soldiers were 
 not there." Fortunately for us, our host was a 
 well-known Union man, and the house was not 
 searched. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The few Tnion men were occasionally of great 
 service to their friends and relations. ]\Iy 
 brother-in-law, Judge Russel Houston, for 
 instance, whose brother. Governor Houston, of 
 
23 
 
 Alabama, and all of his own and his wife's 
 family Avere "secessionists," stood very high 
 among' the federals (as Union men of his ability 
 and social prestige in the South were very rare), 
 and, in consequence, there was a great deal in 
 his power. 
 
 My sister was very loyal to her husband, but 
 natural feeling* would assert itself. I recollect 
 standing wdth her at a wdndow^, when a cavalry 
 company of General Wheeler's, wdio had been 
 burning- bridges between Columbia and Nashville 
 to prevent the approach of the enemy, came 
 dashing through the town, closely pursued by a 
 federal company. My sister, in her excitement, 
 clasped her hands and exclaimed, "Oh, if they 
 had but wings to fly ! " 
 
 But amidst this gloom there were occasional 
 flashes of sunlight. When the Confederates were 
 in possession how gay it was, and the soldiers 
 such toasts. 
 
 I recall General Armstrong's w^edding — the 
 officers in full uniform, and wearing the yellow 
 scarf of the cavalry. The beautiful bride, a 
 great-niece of President Polk's, a brunette, in 
 contrast with the blonde appearance of her hand- 
 some husband. 
 
 Then the brilliant ball at Ashwood Hall, the 
 gracious host and hostess, and Antoinette, their 
 daughter, a young heroine of the Confederacy, 
 who afterwards became the Baronne de Charette. 
 
 She was visiting me when I saw in front of 
 my house, on the Hampshire pike, ^laj. Hunter 
 Nicholson dashing down the pike, pursued by 
 cavalr}' in blue coats. • I knew at once that 
 
24 
 
 Coluinl)ia had been taken possession of by 
 the Federals and I called to Antoinette Polk. 
 She came down the steps, the gauntlets in her 
 hand, and her hat with its long- ostrich plume in 
 the other, ran for her horse in the stable, dashed 
 through the woods, to reach the ]\Iount Pleasant 
 pike, where Ash wood Hall, and the homes of her 
 two uncles, each a mile apart, were situated. 
 They were filled with soldiers who would be 
 taken by surprise and captured, unless she 
 reached them in time. 
 
 She gained the gate, which opened upon the 
 pike, and as she did so, she saw approaching her 
 three Federal soldiers, fast riders thrown out to 
 capture prisoners, and then commenced a won- 
 derful race. The horse was a young thorough- 
 bred, and seemed to realize her peril. The last 
 she saw of the cavalrymen they were digging 
 their spurs into their hoi^es' sides with their 
 heads almost on a level with those of their 
 horses. She gained the woods and was lost to 
 their sight. On reaching Ashwood she roused 
 the Confederate soldiers, and was taken almost 
 fainting from her horse; the horse's mouth cov- 
 ered with blood and foam from its bit. Tlie 
 soldiers picked up a trophy, her long ostrich 
 plume, which dropped from her hat, and return- 
 ing showed it to the colonel, who said, "Why 
 did you not shoot her in the back ' ' ? 
 
 Her father was Capt. Andrew Polk, a cavalry 
 officer, who returned from the Kentucky cam- 
 paign a helpless invalid, went abroad with his 
 family, and died at Vevey. 
 
 This oldest daughter, of wliom I liave just 
 
ANTOINETTE POLK. 
 
 Baronnfe de Charelte. 
 
26 
 
 written, Antoinette, married the Baron de Cliar- 
 ette, nephew of the Comte de Chambord, and 
 colonel of the Pontifical Zouaves in the Garibaldi 
 war. 
 
 The marriaofe was celebrated in Paris, with 
 o-reat eclat. Among* the splendid gifts was an 
 aigrette of diamonds from the Pope, a diamond 
 laurel wreath from the Zouaves, coronet from the 
 Princess de Berri. The mother of General Char- 
 ette's first wife, Duchess de Fitz- James, sent a 
 magnificent present, and others, equally hand- 
 some, were given. 
 
 In 1884 they visited Canada, where they were 
 received with great enthusiasm by the Catholics. 
 The public receptions in Quebec and Montreal 
 were grand ovations. 
 
 They had but one son, Antoine, who was 
 recently married to Suzanne Hennin, of Ken- 
 tucky. His title (having been given an estate, 
 which carried the title with it), is Marquis de 
 Charette. 
 
 It was just before this sortie of the Federals 
 into Columbia, that I met General Van Dorn, the 
 gallant cavalry commander, so handsome and 
 gay. It was at a ball at Ashwood Hall given to 
 the officers that I first met him. A few weeks 
 later I attended his funeral. He was assassi- 
 nated, and the procession passed to Rose Hill 
 cemetery, from Columbia, where he was buried. 
 Of course, the funeral was a military one, and I 
 never shall forget the solemnity, the music, the 
 blare of the trumpets, the powerful black horse 
 tliat was led riderless, and on each side the 
 inverted boots of the late gallant officer. 
 
We had about this time an uuexpeeted pleas- 
 ure. Adeliua Patti came to our little town, 
 Columbia, to visit her brother Carlo, who was 
 quite sick, and on a sick leave from the regiment 
 in which he had enlisted, the "Second Ten- 
 nessee. ' ' 
 
 I had heard Patti some years before, Avhen 
 she was very young — I think about twelve. She 
 sang then at a concert in New Orleans. Stra- 
 kosch, who had married her older sister, accom- 
 panied them on the piano. 
 
 On this occasion, in Columbia, a long narrow 
 room called "Hamner's Hall" was prepared for 
 her, as she had consented to sing. During the 
 war we had no oil for our lamps, and considered 
 ourselves very fortunate to have home-made 
 candles. Accordingly, the footlights were an 
 array of tallow candles, with tin reflectors. When 
 Patti entered, and saw the primitive arrange- 
 ments, the lights, the hats of an antiquated style, 
 which confronted her, it was beyond her to con- 
 trol her amusement; she hid her face behind a 
 huge bouquet, and shook with laughter, while 
 we, the audience, sat in indignant silence. 
 
 Soon after this, "Blind Tom" was in Nash; 
 ville, and I, as secretary of the Hospital Asso- 
 ciation, wrote to his manager, requesting that 
 he should give a concert in Columbia. We were 
 trying in every way to get funds for the hospital 
 and this proved very successful. Two gentlemen 
 gave us a hundred dollars apiece. 
 
28 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 How busy that hospital kept us! Knitting", 
 making- underwear, collecting supplies, sending 
 boxes to the army, ^ly mother was instrumental 
 in organizing it, and was president until the 
 close of the war. We not only ministered to our 
 own wounded soldiers, but to many of the Fed- 
 erals, who were taken prisoners, had been 
 wounded, or were sick, and brought to the hos- 
 pital. 
 
 This reminds me of an incident that occurred. 
 My two beautiful gray carriage horses had been 
 seized soon after we were in Federal lines, and I 
 wished to regain possession of them, so I asked 
 the services of the provost marshal, a Union man, 
 and near neighbor of ours, to accompany me to 
 headquarters, which he did. 
 
 The officer in command asked me several ques- 
 tions, and among others about the hospital. 1 
 replied, "I\Iy mother is president, and we give 
 every care and attention not only to our own 
 soldiers, but also to the sick and Avounded 
 'Yankees.' '' At this he sprang up indignantly 
 from his chair, and said, "]\Iadam, I have seen 
 you but ten minutes, and during that time you 
 have twice insulted me. I wish you to under- 
 stand I am from Ohio, and the soldiers also who 
 are under my command. We are not ''Yankees." 
 AVith this the interview was at an end, and there 
 were no horses for me. 
 
29 
 
 Shiloh 
 
 On April 6, 1862, the battle of Shiloh was 
 fought, gained the first day, and lost the next 
 day. 
 
 A Union man from Columbia was said to have 
 brought the order from Grant to Buell to rein- 
 force him. 
 
 So at night sixty thousand men waded Duck 
 river in their forced march, and changed the 
 defeat of the first day into a victory the second 
 day. That terrible day ! As I lay upon my sick 
 bed I could hear the tramp of the mighty host, 
 as they passed upon the turnpike. They 
 swarmed over our house, and only the pleading 
 of my mother kept them out of my sick room. 
 In my delirium I would sing ' ' He has fought his 
 last fight. He has won his last battle"; words 
 from an old song, I think called "Sir John 
 Moore's Farewell." 
 
 In that battle it was said "every man who 
 could bear arms, of the name of Polk, fought. ' ' 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ]\Iy brother Lucius went into the battle as a 
 first lieutenant. His regiment, the first Arkan- 
 sas, was cut to pieces, the captain of the company 
 made a prisoner, and left with ])ut one officer. 
 Lieutenant Polk took command and led the regi- 
 ment for two days. The next day after the bat- 
 tle he was elected colonel by the men unanimously 
 and appointed afterwards. 
 
 Of that heroic brother what could I not tell? 
 There was never a nobler and more magnanimous 
 
spirit, united to a tenderer and more merciful 
 one — to write of him even in the "so long- ago" 
 sends a pang to my heart. 
 
 Lucius Polk was born in Salsburg, North Caro- 
 lina, July 10, 1833, the family soon after moving 
 to Tennessee. He enlisted at the commencement 
 of the Civil War in Arkansas, where he owned 
 a plantation, and was elected first lieutenant in 
 Gen. Pat. Cleburne's company, in the regiment 
 known afterwards as the "First Arkansas." 
 
 Lieutenant Polk's first service was with the 
 Arkansas troops at the. capture of the arsenal 
 at Little Rock, Arkansas. His first fight was at 
 Shiloh, after which battle he was promoted 
 colonel of the regiment. 
 
 When the Confederate army fell back from 
 Corinth, he was ordered to cover the retreat, 
 ' ' if not a man be left. ' ' He defended the bridge 
 so gallantly, that he was complimented in Gen- 
 eral Cleburne's report (official report). 
 
 He was in the campaign in Kentucky, under 
 Gen. Kirby Smith, and was wounded in the bat- 
 tle of Richmond, and six weeks later that of 
 Perryville. Colonel Polk was then appointed 
 brigadier-general, in command of Cleburne's old 
 brigade. 
 
 He was in the two days' fight at IMurfreesboro, 
 Tennessee, where his uncle, General Leonidas 
 Polk, was in command of one division of the 
 army ; at Chattanooga, Avhere his brigade did 
 valiant service, and in all the battles in the 
 retreat from Tennessee. 
 
 His brigade brought up tlie rear in falling- 
 back from Missionary Ridge, General Cleburne 
 
GEN. LUCIUS E. POLK. 
 
32 
 
 in command of the division, entrusting him with 
 the charge of the rear guard. 
 
 In the ambuscade which he formed, by conceal- 
 ing his troops on each side at Ringgold's Gap, 
 and then ordering a sortie, his brigade fought 
 most gallantly, capturing two of the enemy's 
 flags, and he was most highly complimented in 
 the official reports of Generals Johnston , and 
 Hardee. 
 
 In the fight near Hope Church, in Georgia, 
 he was desperately wounded and crippled for 
 life. 
 
 In his official report of the battle of Chicka- 
 maugua, Gen. Joseph Johnston said, "But for 
 the valor of Gen. Lucius Polk's brigade we could 
 not have carried the day." 
 
 General Polk did not long survive the war, 
 and died at his residence in Maury County. 
 
 Of him could be said not only ' ' the bravest of 
 men, but the truest and most loyal." 
 
 His two oldest sons, Rufus and Lucius, were 
 in the Cuban and Philippine wars, and showed 
 themselves worthy of their parentage. 
 
 The first, Rufus, was twice a Congressman 
 from Pennsylvania (where he had married), and 
 he w^as prominently mentioned for lieutenant- 
 governor of Pennsylvania at the time of his 
 death, at the early age of thirty-four. 
 
33 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 My brother had but one furlougli — he was 
 sent home after the campaign in Kentucky. We 
 did not even know he was wounded (so difficult 
 was it to get any intelligence from the army), 
 when one morning he came limping into our 
 sitting-room, the shadow of his former self, his 
 head bound with bandages, and also shot in the 
 foot. You can imagine how^ we felt ! 
 
 After this came the battle of Murfreesboro, 
 the two days' fight on the thirtieth of Decem- 
 ber and firet of January, 1863. During the 
 progress of the great battle which was fought 
 there, my mother and I, and many others, went 
 to the "Knob," which overlooks Columbia, and 
 with straining ears listened to the thud of the 
 cannon forty miles distant. 
 
 My mother dispatched in haste, Oscar, a faith- 
 ful servant, to ride across the country to Mur- 
 freesboro with bandages, liniments and supplies, 
 for her sons wiio were in the battle. 
 
 The Confederate Army were encamped on 
 Stone river — General Hardee commanding one 
 corps, and Gen. Leonidas Polk, "The Fighting 
 Bishop, ' ' the other. I have a plan of the Battle 
 of ]\Iurfreesboro which I prize highly. It is a 
 topographic view of the ground upon which the 
 two armies were posted, drawn by Captain Mor- 
 ris, chief engineer of Polk's Corps, for Lieuten- 
 ant-General Polk. The original was destroyed 
 
3-4 
 
 and I have the duplicate, .sent by Captain ^lorris 
 to me. 
 
 The position of the Federal troops under Rose- 
 erans is tiiven with division commanders and 
 bri^iades. as well as that of the Confederates. 
 
 Bragg- commanding, and the two corps com- 
 manders, Lieutenants-General Polk and Hardee, 
 in command of the right and left wings, en- 
 camped on Stone River, whose waters were 
 tinged with blood after the battle. 
 
 The cemetery near Murfreesboro is filled with 
 monuments to the dead of both armies. 
 
 Gen. Leonidas Polk's unique career came to a 
 close at a later period at Pine ^Mountain, near the 
 Kenesaw. 
 
 He was born at Raleigh, North Carolina, April, 
 1806. Pie commenced his education at Chapel 
 Hill, North Carolina. He received his appoint- 
 ment as cadet to West Point in 1823 — his father 
 having been an officer in the Revolutionary War, 
 was very desirous that his son should also add to 
 the military traditions of the family — but, 
 influenced by the eloquence and devotion of the 
 chaplain at West Point, he l)ecame a member of 
 the Episcopal Church and studied for the min- 
 istry. 
 
 In Richmond, Virginia, he first entered upon 
 his church duties, and after a year's travel 
 abroad, returned and made his h(mie in ^Middle 
 Tennessee upon a tract given him by his father. 
 In 1838 the general convention made him mis- 
 sionary bishop of the Southwest, which embraced 
 Arkansas, Indian Territory, Mississippi, Ala- 
 bama, Louisiana and Texas. 
 

 ^^^H^^^^^^ 'v -^ "^^^^^^^1 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 ^^M 
 
 wi 
 
 rl 
 
 ^K"'^ 
 
 •J 
 
 f 1 
 
 ^^^^^^■i 
 
 LEONIDAS POLK. 
 
 Bishop of Louisiana and General in the Confederate Army. 
 
36 
 
 Many amusing anecdotes are told of him at 
 this period. He had a great amount of humor, 
 and must have enjoyed them immensely. 
 
 Once, while on Red river, a planter Avished his 
 son baptized by an Episcopal minister, but the 
 boy fought valiantly against it, unless his black 
 chum, Jim, was also baptized. "Well," said the 
 bishop, "Bring Jim in, and we will make a 
 Christian of him, too." It seemed many small- 
 pox cases were reported on the plantations, and a 
 dignified circle, invited to meet the bishop, were 
 discussing vaccination when in burst Jim, wildly 
 excited, "Master, master, you have Marse Tom 
 baptized over again — it never tuk that ar time ; 
 he's out yonder cussin' the steers worse than 
 ever, an he says he ain"t gwine to stop fur 
 nobody. ' ' The ice melted, and the bishop turned 
 and said, ' ' Commentary on the doctrine of bap- 
 tismal regeneration. ' ' 
 
 The following anecdote I have never seen in 
 print: In going down the Mississippi river at 
 Natchez, where the boats would stop for a short 
 time, there was a lunch-room near the Avharf, the 
 proprietor of which was a noted character. He 
 prided himself upon knowing the occupation or 
 profession of any man by his appearance, and 
 would greet his guests accordingly, announcing 
 them as they came into the dining-room : ' ' Walk 
 in, doctor," "Walk in, lawyer." 
 
 On this occasion, as the bishop entered, he 
 called out "Walk in, judge." Excuse me, said 
 the host, "I should have said general." "No, 
 not general? Now I l-iioir I must be right, walk 
 in, hishop.'' 
 
37 
 
 "Why do you give me these titles?" said the 
 bishop. 
 
 "Because," replied mine host, "I know what- 
 ever profession you follow you are bound to be 
 at the head of it." 
 
 Indeed the bishop did look the born leader. 
 Of majestic and very handsome appearance, a 
 face full of determination, yet softened by great 
 kindliness and good humor. 
 
 At one of the conferences, after the battle of 
 Belmont, and the business of the flag of truce 
 had been dispatched, the party adjourned to 
 a simple lunch, provided by the Confederates. 
 One of the officers, the gallant Buford (of the 
 Twenty -seventh Illinois), raising his glass, pro- 
 posed a toast to Greneral Washington, the 
 "Father of his country." General Polk, with a 
 merry twinkle of his eye, quickly added, "And 
 the first Rebel." The Federal officers joined 
 with excellent humor in the laughter which fol- 
 lowed the sally, and drank the amended toast. 
 
 Never did the bishop neglect his religious serv- 
 ices and the morning prayers. In a meeting in 
 New Orleans, on his birthday anniversary, I read 
 records of his death prepared by Colonel Hop- 
 kins, a member of his staff : 
 
 "On the morning of June 14, 1864, General 
 Polk received an early message from General 
 Johnston, with request to meet at Pine Moun- 
 tain to make a reconnoissance of the position of 
 the enemy. Morning prayers having been said 
 by the general, as usual, and the frugal meal of 
 those forced days of abstinence been disposed of, 
 the general mounted his well-known roan, 
 
38 
 
 'Jerry,' and rode alone, followed by two of 
 his stalf and two men of the escort. During 
 that lonely ride, contrary to his usual mien, the 
 general seemed dispirited — possibly his thoughts 
 were drifting to the loved flock of his far-away 
 church, possibly to his plantation home, on the 
 bayou, and possibly again to the fast-declining 
 fortunes of the Confederacy, Avhose doom was 
 already foreshadowed. To all appearances lost 
 in thoughts of sadness, he led the way to the 
 meeting place, where fate awaited him. 
 
 "Arriving at Pine Mountain, General Polk 
 found Generals Hardee, Johnston and Jackson 
 (of the cavalry) on the ground. 
 
 "The day was ideal, and the stillness of death 
 was abroad, for both armies rested on their arms, 
 facing each other, but ready at a moment's 
 notice to rend the air with shot and shell. 
 
 "On this exposed position the group of gen- 
 erals had assembled — it was evidently a council 
 of war; when suddenly a puff of smoke arose 
 from the distant lines, and ere it had melted in 
 the air a murmuring shot j)assed overhead. 
 Warned by the artillerymen of the danger of 
 their position, the group of generals sought 
 shelter. Then came the second shot, lower, and 
 better aimed, when, looking back from my place 
 of safety, I saw General Polk alone, on the very 
 crest of the hill, with arms crossed, and looking 
 intently at his front. 
 
 "In an instant I was at his side, but. alas ! too 
 late, for at that very instant a solid shot was 
 tearing its murderous way, with a hissing sound, 
 througli his chest, carrving his heart, and sliat- 
 
39 
 
 tcring both his arms. Without a groan his great 
 inanly form, so full of honor and of love, tot- 
 tered and fell, with his feet to the foe, and his 
 face upturned to the sky above." 
 
 The general 's remains were taken to Marietta, 
 Georgia, from thence to Augusta, where they 
 now repose in St. Paul's Chureh, in the erypt 
 beneath the chancel. 
 
 Shortly after this the army fell back, pursued 
 by Sherman on his march to the sea. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 On December 15, 1864, I started for the plan- 
 tation in Arkansas with my nurse and small 
 family to see my husband. 
 
 Nashville was in Federal lines, but I had a 
 permit to go to Memphis, via Louisville. There, 
 through the influence of my brother-in-law, 
 Judge Russel Houston, then of Louisville, whose 
 handsome home in Nashville had just been 
 burned to the ground to build Fort Houston, I 
 was permitted to take mth me many contraband 
 articles. 
 
 I had a shoe trunk filled w^th sugar and medi- 
 cines, and an overcoat for my husband, with to- 
 bacco in the pockets to give the provost marshal 
 the impression that I was carrying an old, worn 
 coat. These articles were sealed by the provost 
 marshal to prevent inspection. 
 
 We embarked upon the Golden Eagle, a boat 
 which on the trip before had carried negro sol- 
 diers. In consequence, we were fired upon all 
 the way dowai the river, a flash from the bushes 
 on the banks and a volley of shot. I was in the 
 
40 
 
 pilot house, and it was the object to disable tlie] 
 pilot of our boat — the shot flew thick and fast | 
 around us. We all fell upon the floor, and lay 
 trembling until the guerillas were out of sight. 
 
 At last we arrived at Memphis and changed 
 our boat for the Commonwealth. The captain 
 refused to take pay from a Southern Avoman, 
 until I assured him I was well supplied with 
 money. 
 
 Next we stopped at Helena, where General 
 Buford, of Kentucky, who was in command and 
 noted for his petty tyranny, refused to let me 
 proceed farther. I pleaded, and then wept, but 
 soon restrained my tears when I noticed the 
 expression of his face. 
 
 I said, ''1 see, General, that this gives you 
 pleasure, but as I hear that j^ou are a dear lover 
 of the negro race, let me go to the plantation 
 and take medicine for your friends there. ' ' 
 
 He was indignant, and replied, "Madam, my 
 rc^fusal was in kindness, as I was a West Pointer 
 with your Uncle Leonidas, but now you return 
 to ]\Iemphis on the first boat that lands here. ' ' 
 
 The boat came in an hour. It had lashed to 
 it, in tow, another steamboat filled with smallpox 
 patients, soldiers A^hom they were sending to 
 some hospital in the North. The odor was insuf- 
 ferable, although there were heavy tarpaulins 
 on that side to exclude the air. I was terrified 
 (as Laurence was sick, and soon broke out with 
 an eruption which proved to be measles), but 
 there was no appeal. 
 
 For seven weeks we were compelled to remain 
 in Memphis at the Gayosa Hotel. 
 
41 
 
 No one was alloAved to pass the lines, to go out 
 or to come in Memphis. I did not know the rea- 
 son then, but knew afterward — Hood's army 
 was advancing into middle Tennesee. 
 
 At last, on Christmas day, we were permitted 
 to leave. I went with my aunt, Mrs. Andrew 
 Polk, to headquarters to ask a pass to proceed 
 down the river, my second attempt. 
 
 The general was absent, but the officer in com- 
 mand very sternly refused to give it to me, say- 
 ing the general had left such orders in regard to 
 all applications. I thought it hopeless, and was 
 preparing sadly to leave, when, all at once, there 
 was such a transformation, such a desire to 
 assist, such kindness ! 
 
 My astonishment was great. My aunt was a 
 beautiful and charming woman, but that had no 
 influence upon the officer at first. What was the 
 magic? All at once a light broke upon me. I 
 exclaimed: "I understand, you are a Mason, 
 3^ou have taken three degrees, and your father, 
 Mr. Van Leer, was past grand master of the 
 State ! ' ' 
 
 She laughed, but she neither affirmed nor dis- 
 ci aimed. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AVe arrived at Napoleon, Arkansas, which since 
 has been swept away by the ever-encroaching 
 river, on January 1, 1865. AVe were met there 
 by Colonel Branch, with the carriage. Our 
 meeting was joyful, yet tinged with a deep 
 imdercurrent of sadness, as you can realize 
 everything was at that time. The battle of 
 
42 
 
 Franklin had been fought and we felt that the 
 Confederacy was doomed. 
 
 Colonel Branch had been ordered to make a 
 cotton crop — to be gotten out as it best could 
 be, to buy ammunition for the army. He was 
 also ordered to supply the families of fifteen 
 soldiers with meal. The plantation was unin- 
 jured, and looked strangely peaceful, but the 
 serenity was soon disturbed. 
 
 On the third day after my arrival I was hav- 
 ing a pleasant talk in my sitting-room, with an 
 old gentleman, a neighbor, when the doors open- 
 ing upon the front gallery were thrown simul- 
 taneousl}^ open, and blue-coated soldiers swarmed 
 into the room. 
 
 One rushed to the old man, with a canteen of 
 whisky. ' ' Drink, I say ! ' ' and the old man 
 drank, although he did not know but that it 
 might have been poison, while the others com- 
 menced ransacking. 
 
 Realizing the absolute necessity of coolness, 
 I arose, and said to the leader, apparently : "If 
 you wdll control your men, I will supply what 
 they demand, w-ater, tow^els and food." 
 
 "They are helping themselves," he said, as a 
 chicken flew past, followed by half a dozen sol- 
 diers in pursuit. He looked at me, and said : 
 "I see that you are a w^oman of sense, so I will 
 give you a little advice. Behave as you are 
 doing now^, and you wdll have no trouble. Here 
 comes the captain now^ ! ' ' 
 
 Looking out I saw advancing down the road an 
 officer at the head of a hundred cavalry. He 
 behaved with great politeness, and remarked that 
 
43 
 
 at the plantation above us (the Douglas), "the 
 house had been set on fire three times, as the 
 ladies had been so insulting to the soldiers that 
 he had found difficulty in controlling them." 
 
 They stayed two days, the men encamped 
 upon the place, the officers in the house. 
 
 One of them picked up an album, and looking 
 at a photograph, said: "Who is this?" I said: 
 "General Pillow, an uncle of Colonel Branch's 
 first wife." 
 
 "And this?" 
 
 "That," I said, "is General Leonidas Polk, 
 the uncle of Colonel Branch's second wife. 
 This," I went on to say, as he turned another 
 leaf, "is General Lucius Polk, my brother, and 
 this. General Laurence Branch, killed at Sharps- 
 burg. ' ' 
 
 "What a nest of rebels!" he exclaimed, and 
 closed the book in disgust. 
 
 I left soon after to weep and wiring my hands 
 in the retirement of my room, and then to appear 
 composed and calm before the soldiers. 
 
 The place was left uninjured, and the captain 
 allowed me to supply with money a wounded 
 Confederate soldier, w^hom they had taken pris- 
 oner on an adjoining plantation, and send him 
 off in my carriage. They also left a Choctaw 
 pony for my boy, which no doubt they had stolen 
 from some place lower down on the river. The 
 squad first thrown out were the fast-riders, to 
 take prisoners, before the main body, moving 
 more slowly, could come. 
 
u 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 But the Federal soldiers I did not fear at aftf 
 as I did the '' Jayhawkers/' They were com- 
 posed of roving bands from both armies, united 
 for the purpose of plunder — calling themselves 
 Confederates usually, but feared by friend and 
 foe alike. 
 
 Our plantation, having- a great deal of cotton 
 hidden under the cabins, was a special object 
 of attraction, and, when frustrated, of revenge. 
 One night an attack was expected from one 
 of these bands. ]\Iy room had mattresses placed 
 around the Avails, to protect us from the shot, 
 while my husband, the provost marshal, and sev- 
 eral of our neighbors, who had come in for the 
 purpose of self-protection, stood behind the trees, 
 ready to fire, as the Jayhawkers approached. 
 However, they heard in some way of the prepara- 
 tions, and made a detour. 
 
 On another occasion, three men took Colonel 
 Branch out in the cane to kill him, and only the 
 interference of one, a Kentuckian, saved him. 
 
 Once they came when I was alone, the only 
 white Avoman in miles around, and demanded 
 Colonel Branch. They asked the "time," to 
 see, I think, if I had a gold Avatch, and Avhile, 
 on pretense of ordering them a lunch, I con- 
 trived to send a message to Colonel Branch not 
 to return to the house. 
 
 On such occasions "Aunt Beck,'' Avho Avas a 
 
GEN. LAWRENCE BRANCH. 
 
46 
 
 famous cook, and believed in the efficacy of a 
 good lunch, Vv^ould have one prepared in almost 
 incredible time, ably assisted by the other serv- 
 ants. One would prepare the fried chicken, or 
 cold ham, another the crisp lettuce salad, and 
 these material comforts doubtless served me 
 many a good turn. 
 
 In time of danger, how faithful these slaves 
 were ! What would have become of the women 
 and children of the South if they had not been? 
 No wonder the men of the South wished to raise 
 a monument to immortalize the fidelity of the 
 old "Southern Mammy!'' 
 
 So late as last winter, nearly a half century 
 since the slaves Avere freed, I received a letter, 
 written in Chicago, from one of them. 
 
 It was from the daughter of Grandison, our 
 dining-room servant, who wrote at the request of 
 her father, who was on his deathbed. He said 
 that he must "say farewell to my old mistress 
 before he went." He recalled to me the question 
 of the Federal general to him : ' ' How does the 
 ex-slave feel toward his former owner?" and 
 his reply, "Nothing but death can sever the tie 
 between the old master and his ex-slave. ' ' How 
 many instances could I enumerate of their fidel- 
 ity. To them I owe the preservation of my silver 
 during the war. "Aunt Beck" and Colonel 
 Branch's body-servant, Braxton, dug a hole at 
 midnight on the banks of the lake. There was 
 a massive breakfast service, and all the flat silver, 
 spoons, forks, and the silver pitcher and waiter. 
 These they enclosed in a trunk and buried in 
 the sand. 
 
47 
 
 There it remained for some years, until 
 ' ' peace ' ' at last reigned. Then George, my hus- 
 band 's eldest son, was sent to Arkansas, to bring 
 it up to our home in Tennessee, from which 
 State it had been sent to Arkansas for preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 He stopped at the Gayosa, in Memphis, for 
 two days, and with a boy's carelessness left the 
 door of his room open, yet no one ever thought 
 of disturbing the disreputable-looking old trunk, 
 tied with ropes, in which the silver had been 
 packed. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The war had ended — the long agony was over, 
 and again we met in our mother's home, in 
 Columbia, Tennessee. 
 
 First came Lucius, bravest of the brave, on 
 crutches. Next, Cadwalader, whose horse was 
 shot from under him, and he left for dead on the 
 battle-field at Prairie Grove. Next, Rufus, who 
 spent his seventeenth birthday in a prison on 
 Johnson's Island. 
 
 We met again, in the parlor, where, after the 
 battle of Franklin, Generals Cleburne, Gran- 
 berry and Stahl had been laid, before they were 
 interred at St. John's churchyard. 
 
 A bloody handkerchief was over General Cle- 
 burne's face, but one of his staff took from his 
 pocket an embroidered one, and said: "Cover 
 his face with this ; it was sent him from Mobile, 
 and I think that he was engaged to the young 
 lady." 
 
 No wonder that it is said that the jingle of 
 
48 
 
 spurs and the measured tread of a Confederate 
 soldier is often heard in the hall of the old house 
 at night ! 
 
 We separated, for another battle — the battle 
 for our daily bread, and with no resources, and 
 the debt of five years, gro^^^ng in interest, be- 
 fore us ! 
 
 The men who were in that war have not been 
 long-lived, as a rule. Sickness, hardship and 
 wounds impaired their vitality. They worked 
 with the same doggedness of purpose, uncom- 
 plaining and in silence, as did Lee, their great 
 leader. But hope was gone — no longer there 
 to vivify their souls. 
 
 Then came Reconstruction days. It would 
 have been very ditferent if the negroes had been 
 left to themselves, and not listened to the 
 "carpet-baggers" who swarmed over the South, 
 but by them they were incited to lawlessness and 
 insult. 
 
 The Kuklux. 
 
 AVhat could be done? There was no law! 
 The Kuklux filled the needed want, and hy thor- 
 ough superstition awed the negroes into better 
 behavior. 
 
 I have looked out in the moonlight, and seen 
 a long procession Avending their way slowly on 
 the turnpike, in front of my house. Not a sound 
 could be heard from the muffled feet of their 
 horses, as in single file they moved in speechless 
 silence — a spectral array clothed in white. X(^ 
 one knew who they were, whence they came, and 
 what their object, but the negroes soon knew; 
 
49 
 
 and if there were excesses in their new-found 
 liberty, crimes committed by them, they knew 
 there would be a speedy retribution by these 
 spectral visitants. 
 
 They effected a great good, but as good is often 
 attended with evil, lawless men, who did not 
 belong to the regular organization, disguised 
 themselves as Kuklux. 
 
 For instance, on my brother Lucius' planta- 
 tion, one night he was aroused by negroes from 
 the quarter, calling at his window, begging him 
 to get up ; that there was ' ' A company of 
 Kuklux at the quarter." He went at once, and 
 demanded what they wanted. They said : ' ' One 
 of the negroes on the place has done a great 
 deal of mischief, and we have come to whip 
 him. ' ' My brother said : "I know him to be a 
 good negro, and you can not whip him." "But 
 we must!" ''You can not," said my brother; 
 "if you do it will be over my dead body, for I 
 am his natural protector." "Well, General, 
 your life is too valuable to be given for this 
 negro's. f«o, as we do not wish to kill you, we 
 will go." 
 
 Turgenefif, in his book, "The Fool's Errand," 
 in writing of the Kuklux, of whom he had heard 
 and seen a great deal, when stationed for some 
 time in the South immediately after the war, 
 writes: "When complaints were first sent to 
 the Government it ignored them, and in good 
 humor from having subdued the Rebellion, 
 treated the matter simply as pranks of school- 
 boys playing ghosts to frighten the negroes, but 
 when the representations became more serious. 
 
50 
 
 it was forced to act, and orders were given to the 
 governors of the different States to imprison and 
 try any one who w^as accused of being a Ku- 
 kliix." 
 
 The governors complied willingly — all the 
 good had been effected. The governors them- 
 selves had been Kuklux, and knew that they had 
 been disbanded, but bound by such solemn oaths 
 that to this day I can not find who were Kuklux. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 My husband and I went to our beautiful home, 
 "Buena Vista, " which had been my father's. 
 
 It was endeared to me by a thousand memories 
 of childhood and girlhood. There had I been 
 married, and there had my children been born. 
 It was a large, old-fashioned brick house, on an 
 elevation. On one side, a garden bordered with 
 hedges of the microfilla rose, and its summer 
 house and arbor festooned with wreaths of yel- 
 low jasmine — its garden beds in the old style, 
 with borders of box, trimmed square. 
 
 In front of the house a climbing rose, twenty 
 feet high, still hung from an oak, in which were 
 embedded the bullets of the enemy. Upon the 
 gallery had stood a Confederate soldier, a mere 
 youth, wiio had fired from behind the pillars, 
 until the boy fell dead, riddled with bullets. 
 
 In the joy of meeting, wt tried to forget the 
 past — and we were happy. JVIy husband, big 
 in heart as well as stature, and the four children, 
 mere babies, and the father's delight in them. 
 He was of so bright and sanguine a nature, it 
 
51 
 
 was an inspiration to be with him. I leaning 
 on him for love and protection ! In my checkered 
 life was it not a dream of heaven ! 
 
 I carry it with me when days are dark, and 
 turn to that pictnre of the past. 
 
 Two years of this ideal life passed, and a snm- 
 mons came from the plantation in Arkansas, and 
 he must leave. 
 
 Colonel Branch left our home on November 
 11, 1867. I washed to go with him, but the care 
 of the little children and the place prevented, 
 and crippled by the war, our means were not 
 what they had been. 
 
 I had a premonition of ill, as I gave him the 
 farewell kiss. 
 
 Two days after he arrived at the plantation, 
 he walked the main road to examine a bridge 
 over the bayou, which needed repairs. As he 
 stood there, a buggy with the physician on the 
 place, Doctor Pendleton, in it, came up. Doc- 
 tor Pendleton had charge of the hospitals of the 
 two plantations. 
 
 He had been drinking heavily and was seek- 
 ing a quarrel, so he called to Colonel Branch, 
 making an insulting remark, and drew his pistol. 
 
 The Death of Colonel Branch. 
 
 My husband raised his hand and cried out : 
 "I am unarmed"; but the fatal shot was fired, 
 passing completely through his body. He fell 
 upon the bank, partially paralyzed, and the 
 negroes, rushing from the cotton-field, bore him 
 to the house. 
 
 They filled his room, w^eeping, and crying 
 
52 
 
 aloud, while his old nurse knelt beside him. lie 
 said: "Will no one write to my wife, and tell 
 her 'farewell' for me." 
 
 The crying of the negroes distressed him, so 
 he said : ' ' Let only a few come in at a time to 
 bid me farewell." This they did, and so he 
 passed away. 
 
 The negroes were wild, they declared he 
 should be avenged. Many of them had been in 
 his family for generations, and some in mine. 
 None had left during the war ; this was two 
 years afterward, and still all were there, faithful 
 to the close. 
 
 They armed themselves with guns, anytliing 
 with which they could kill, and started to Judge 
 Fletcher's plantation, where Doctor Pendleton 
 had just arrived. 
 
 The old judge had turned to him, and said: 
 "If you killed Colonel Branch, get out of my 
 house this moment, ' ' when an overseer from our 
 place, who was a Mason, and bound to give aid 
 to another Mason (and Doctor Pendleton w^as 
 one), came dashing through a short cut to the 
 house, and cried out : ' ' Go, for your life ; the 
 Branch negroes are on your track, and they will 
 kill you, as sure as there is a God in heaven ! ' ' 
 
 Communication was very slow in those days, 
 and a week had passed before I arrived at the 
 plantation. I wished my husband to be interred 
 in St. John's Cemetery, at Columbia, Tennessee. 
 
 I traveled on the Henry Ames, the boat on 
 which I had gone down the river on my bridal 
 trip eight j'ears before, and on the anniversary. 
 I had onlv heard that he was wounded, but as 
 
53 
 
 we met each Arkansas River packet, the captain 
 would call out through his speakino^-trumpet : 
 "How is Colonel Branch?" At last the answer 
 came, "He is dead. ' ' 
 
 Many years have passed since then, and my 
 days glide serenely by, only speed more swiftly, 
 as rivers hurry when they near their destination, 
 the ocean's depths. 
 
 Only one great sorrow I have had, the loss of 
 my beloved grandson, Laurence Winn, a boy of 
 rare promise, a gifted and charming young boy 
 who died just before his eighteenth birthday. 
 
 Nature never stands still, and we may think 
 of him as still fairer growai, and brighter in his 
 celestial home — and with this belief w^e should 
 still our hearts, and say: "God knoweth best." 
 
 I can not tear my thoughts from that past life 
 and those I loved so much, and I sometimes feel 
 that they are very near me, and I recall the 
 words of Isaiah: "Seeing what a cloud of wit- 
 nesses encompass us about." 
 
 " Seeing What a Cloud of Witnesses Encom- 
 pass Us About." 
 
 My mother, may she be near me; may her sweet eyes 
 
 gaze in mine. 
 Does she watch and pray beside me, with a mother's 
 
 love divine? 
 Can He be near, my dearest? The world seemed a 
 
 ■ dream of bliss, 
 When, alas! so soon he left me to the bitterness of 
 
 this. 
 
54 
 
 A witness, may be, my brother, with his wounds a 
 
 tale to tell 
 Of battle-fields where heroes fought and the conquered 
 
 banner fell. 
 Silent and grand, like sculptured knight, he waits in 
 
 his lowly bed, 
 The sound of the reveille to call the soldier from the 
 
 dead. 
 
 One may be the gifted boy with the blue, prophetic 
 
 eyes, 
 Which saw, beyond his blighted life, a rainbow in the 
 
 skies — 
 The angels are around us, what may their mission 
 
 be?— 
 These souls escaped from bondage, from earthly 
 
 shackles free? 
 
 They come on silent wing through the blue realms of 
 
 space, 
 With a glory caught from Heaven, upon each radiant 
 
 face. 
 We feel their presence near us, and a rapture, as of yore. 
 Gomes o'er us, as they whisper " Love is love forever 
 
 more." 
 
 God's messengers, sent to us in the silent hour of 
 
 prayer, 
 In whispers and in dreams — it may be in visions rare — 
 They soothe us with the thought of that blessed land of 
 
 Peace, 
 Where tears shall never flow and all life's troubles 
 
 cease. 
 
 The spirits are about us, but, alas, we cannot see, 
 For our vision's dim and blinded to Heaven's great 
 
 mystery. 
 But with dying eyes we'll see them, as we leave >uis 
 
 world of sin. 
 They'll ope' the gates of Paradise that we may enter in. 
 
55 
 
 A Genealogical Record. 
 
 1. General Tliomas Polk married Susan Spratt. 
 Said Thomas Polk was the son of William Polk, 
 and his wife Priscilla Eoberts, who was the son of 
 John Polk, and his wife Joanna Knox, who was 
 the son of Eobert Polk, the emigrant, and his wife 
 Magdalena Tasker, of Moening Hill, Ireland. 
 
 1732. Born in Carlisle, Pa. 
 
 1735-1793, Eesided in Colony of North Carolina. 
 1769-1771. Member of Provincial Assembly of 
 North Carolina. 
 
 1775. Colonel of Militia. 
 
 1775. Colonel of Second Battalion of Minute Men. 
 
 1775, May 20. Called the meeting in Mechlenberg 
 County, and was a signer of the Mechlenberg Declara- 
 tion of Independence. 
 
 1776. Colonel of the Fourth regiment of North 
 Carolina troops; was at the battle of Brandywine, but 
 not at battle of Germantown, being at that time in 
 command of the escort of North Carolina troops (200) 
 detailed to convey the Liberty Bell and guard to a 
 place of safety at Bethlehem, Pa., the heavy baggage 
 of the army, among which was the Liberty Bell. There 
 were several hundred wagons. (From the official 
 diaries of the Moravian church, Bethlehem, Pa., Sep- 
 tember 24, 1777.) 
 
 Charles S. Keyser in his pamphlet, '* Liberty Bell." 
 
 Wheeler's History of North Carolina. 
 
 Life of Bishop Polk, pp. 65 and 68. 
 
 Jones ' ' * Defense of North Carolina. ' ' 
 
 Huttman 's "Kegister of Officers in Colonial Army," 
 p. 36. 
 
 Trustee of Liberty Hall College. (History of North 
 Carolina, Continental Line, H. H. Bellas.) 
 
 Wheeler's ''Reminiscences of Eminent Carolinians," 
 pp. 200-256. 
 
56 
 
 History of North Hampton County, Pennsylvania, 
 1752-1877, Captain F. Ellis, historian. 
 
 Commissary General under Gates. ("Life of Leoni- 
 das Polk.") 
 
 2. William Polk, son of Thomas Polk, and 
 Susan Spratt. First wife Grizelda Gilchrist. 
 Second wife Sarah Hawkins. 
 
 1758, July 9. Born in Mechlenberg County, North 
 Carolina. 
 
 1834, January 14. Died in Kaleigh, North Carolina. 
 
 1775, April 17. Second Lieutenant in a company 
 commanded by Colonel Ezekiel Polk. 
 
 1775, December 22. Severely wounded at Canebrake, 
 when only 16 years old. This was his only Colonial 
 service. 
 
 1776, November 26. Appointed major of the Ninth 
 continental battalion. From absence of the lieutenant- 
 colonel of this regiment, the command of it devolved 
 upon the major, and he marched with it to Georgetown, 
 and thence to Trenton, where he joined the Grand 
 Army under Washington, and was in the battles of 
 Germantown (where he was wounded), Brandywine 
 and Valley Forge, where he was shot in the shoulder, 
 and at Germantown in the mouth. Here he became 
 known as the young officer "who caught British bullets 
 in his teeth." 
 
 1812. He was . appointed General in the United 
 States Army in 1812, but declined on account of in- 
 firmities. Was nominated by Washington, and con- 
 firmed by United States Senate, as Supervisor of 
 Internal Revenue for North Carolina, which office he 
 held for seventeen years. 
 
 1824. He was one of the Commissioners to receive 
 Lafavette. Member of the Order of Cincinnati. 
 
 Genealogy of the Jones Family. 
 
 Robin Jones married Sarah Cobb. Grandson of 
 Eobin Jones the emigrant. (From the Bible of 
 
57 
 
 Isaac Cobb. ^'His Book.") Robin Jones was 
 born prior to 1700 in Sussex County, Va. 
 
 1750-1756, Lived in Northampton County, North 
 Carolina, 
 
 1754-1755. Member of Colonial Assembly. 
 
 1761, March 20. Appointed Attorney General by 
 order King and Council, an oflSce he held until his 
 death. Agent of Lord Granville, who was one of the 
 Lord Proprietors. 
 
 1766. Died. 
 
 Appleton 's Encyclopedia. 
 
 Governor Debb 's Dispatches. 
 
 Wheeler's Eeminiscences, pp. 195-197. 
 
 Rolls Office of Colonial Records. London. 
 
 Register of Albemarle and Sussex Counties, p, 1. 
 
 General Allen Jones, his wife, Rebecca Edwards. 
 Son of Robin Jones and Sarah Cobb. 
 
 1739. Born in Halifax County, North Carolina. 
 Died on his estate, Mt. Gallant, Roanoke River, 
 North Carolina. 
 
 1774-1768. Member of Provincial Congress. 
 1775. Delegate to Newbern Convention. 
 
 1775, Member of Committee of Safety for Halifax 
 County. 
 
 1776, April 23. Appointed one of the five Brigadier- 
 Generals from North Carolina. 
 
 1779-1780. Member of Continental Congress that 
 met in Philadelphia. 
 
 1776, April 4. Represented Northampton County in 
 the Legislature. 
 
 1779. Member of Congress. 
 
 1784-1787. State Senator. 
 
 Wheeler's Reminiscences, pp. 196-204. 
 
 Appleton 's Biographical Encyclopedia, p. 482. 
 
 Jones' Defense of North Carolina, pp. 203-256-257. 
 
 Wheeler's History, Vol. I, pp. 65-68; Vol. 2, p. 206. 
 
58 
 
 Genealogy of the Long Family. 
 
 Rebecca Jones, only daughter of General Allen 
 Jones, married Lunsford Long, son of Colonel 
 Nicholas Long. 
 
 1761. Colonel Nicholas Long married Mary McKinnie, 
 
 1798. Died. Both buried at his estate, "Quanky," 
 North Carolina, 
 
 1774-1775. Member of Committee of Safety, and in 
 Provincial Congress. 
 
 1776. Appointed by Provincial Congress Colonel 
 of Minute Men. Afterwards Commissary General for 
 the province of North Carolina. 
 
 1776. Deputy Quartermaster General, with rank of 
 Colonel in the Continental Army. 
 
 Jones' Defense of North Carolina. 
 
 Huttman's Eegister of Officers of Colonial Army. 
 
 Appleton 's Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 
 185-186. 
 
 Eegister of Officers of Continental Army. H. H. 
 Bellas. 
 
 Barnaby McKinnie. 
 
 Barnaby McKinnie^ father of Mrs. Nicholas 
 Long, nee Mary McKinnie, a noted woman of her 
 day. ("Women of the Eevolntion,'' Mrs. Ellet.) 
 
 1688. Born. 
 
 1759. Died. 
 
 1734-1735. Member of the Colonial Assembly of 
 North Carolina, 
 
 1746-1758. Justice of County Court. Appointed by 
 Governor Johnstone. 
 
 Fourth sheriff of Warren County. 
 
 Patience McKinnie, daughter of Barnaby McKinnie, 
 married Joseph Lane, son of governor of the first col- 
 ony of North Carolina. Their daughter married Allen 
 Gilchrist, descended from Martha Jones, who was a 
 daughter of Robin Jones. 
 
Nor/I/ CW/v/imy. 
 
 FAMILY COAT OF ARMS. 
 
(30 
 
 Edwards Line. 
 
 Colonel Xathaniel Edwards married Jane 
 Eaton. 
 
 1713. John Edwards, father of Nathaniel, died in 
 Brunswick County. 
 
 1709. Colonel Nathaniel Edwards, born in Bruns- 
 wick County. 
 
 1770-1771. Member of Virginia House of Burgesses 
 until his death in 1771. 
 
 1771. He vacated his seat by accepting the office 
 of Secretary of State (deputy) for State of Virginia. 
 
 Records of Brunswick County. W. G. Stanard, of 
 Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 "William Eaton. 
 
 William Eaton (father of Jane Eaton Edwards) 
 married Mary Rives, of Albemarle County, Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Born in Essex Count}', England, and emigrated 
 to Virginia. His estate in England was "Eaton 
 Green." Owned an immense property. 
 
 1754. Colonel Granville County Militia. 
 
 1757. Member of North Carolina Colonial Assembly. 
 
 1757. Died. 
 
 See Colonial Records, p. 162. 
 
 Record Through Which I Became a Colonial Dame. 
 
 1. General Thomas Polk, my great grandfather 
 through my father. 
 
 2. Colonel William Polk, my grandfather. 
 
 3. Robin Jones, my great-great-grandfather. Founder 
 of the family in America. Descent on both sides from 
 him, making my father and motlier cousins. 
 
 4. General Allen Jones, son of Robin Jones, my 
 great-grandfather on my mother's side. 
 
01 
 
 5. Colonel Nicholas Long, my great-grandfather 
 through my mother's father, who was Lunsford Long. 
 
 G. Sir Barnaby McKinnie, father of Mrs. Nicholas 
 Long. 
 
 7. Colonol Nathaniel Edwards, father of Mrs. Allen 
 Jones. 
 
 8. William Eaton, father of Mrs. Nathaniel Ed- 
 wards. 
 
 Branch Line. 
 
 The first Branch of whom we know was Peter 
 Branch, of Kent, England, who came over in the 
 Castle, 1638, but died on the voyage. His will, 
 made in favor of his ten-year-old son, John, is the 
 first one recorded in Boston. 
 
 John married Mary Speed, and they became the 
 proprietors of ''Branch Island,'' ten miles north 
 of Plymouth Eock. 
 
 Peter, son of John and Mary Branch, married 
 Hannah, daughter of Thomas Lincoln, "the 
 Miller,'' who was an ancestor of Abraham Lincoln. 
 Colonel John Branch, a soldier of the Eevolu- 
 tion. He married Rebecca Bradford, a daughtei 
 of John and Patience Bradford. 
 
 1775. He wa-s a "Terror to Tories" and a distin- 
 guished soldier. 
 
 1775. Sheriff of Halifax County, North Carolina. 
 1781-1782 and 1787-1788. In the Senate. 
 1806, March 14. Died at Elkmark, N. C. 
 
 The Branch family responded to every call to 
 arms and the defense of liberty. Among- those 
 who served from Connecticut for the relief of 
 Boston in the ''Lexington Alarm" was Sergeant 
 Thomas Branch and Rufus Branch. When the 
 signal came, announcing the approach of the 
 British on Bennington, he dropped his sickle in 
 
62 
 
 the field, mounted his horse and rode away to 
 join Stark's forces. Many are the stories told 
 of the bravery and Avit of Rufus' wife. At the 
 time of the battle of Bennington, several women 
 gathered at her home, intending if the British 
 were victorious to flee to the hills. Fear and 
 consternation reigned. However, ^Irs. Branch 
 sat carding flax, declaring that she would not 
 stir until she could see the color of the British 
 eyes. During her husband's absence, Avith her 
 daughters' help, she gathered wood for winter 
 use, she harvested the wheat and butchered the 
 pigs. 
 
 The descendants of John Branch, the Revolu- 
 tionary soldier, w^ere as follows : 
 
 John, Governor of North Carolina and Secretary of 
 the Navy under President Jackson. 
 
 Patsy married Whittier. 
 
 Patience married Southall. 
 
 Joseph married Susan O 'Bryan. 
 
 Issue of Joseph Branch and Susan 'Bryan were 
 Joseph, Henry, Susan, Lawrence, and James. 
 
 Joseph married, first, Annie Martin; second, Mary 
 Jones Polk, of Tennessee. 
 
 Descendants, George, Martin, and Henry. 
 
 Second marriage to Mary Jones Polk. Issue, Mary 
 Polk, married Dr. Winn. 
 
 Their descendants were Laurence Branch Winn and 
 Mary Polk. 
 
 Laurence O 'Bryan. 
 
 Lucia married J. W. Howards. Their descendants 
 arc Gerald and Laurence Branch. 
 
 Joseph Gerald. 
 
 Joseph Branch was a member of the Legislature of 
 Florida at twenty-one, a successful lawyer and planter 
 in Desha County, Arkansas, where he amassed a very 
 large fortune. He was assassinated on his plantation, 
 November 22, 1867. 
 
63 
 
 Gerald Toole. 
 
 1737, Laurence Toole married Sabre Irvine. 
 
 1750. Sabre Toole, his wife, died. 
 
 Their descendants were Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy, 
 Laurence, Henry Irvine, Sabre, Jean, and Geraldus. 
 
 1757. Elizabeth married Geraldus 'Bryan. 
 
 1764. Geraldus O 'Bryan died. 
 
 Sabre married Body. 
 
 Descendants of Geraldus and Elizabeth O 'Bryan: 
 Dennis and Laurence. 
 
 1761. Laurence was born, 
 
 1786. Married Elizabeth Simpson. 
 
 1812. Laurence 'Bryan died. 
 
 Descendants of Laurence and Elizabeth Simpson 
 were : 
 
 Laurence Dennis, who married Barsha Gordon. 
 
 Susan married Joseph Branch. 
 
 1825. Susan Simpson O 'Bryan died. 
 
 Descendants of Joseph Branch and Susan O 'Bryan: 
 Henry, Joseph, Susan, Laurence, and James. 
 
 1. Joseph Branch, the second. Son of Joseph 
 Branch and Susan 'Bryan. 
 
 Married, first, Annie Pillow Martin. 
 Their issue: 
 
 George Martin and Henry Lewis Branch. 
 Married, second, Mary Jones Polk. 
 Their issue: 
 
 1. Mary Polk married Dr. Chas. Ware Winn. 
 Issue: Laurence Branch Winn, Mary Polk Winn. 
 
 2. Laurence O'Bryan Branch, 
 
 3. Lucia Eugenia, married John William Howard. 
 Their issue: Gerald Branch Howard, Laurence Branch 
 
 Howard. 
 
 4. Joseph Gerald Branch, the third, Joseph Branch, 
 second, was a member of Legislature of Florida at 
 twenty-one, a successful lawyer and planter in Desha 
 County, Arkansas, where he amassed a very large fortune. 
 He was assassinated on his plantation November 22, 
 1867. 
 
Family Coat of Arms. 
 
65 
 
 2. Laurence 'Bryan Branch, first. Son of 
 Joseph Branch and Susan O 'Bryan. Member 
 of Congress from North Carolina, Speaker of 
 the House for many years. Brigadier-General 
 in Confederate Army. Killed at battle of 
 Sharpsburg. 
 
 Married Nannie Blount. 
 
 Issue: Susan, Nannie, Laurence and Josephine. 
 
 Susan married Robert Jones. 
 
 Issue : Laurence Branch. 
 
 Nannie married Jones. 
 
 Laurence married Miss Washerton. 
 Nannie married Burton Craig. 
 
 3. Susau, daughter of Joseph first and Susan 
 'Bryan. 
 
 Married General Robert Williams, of Florida. 
 
 Issue: Robert, married Jennie Sutton, of Louisiana. 
 
 4. James, youngest son of Joseph and Susan 
 'Bryan Branch. 
 
 Married Mary Watkins. 
 
 Issue: James, Joseph, Susan and Robert. 
 
 Genealogy. 
 
 In the reign of King David, of Scotland, the 
 vast feudal Barony of Pollock, in Renfrewshire, 
 was held by the noble territorial King Fulbert, 
 the Saxon. Upon the death of this monarch in 
 1153 Petreus succeeded, who assumed the sur- 
 name of his vast hereditary estate of Pollock. 
 According to the best authorities, the Lord Baron 
 of this feudal kingdom was a man of eminent 
 ability. He was the benefactor of the monastery 
 Paisley. His donation was received by the 
 Bishop of Glasgow prior to A. D. 1190. 
 
66 
 
 This Petreus de Pollok was a law unto him- 
 self, and equal to the sovereign of the realm in 
 wealth and power. He was the ancestor of a 
 long line of warriors, and the forbear of knights 
 who fought in the crusades. He was himself 
 distinguished for deeds of prowess, and the sub- 
 ject of many a minstrel lay. 
 
 In addition to the vast Renfrewshire estates, 
 Petreus de Pollok held the Barony of Rostis, in 
 Aberdeenshire, during the reign of Malcolm IV., 
 of Scotland. The latter lands he gave to his 
 daughter, Maurick, who married Sir Norman de 
 Leslie, and became ancestress of the Lords Rostis 
 and Leslie. 
 
 On the death of Petreus de Pollok the ancient 
 patrimonial estate of Pollok passed to his brother, 
 Robert de Pollok, who was succeeded by his son 
 of the same name. 
 
 Finally we come to a later Petreus, one of the 
 persons of rank, who in the year of our Lord 
 1206 gave a forced submission to Edward I., of 
 England, in the bond known as the "Ragsman" 
 bond. He was succeeded by his son Robert de 
 Po-llok, who married Agnes, daughter of Sir 
 John Maxwell, Lord of Carleverok. 
 
 Brecius de Pollok, wlio left a son, John de Pol- 
 lok, designated in a charter by King James IL, 
 of Scotland (December 12, 1439), as "Nohiles 
 vir Johannes de Pollok filius at keros Brecius.' ' 
 From this famous noble sprang the illustrious 
 line of that ilk. His successor was Charles de 
 Pollok. 
 
 John de Pollok had a' second son, Robert de 
 Pollok, who received from King James II. the 
 
67 
 
 great land grant in Veoius Scotia, in New Scot- 
 land, as Ireland was then called. He became 
 Sir Robert de Pollok, of Ireland, whose eldest 
 son, Robert de Pollok, inherited the estates in 
 old Scotland, while the younger son, Robert, 
 received the newly acquired lands in Ireland, 
 with the title of Sir Robert de Pollok. 
 
 In the year 1640 Sir Robert, of Ireland, joined 
 the Scotch Covenanters, whose commander-in- 
 chief and Governor of Dunbarton castle was a 
 relative of Sir Alexander Leslie, of the famous 
 soldiers of that day. 
 
 Sir Robert was succeeded by his son Thomas. 
 Sir Robert's second son, Robert Bruce Pollok, 
 married the widow of Major Porter, of the Eng- 
 lish army. According to well-authenticated 
 records, this lady's maiden name was Magdalen 
 Tasker, of noble French descent, and heiress of 
 "Moerning Hall," in Ireland. She survived her 
 liusband, and died about 1724. Certain it is that 
 in the year 1687 Robert Pollok had patented to 
 him certain estates in "Dames quarter," Somer- 
 set County, Maryland, which have descended in 
 the family to the present generation, and a fact 
 of more than passing interest is the will of IMag- 
 dalen Tasker Pollok, made when ninety years 
 old, in 1776, recorded in Somerset County, in 
 which she devises to her son, Joseph, "^ly estate 
 'Moerning- Hall,' " in the kingdom of Ireland, 
 and Barony of Ross, County of Donegal, and in 
 the parish of Leford. 
 
 Of the eight children who emigrated to Somer- 
 set County, with Robert Bruce Pollok (Polk) 
 and his wife ]\Iagdalen, the majority married; 
 
and tlieir descendants have included distin- 
 ^nislied men, not only of ^Maryland, but all 
 through the South and West. AVhen, as in the 
 case of Robert PoUok, we find a man of high 
 position, with wife and children, and the records 
 later disclose the fact that valuable estates were 
 left behind in the mother country, imagination 
 becomes active, and it is natural enough to pic- 
 ture the hasty flight of Protestants who would 
 be condemned to death for loyalty to a principle. 
 
 With the change from Catholicism, in the year 
 1689, we find the names of Robert Polk and that 
 of his son appear among the list of loyal subjects 
 of King William and Queen ]\Iary. 
 
 Robert Polk was said to be an elder in old 
 Rehobeth church, claimed to be the oldest Pres- 
 l)yterian church in America. He brought with 
 him from Ireland the family Bible, containing 
 records of births and deaths. It was stained by 
 the weather from being hidden in a tree. When 
 it was read one of the family would stand on 
 guard to watch for the Papists. This was after 
 the "Reformation.-' Robert Pollok's old home, 
 "White Hall," was standing until about sixty 
 years ago, when it was burned. In it still, when 
 it was burned, there was a clock brought from 
 Londonderry, Ireland; also an old mahogany 
 case that contained fifteen square bottles. 
 
 The First Deeds to Land. 
 
 The first deeds of land we find recorded on 
 the eastern shore of IMaryland were from Lord 
 Baltimore, date 1685: "To Robert Polk, Sr., 
 'Polk's Follv': to John. 'Locust Hammock'; to 
 
69 
 
 William, 'Polk's Defense'; to Robert Jr.. 'Bally 
 Hook'; to Ephraim, 'Cleminer; to James, 
 ' James Meadow.' " 
 
 Change of Name. 
 
 Why this change of name to Polk'? 
 
 Tradition says that, being Presbyterians, and 
 having been engaged in one of the many plots 
 of that sect against Charles II., they fled to 
 escape persecution, leaving off the last syllable 
 of the name and changing it from Pollok to Polk. 
 The name of Robert's estate, "Polk's Folly," 
 suggests that Robert regretted leaving the old 
 country; "Polk's Defense," that William was 
 still rebellious. "White Hall" descended to 
 William Polk, the second son of Robert and 
 ]\Iagdalen, and from him to his descendant, Col. 
 James Polk, naval officer of the port of Balti- 
 more, under his kinsman, President Polk. 
 
 From this elder branch descend the children 
 of Governor Lowe, who married Esther Polk, 
 daughter of Col. James Polk. His daughter, 
 Mary Polk, married Mr. Gorter, Belgiac Consul 
 at Baltimore for many years. 
 
 Robert Polk, a grandson, took up lands in Dor- 
 chester County about 1778. His son, Col. 
 William Polk, was a member of the Delaware 
 Council, and possessor of large estates known as 
 "Polk's Defense," which he inherited. In this 
 home was born Truston Polk, Governor of ]\Iis- 
 souri, and representative of IMissouri twice in 
 the Senate. 
 
 Robert Pclk, flfth son of the emigrant, married 
 Miss Gillette. Their son, Capt. Robert Polk, 
 
married Elizabeth, sister of the great artisi 
 Peale (William Wilson). Their son, Charles 
 Peale Polk, inherited the talent of his mother's 
 family, and became a distinguished artist also. 
 
 ' ' The Polk family, a family of heroes for four 
 generations, are of Scotch-Irish descent. They 
 are of very ancient lineage, tracing their descent 
 back to Fulbert A. D. 1075." — Genealogical 
 History. Col. Jones, 1899. Baltimore Sun, of 
 September 4, 1904. American Magazine, April, 
 1896, and October, 1897. 
 
 John Polk. 
 
 From John Polk, the oldest son of Robert and 
 Magdalen Tasker Polk, are descended the Polk 
 family of North Carolina, who afterwards emi- 
 grated to Tennessee. 
 
 John married Johanna Knox (second wife). 
 She died in 1777. William, only son of this mar- 
 riage, moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He mar- 
 ried Priscilla Roberts. They had eight children 
 (and with these he emigrated to Mecklenburg, 
 North Carolina, in 1750), namely: Thomas, 
 Charles, Ezekiel, Susa (married Alex. Brevard, 
 Governor North Carolina), Margaret (married 
 A. McRae). 
 
 Charles, the second son, was a soldier of the 
 Revolution, member of the Assembly 1793 
 (Wheeler). He was noted for his daring and 
 his love of a practical joke and gained the 
 soubriquet of "Devil Charley." One of the 
 anecdotes told of him was that while Colonel 
 Thompson's regiment encamped in a church 
 in North Carolina, Captain Charlie played 
 "Ghost." Attired in white and rattling chains. 
 
71 
 
 he sprang" up through a trap door in the pulpit 
 and put the regiment to flight. 
 
 Ezekiel Polk. 
 
 Ezekiel, the youngest son, was a signer of the 
 Mecklenburg- Declaration of Independence, and 
 commanded a company in the Revolution. His 
 son, Samuel, emigrated from North Carolina to 
 Columbia, Tennessee, in 1796, the year before 
 Maury was made into a county. He married 
 Jane Knox, whose family also had been Cove- 
 nanters. He was agent for his cousin, William 
 Polk, for his lands in Tennessee, which were one 
 hundred thousand acres. His oldest son was 
 President James K. Polk, whose life is too well 
 known for me to give a sketch of it here; his 
 successful administration, his war with Mexico, 
 the annexation of Texas, the acquisition of Cali- 
 fornia, making territory as large as the thirteen 
 colonial States, make his administration one of 
 the most glorious recorded in our history. : ' 
 
 The Old Home of President Polk. 
 
 The old home in which President Polk lived 
 is still to be seen in Columbia, Tennessee. 
 
 Samuel Polk left other descendants who have 
 distinguished themselves. Col. William Polk, a 
 man of great wit and humor. Consul to Italy. 
 He left an only son, Tasker Polk, of North Caro- 
 lina, a lawyer and journalist of decided ability. 
 
 Other descendants of Ezekiel Polk were Gen- 
 eral Neely, of Bolaivar, Tennessee; Col. Albert 
 McNeil, and Edmund Polk, no one more prom- 
 inent in Tennessee politics than he at the time 
 of his early death. 
 
PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK. 
 
 Taken in 1848. Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
73 
 
 Colonel Thomas Polk. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Polk, oldest son of eJohn, mar- 
 ried Susan Spratt. 
 
 1724. Born in Maryland. 
 
 1735-1793. Resided in colony of North Carolina. 
 1769-1771. Member of Provincial Assembly. 
 1775. Colonel of militia. 
 
 1775. Colonel of the 2d Battalion of Minute Alen, 
 
 1776. April 15, commissioned to buy powder. Trustee 
 of " Liberty Hall," North Carolina. 
 
 He was colonel of the Mecklenburg district at 
 the time of the "Mecklenburg Declaration of 
 Independence," of May 20, 1775, and "called 
 the meeting." The resolutions, read by him on 
 the courthouse steps to an assembly of people, 
 were drawn up by his son-in-law, Ephraim Bre- 
 vard. I shall not enter into a discussion of this 
 much-mooted Mecklenburg Declaration. I can 
 not doubt the testimony, however, of these old 
 God-fearing and truth-telling Presbyterians 
 before the Legislature of North Carolina in 1800 
 to the effect that "they were present, and that 
 the Declaration of 1775, May 20,. was similar to 
 that later one of 1776." 
 
 John Simmonson, in giving his testimony 
 before the legislature, relates this anecdote : 
 
 One aged man was asked — an old Scotchman — if he 
 knew anything of the Mecklenburg Declaration. He re- 
 plied, " Och, aye ; Tarn Polk declared independence lang 
 syne, lang before anybody." 
 
 At a few days later date, namely, May 31, 1775, sev- 
 eral of these same patriots, among whom Avas Thomas 
 Polk, signed the historical and undisputed " Kesolves," 
 which are on file in the Eolls Office, London. These 
 "Resolves" (says Bancroft) separated Mecklenburg from 
 
75 
 
 the English empire thirteen months before the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. 
 
 " This is glory enough for the Mecklenburg Fathers 
 and is a glory that can not be plucked from their brow." 
 — James C. Welling. 
 
 Colonel Polk, April 15, 1776, was in command 
 of the escort of North Carolina troops (200), 
 detailed to convoy and guard to a place of safety 
 the heavy baggage of the army. Among the 
 bells of Philadelphia which he had in charge was 
 the "Liberty Bell.'' There were several hun- 
 dred wagons. We give extracts : 
 
 History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884: 
 
 "August, 1777. Colonel Flower, aided by carpenters; 
 James Morrell, Francis Allison and Evans, took down 
 the bells of the churches and public buildings. They 
 were carried to Trenton, and thence to Bethlehem." 
 
 History of North Hampton County, Pennsylvania, 
 1752-1757. — Capt. F. Ellis, historian: 
 
 " September 23, 1777. Seven hundred waggons, escorted 
 by Colonel Polk, arrived at Bethlehem. 
 
 " The next day the train crossed the river and passed 
 through the town to the place where the stores were to 
 be deposited. 
 
 " While passing through the streets, one of the waggons 
 which carried the Statehouse bell broke down and its 
 load obliged to be transferred to another. Seven hundred 
 waggons deposited their stores, proceeded to Trenton to 
 remove a farther quantity of public property, which was 
 stored there. 
 
 " The Statehouse bell, which was in the waggon which 
 broke down in Bethlehem, had been taken down and car- 
 ried away for safety when the British army approached 
 the city." — From official diaries of the Moravian Church. 
 
 " September 24, 1777. In the afternoon Colonels Polk 
 and Thornburg arrived with seven hundred waggons con- 
 taining the heavy baggage. They came directly from the 
 camp and everything was unloaded to a place of safety 
 and left in Bethlehem. 
 
" A guard of two hundred men, who were encamped 
 on the banks of the Lehigh, were left behind.'' 
 
 Extract from another diary : *' The heavy baggage of 
 the entire army arrived directly from camp, guarded by 
 two hundred men under Colonel Polk, of North Carolina. 
 There were seven hundred waggons in train, everything 
 was unloaded and brought to a place of safety. The 
 waggons were ordered to Trenton in order to fetch the 
 stores from that place also to Bethlehem. Among these 
 stores were the bells of Philadelphia. The waggon con- 
 taining the Statehouse bell broke down in the streets of 
 Bethlehem so that the bell had to be unloaded; the other 
 bells were taken away," 
 
 History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, by J. Thomas 
 Scharf and Thompson Wescott. 
 
 Wheeler's " History of North Carolina." 
 
 Thomas S. Keyser, in his pamphlet, " Liberty Bell." 
 
 " Life of Bishop Polk," pp. 65-68. 
 
 " History of North Carolina Continental Line." H. H. 
 Bellas. 
 
 Wheeler's " Eeminiscences of Eminent North Caroli- 
 nians," pp. 200-256. 
 
 " History of North Hampton County, Pennsylvania," 
 1752-1757, Capt. F. Ellis, historian. 
 
 Colonel \Villiam Polk. 
 
 1759. Oldest son of General Thomas Polk and Susan 
 Spratt. 
 
 1824. Born January 18; died in Raleigh, North Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 His first wife Avas Grizelda Gilchrist; second wife, 
 Sarah Hawkins. 
 
 Issue of first marriage: 
 
 Thomas Gilchrist, who married Mary Trotter. 
 
 William Julias Polk, married Mary Long. 
 
 Issue of second marriage : 
 
 Lucias Junias, married Mary Easton; second wife, 
 Anne Irwin. 
 
 Leoni(his Polk, married Frances Devercux, 
 
77 
 
 Mary, married George Badger, Senator from North 
 Carolina. 
 
 Eiifus King, married Sarah Jackson. 
 Susan Spratt, married Kenneth Eaynor. 
 George, married Sallie Hilliard. 
 Andrew Jackson, married Rebecca Van Leer. 
 
 Colonel William Polk. 
 
 ' Owning- immense tracts of land in Tennessee 
 — one hundred thousand acres — he states in his 
 will, which was probated in Columbia, Tennessee, 
 in 18 — . This he divided among his eight chil- 
 dren, the tracts being usually five thousand acres 
 in extent. Upon these lands were located the 
 homes of his children, when they left North 
 Carolina and made their new homes in IMaury 
 County, Tennessee. 
 
 Their residences were a few miles apart, upon 
 the ]Mount Pleasant road. This was afterwards 
 made a turnpike, the work done by the slaves of 
 the stockholders. These were Dr. William Polk 
 (my father), his brother Lucias, General and 
 Jerome Pillow, Evan Young and Peter Booker. 
 This pike extended from Springhill to Clifton, 
 on the Tennessee river. 
 
 ''Hamilton Place," the residence of General 
 Lucias Polk, was built by my grandfatlier, who 
 sent workmen from North Carolina in wagons, 
 to prepare a home for his son and his bride, who 
 Avas to be, Mary Eastin, the niece of ]\lrs. An- 
 drew Jackson, the wife of the President. 
 
 The marriage took place at the ''White 
 House,'' and was very pleasing both to General 
 Jackson and my grandfather, who had been life- 
 long friends. 
 
"Ashwood Hall" was built by Bishop Poliv, 
 and later sold to his youngest brother, Andrew, 
 who married Rebecca Van Leer. They were the 
 handsomest couple I have ever seen. He was 
 the captain of a cavalry company during- the 
 Civil War, but, disabled and a wreck, he went 
 abroad, and both he and his wife are buried in 
 a foreign country. "Ashwood Hall" was, 
 indeed, a stately home, situated in a grove of 
 one hundred acres, dotted with sturdy oaks. 
 Two large halls opened into each other, hung 
 with beautiful paintings, and family portraits. 
 
 "Rattle and Snap" was the home of George 
 Polk. The grounds were won under peculiar 
 circumstances. My grandfather was playing a 
 game of "beans" with the Governor of North 
 Carolina and some others. They played for 
 "scrip," issued to them as Revolutionary sol- 
 diers. My grandfather won the game, located 
 the land, and named it for the game "Rattle and 
 Snap." It was in middle Tennessee, then called 
 the Territory of Franklin. 
 
 "West Brook" belonged to Rufus Polk, and 
 was afterwards the home of my brother. General 
 Lucius Polk, who married his cousin Sallie 
 Moore, the only child of Rufus Polk. 
 
 Some of these homes were very handsome, 
 built in colonial style, pillars on front porticoes, 
 large halls, with rooms on each side, wings for 
 billiard-rooms and libraries. 
 
 There were beautiful gardens and green- 
 houses, the lawns in front were extensive, and 
 dotted with oaks for which Tennessee was so 
 famed. 
 
"Buena Vista," my father's home, afterwards 
 mine, no longer stands. Recognizing the beauty 
 of its location and surroundings it was bought 
 by the Government for an arsenal and barracks, 
 afterwards converted into the "Columbia Mili- 
 tary Academy." Of course, the old gray brick 
 house was replaced by a very handsome com- 
 mandant's home. I was glad when it was torn 
 down, such a reminder of the happy past, of the 
 hospitality and the kindness which had charac- 
 terized it. They Avho had made it Avere gone, 
 and I could not bear to look at it. 
 
 Colonel William J. Polk. 
 
 Left Queens College, North Carolina, when he 
 was sixteen years old, and entered the army as 
 lieutenant in Colonel Thompson's (called old 
 "Dangerfield") regiment. He was detailed by 
 Colonel Thompson with thirty men to watch 
 some Tories in North Carolina. 
 
 He was led into an ambush by his guide, one 
 Solomon Deason ; was badly wounded in the 
 shoulder, from which he did not recover in a 
 year. "This was the first blood shed south of 
 Lexington," said Gen. Andrew Jackson, in a 
 letter published in 1844, when James K. Polk 
 was a candidate for the Presidency; also in an 
 autobiography written by Colonel Polk for Judge 
 INIurphy, of North Carolina. 
 
 General Jackson was a small boy at school 
 with Colonel Polk, at Charlotte, North Carolina. 
 They were life-long friends in North Carolina 
 and in Tennessee. 
 
SI 
 
 The marriage of Colonel Polk's son, Lucias, to 
 Mary Eastin, the beautiful niece of Mrs. Jackson, 
 which took place at the "White House," was 
 pleasing- to them both. 
 
 Col. William Polk's record is certainly a bril- 
 liant one. He entered the service at the age of 
 sixteen, was appointed major of the Ninth North 
 Carolina Continental Battalion when eighteen. 
 
 At one time he followed the fortunes of Marion 
 and Sumpter, and was aide to Carrol at Camden. 
 At Eutaw his horse was killed under him; at 
 the same time his brother felL At Brandywine 
 he was shot through the shoulder, and at Ger- 
 mantown through the mouth. 
 
 It was referring to this that at a ball, given in 
 Philadelphia to the officers, a young belle in- 
 quired, when he was introduced to her: " Are 
 you the young officer who, it is said, catches 
 British bullets in his teeth?" 
 
 He was appointed in the United States army 
 in the war of 1812, nominated by Madison and 
 confirmed by the United States Senate, but on 
 account of age and infirmities, declined. This 
 honor was afterwards conferred on Gen. Andrew 
 Jackson. 
 
 He was Supervisor of the Internal Revenue of 
 North Carolina, a position which he held for 
 seventeen years ; one of the commissioners to 
 receive General Lafayette in Raleigh in 1824 ; 
 was a member of the Order of Cincinnati. Will 
 Polk, of Louisiana, had the diploma, which was 
 burned in a fire which destroyed Mr. Polk 's resi- 
 dence, but Col. Cadwalader Polk has the certifi- 
 cate of membership. 
 
MRS. JAMES K. POLK. 
 
83 
 
 There is a tradition, I do not know if true, 
 but it seems hijj^hly pr()])a])le, that Coh)nel Polk 
 suggested the name of Nashville, and Davidson 
 County, having been by the side of Nash when 
 he was killed, and also with Davidson, when he 
 fell ; and he was the first representative of 
 Davidson County to the North Carolina Legisla- 
 ture. 
 
 There are many relics of interest left by 
 Colonel Polk; among them the silver spoons, 
 used at a breakfast which he gave to General 
 Washington. There is also a mahogany table, 
 with brass claws, which can seat fifty, used at 
 a banquet, given in Raleigh to Lafayette. These 
 are in the family of William Polk, of Louisiana, 
 at his plantation, "Ashton.'' 
 
 A miniature of Colonel Polk, beautifully 
 painted, and set with brilliants, is owned by 
 William Polk, of Tennessee. He was said to 
 have been very striking in his appearance, six 
 feet four inches in height, with a face full of 
 dignity and command. 
 
 The Jones Family. 
 
 1680. Robin Jones, " The Emigrant." 
 
 Eobin Jones the second. 
 
 Robin Jones the third. 
 
 —From Isaac Cobb's Bible, " His Bool," 1703. 
 Issue: Sarah Cobb. 
 
 1737. Robin Jones the third married Sai*ah Cobb. 
 Issue : 
 
 1. Allen, Avho married three times. 
 
 2. Wyley, married Mary Mumford. 
 
 3. Martha Cobb, married Dr. Thomas Gilchrist. 
 Robin married second wife, Mary Eaton, with whom 
 
 he lived unhappily. He said in his will, " What he gave 
 
84 
 
 her in lieu of dower was more than she deserved." Their 
 only child, Elizabeth, married Benjamin Williams, Gov- 
 ernor of North Carolina, August, 1781. 
 
 1762. Allen married first wife, Marv Haynes. 
 
 Issue : 
 
 Sarah, married Hon. William Davie, United States 
 Minister to France. 
 
 Martha Cobb, married Judge John Sitgreaves. 
 
 Mary, married General Thomas Eaton. 
 
 September, 1768. Allen Jones married second wife, 
 Rebecca Edwards. 
 
 Issue : 
 
 Rebecca Jones, married Lunsford Long. 
 
 Issue of Rebecca Jones and Lunsford Long: 
 
 Rebecpa, who married Col, Cadwalader Jones. 
 
 Mary, married Dr. William Polk. 
 
 Mrs, Allen Jones, nee Rebecca Edwards, was remark- 
 able for her great beauty, and also noted for the beauty 
 of her feet and high instep. 
 
 1776. Wyley Jones, married Mary Mumford. 
 
 Issue : 
 
 Ann Maria, married Joseph Littlejohn. 
 
 Sallie, married Governor Burton, of North Carolina. 
 
 Patsey, married Hon. John W. Eppes, of North Caro- 
 lina, 
 
 Issue of Ann Maria and Joseph Littlejohn: 
 
 Mary, who married Lewis Williamson, of Tennessee. 
 
 Sallie, married C. C. Cherry. 
 
 Issue, Lewis Cherry, a banker in Little Rock, Arkansas. 
 
 Third. Martha Cobb Jones, daughter of Robin, mar- 
 ried Thomas Gilchrist. 
 
 Issue : 
 
 Grizelda Gilchrist, married Col. William Polk. 
 
 Allen, married Dolly Lane, granddaughter of Sir Ralph 
 Lane, Colonial Governor of North Carolina. 
 
 From this marriage the Baxters, of Nashville, are 
 descended. 
 
 My father, through his mother, Grizelda Gilchrist, was 
 third in descent from Robin Jones. 
 
 My mother, through her mother, Rebecca Jones Long, 
 was fourth in descent from Robin Jones, 
 
85 
 
 My father, Dr. William Polk, and my mother, 
 Mary Rebecca Louo*, were married in 1818, at 
 "Mount Gallant," Roanoke County, North Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 This estate, "Mount Gallant," was left by my 
 mother 's grandfather, Allen Jones, to my mother, 
 his favorite grandchild. It was a grand old 
 home for that period, situated on the Roanoke 
 river, with two fisheries for herring, which came 
 up the river from the sea. An orangery 
 adjoined the house, and a long avenue bordered 
 with trees led down to the public road. 
 
 A secret chamber, which had never been sus- 
 pected, was found under the dining-room floor, 
 on the day of my mother 's marriage — the day 
 when she took possession of the house, Avhich 
 had been closed for many years. A servant, in 
 scrubbing the floor, found that it sank beneath 
 her, and on investigation, a trap door was found 
 and a room completely furnished with bed, 
 chairs and table, with candle on it. It was sup- 
 posed to have been constructed as a hiding place 
 during the Revolution, General Allen Jones 
 being a very prominent person at that time, hav- 
 ing been appointed by the Provincial Congress 
 one of the five brigadier-generals from North 
 Carolina. He was a man of great ability, and 
 large wealth. His daughter, Rebecca Edwards 
 Long, having died at the birth of my mother, 
 she and her sister, Rebecca, were taken to 
 "Mount Gallant," and lived with him until his 
 death. 
 
 He told her much of the early history of the 
 Jones family, and a legend of the first Jones 
 
wlio canie to America. He was a boatswain on a 
 British vessel that came to the Colonies. On 
 the return trip, when far out at sea, he leaped 
 from the vessel, swam to shore, and married his 
 sweetheart there, making- his home afterwards 
 in Suffolk County, Virginia. 
 
 The third in descent from him was Robin 
 ap Robin Jones, my great-great-grandfather. 
 
 Robin ap Robin Jones. 
 
 He showed in his youth remarkable talent, 
 was a pupil of the Reverend Wyley, rector of the 
 church in Albemarle, Sussex County, Virginia, 
 from 1736-39. Reverend Wyley wished him to 
 have educational advantages that he could not 
 give him, and advanced the money for him to go 
 to England to be educated at Eton. 
 
 At that university he met and acquired the 
 friendship of Lord Granville, one of the Lord 
 proprietors, whose rule in the Colonies were over- 
 thrown later. He appointed him his agent, and 
 afterwards, in 1761, Robin was appointed 
 "Attorney for the Crown," as appears in a 
 dispatch from Governor Dobbs, in Rolls Office, 
 London : 
 
 April 20, 1761. " The Tusearoras will move this week 
 from Bertie to New York. Mr. Jones, the Attorney- 
 General, advanced $200 to account in bringing waggons 
 and provisions, on the credit of their land." 
 
 The colonial records of North Carolina show 
 that he Avas a member of the Assembly 1754-55. 
 Author of the bill to establish a Supreme Court, 
 and appointed to prepare an address to the 
 (Jovernor on grievances. 
 
Tie was a remarkable man in many ways. 
 There was a lawsuit to be tried in v\ iiieli he was 
 deeply interested. The trial was to take place 
 on the same day surgeons had decided that an 
 amputation of his leg' was necessary. He was 
 suttering from gout and his life hung in the 
 balance, but he went to the courthouse, made a 
 great speech, which gained his case, the ampu- 
 tation of the limb was performed two hours 
 afterwards, and he died under the operation. 
 
 The heroism of my mother, his great-grand- 
 daughter, was quite equal !(• this. She was 
 nearly ninety years old and blind ; was suf- 
 fering with such pain in her eyes that it was 
 decided one must be taken out. She refused to 
 take any anesthetic, as she wished to retain con- 
 sciousness in case of death. One of the surgeons 
 showed great feeling, and she said to him, "Do 
 not be afraid, I do not dread the pain, I am 
 ready," and not a murmur or moan was heard. 
 
 One of the interesting stories my mother told 
 me was of an early experience of my grand- 
 father, Allen Jones. The schools were very 
 inferior in the Colonies, and his father, Robin 
 Jones, wished to give him the same advantages 
 that had been bestowed on him, so Allen and 
 liis ])rother, Wyley, were fitted out with the best 
 the Colony could atford, and sent to England. 
 They were placed at the Alma Mater of their 
 father, Eton, called the "nursery of the gentle- 
 men of England." Accordingly, the little boys 
 were sent to Liverpool, where the}^ were to be 
 met and placed at school, under the charge of 
 Lord Granville. 
 
88 
 
 AVlien the vessel landed, and they went on 
 shore, there was no one to meet them, and their 
 singular appearance soon drew a crowd. They 
 were attired in blue broadcloth suits, trimmed 
 with brass buttons, the long trousers, coats and 
 long vests almost to their knees, like very diminu- 
 tive men, amused the crowd very much, and the 
 frightened children were much relieved when 
 Lord Granville's housekeeper arrived and put 
 them in his carriage. 
 
 I was also much interested in my mother's 
 recital of the visit of John Paul Jones to her 
 grandfather, which was not many years before 
 her birth. 
 
 John Paul Jones. 
 
 He went to Virginia to administer upon the 
 estate of his brother, who had died the previous 
 year, 1774. Halifax was then a notable and 
 very gay place. 
 
 It so happened that the first congress of the 
 then independent State of North Carolina met 
 there. Paul was there and met the most prom- 
 inent men among them, the Jones brothers, 
 Allen and Wyley. 
 
 They were very much pleased with his bold, 
 frank, sailorlike manner, and invited him to 
 visit them, Allen at his home, "IMount Gallant," 
 and Wyley at the "Grove." These homes were 
 noted for their hospitality, and John Paul not 
 only entered wdth zest into the sports of the 
 day, but was much impressed with the political 
 discussions between tlic two brothers, their 
 views differing entirely. 
 
89 
 
 He there met not only the great leaders of the 
 day, but also their wives, some of them brilliant 
 and cultured, their conversation elevatinii" and 
 instructive. He had access at their homes to the 
 finest libraries, and to their halls, Avhere hung 
 l)ictures from England. 
 
 He remained at the homes of these two brothers 
 for two years, and had the good fortune to meet 
 there Joseph Hewes, of Edenton, who was a 
 power in the politics of the time. He was a 
 delegate to the First Provincial Congress, a 
 signer of the Declaration of Independence, and 
 was Chairman of the Committee on Naval Af- 
 fairs. 
 
 The Jones brothers appealed to Hewes, and 
 through his instrumentality. Congress gave to 
 John Paul the position of lieutenant in the navy. 
 It was said that the brothers also assisted him 
 with funds. Before this John Paul had changed 
 his name to Jones, saying to the brothers, "He 
 would make them proud of it." 
 
 This compliment was intended for the brothers, 
 but also for Mrs. Wyley Jones, of whom he was 
 a special admirer. 
 
 Why John Paul added Jones to his name has 
 been much discussed of late. 
 
 Mrs. A. L. Robinson, a great-granddaughter 
 of Gen. Allen Jones, published not long since an 
 account of Paul's friendship with Allen and 
 Wyley Jones. The outline of his life is briefly 
 told. John Paul, the son of a gardener, was 
 born July 6, 1747, at Ardingland, Scotland. At 
 the age of twelve he went to sea. The death of 
 his brother in Virginia, whose heir he was, in- 
 
> 
 
 O 
 
 a 
 
 X 
 
 c/l 
 Z 
 
 5 
 a: 
 
^1 
 
 dueed him to .settle iii America. I'his was in 
 1773. It was then he added to liis name, and 
 was thenceforth known as Paul Jones. This was 
 done in compliment to one of the noted states- 
 men of that day. It appears before permanently 
 settling- in Virginia, moved by the restlessness 
 of his old seafaring life, he wandered about the 
 country, finally settling in North Carolina. 
 There he became ac(iuainted with two brothers, 
 AA^yley and Allen Jones. They were both lead- 
 ers in their day and w^ere much honored in their 
 generation. 
 
 Allen Jones was orator, and silver-tongued. 
 Wyley was the foremost man of his State. The 
 home of the latter, "Grove," near Halifax, was 
 not only the resort of the cultured, but the home 
 of the homeless, Mrs. Wyley Jones having some- 
 times tw^enty orphan girls under her charge. It 
 was here that the young adventurer, John Paul, 
 was first touched by those gentler influences, 
 which changed not only his name but himself, 
 from the rough and reckless mariner into the 
 l)olished man of society, who was the companion 
 of kings, and the lion and pet of Parisian salons. 
 The kindness of the brothers found expression 
 in the adoption of their name. The truth of this 
 statement is not only attested by the descend- 
 ants of Allen and Wyley Jones, but by the 
 nephew and representative of Paul Jones, Mr. 
 Lowden, of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1846 
 this gentleman was in Washington awaiting the 
 l)assage of a bill by Congress awarding him the 
 land claim of his uncle, Paul Jones, which had 
 been allowed by the executive of Virginia, Hon. 
 
it;; 
 
 E. W. Hubard, then a ineniher of Congress from 
 Virginia, and who had in 1844 prepared a report 
 on Virginia land claims, in which the committee 
 endorsed that of Panl Jones. This naturally 
 attracted ]Mr. Lowden to him, and learning that 
 IMrs. Hubard was a descendant of Wyley Jones, 
 he repeated to both Mr. Hubard and JMrs. 
 Hubard the cause of his uncle's change in name, 
 and added that among his pictures hung a por- 
 trait of Allen Jones. 
 
 Mrs. Ellet, in her ''Women of the Revolu- 
 tion," says, "The tone of public opinion in 
 Halifax was very much influenced by three 
 women, w4io w^ere rendered prominent by the 
 position of their husbands, and by their own 
 talents, and example. They were Mrs. Wylie 
 Jones, Mrs. Allen Jones and IMrs. Nicholas Long. 
 Their husbands were men of cultivated minds, 
 wealth and high consideration, having great in- 
 fluence in public councils. 
 
 The importance of the principles for which 
 they contended was vindicated by the conversa- 
 tion and patriotic zeal of their wives rather than 
 by their own efforts in striking appeals. 
 Col. Nicholas Long. 
 
 Col. Nicholas Long was commissary-general of 
 all the forces raised in North Carolina, and 
 superintended the preparation (in his own work- 
 shop, on his own premises) of implements of war 
 and clothing for the soldiers. His wife w^as a 
 most efficient cooperator; she possessed great 
 energy and firmness, with mental power of no 
 common order. Her praises were the theme of 
 conversation among the old officers of the army. 
 

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95 
 
 She died at about ninety years of age. Her 
 maiden name was McKinnie — Mary McKinnie. 
 
 Mrs. Allen Jones was Miss Edwards, sister 
 of Isaac Edwards, English secretary of Gov- 
 ernor Tryon. 
 
 She had the reputation of being the most 
 accomplished woman of the day, and was 
 remarkable for the elegance and taste shown in 
 all of her arrangements. She left an only 
 daughter, Rebecca, who married Lunsford Long. 
 
 There is a punch-bowl in the museum at 
 Washington's headquarters at Morristown, New 
 Jersey, with this inscription on the card: "A 
 punch-bowl owned by General Washington. It 
 was given to him by Mrs. Allen Jones, of North 
 Carolina." It was highly prized by him, and 
 preserved in the family for four generations — 
 it was cracked when hiding it from Tarleton's 
 men. 
 
 When the army of Cornwallis passed through 
 Halifax to Virginia, his officers were quartered 
 in the town. Colonel Tarleton was quartered at 
 the "Grove." He had been wounded at Cow- 
 pens, in the hand, a sabre cut from Col. William 
 Washington. 
 
 In speaking of Colonel Washington, Tarleton 
 said: "He was an ignorant, illiterate fellow, 
 scarcely able to write his name." "Ah, colonel," 
 said Mrs. Jones, "you should know better, for 
 you bear upon your person proof that he can 
 make his mark." 
 
 These incidents in regard to John Paul Jones, 
 which I gathered from my mother's lips, are 
 corroborated by many authorities — one, Fred 
 
97 
 
 A. Olds, of Raleigh, North Carolina; another, 
 Cyrus Townsend, author of a "Life of Paul 
 Jones," in a very conclusive article of July 24, 
 in Miinsey's Magazine. In a genealogical history, 
 by Col. Cadawalader Jones, of South Carolina, I 
 see the same facts given by him as I relate hav- 
 ing heard from my mother. We are both 
 descendants of the two grandchildren, who lived 
 with Gen. Allen Jones. 
 
 Neither Allen Jones nor his brother Wylie 
 left any male descendant. Consequently, we 
 have no relatives who bear the name of Jones, 
 through Robin, but through the marriage of his 
 great-granddaughter, Rebecca Jones Long, to 
 Maj. Cadwalader Jones, they bear the name of 
 Jones. Wylie had a son who died very young 
 from gout in his head, which it seems he must 
 have inherited from "old Robin." 
 
 General Allen also had a son, who died at the 
 early age of eight. Governor Iredell, of North 
 Carolina, in a letter published in a volume — I 
 think it is called "Recollections of Eminent 
 North Carolinians" — writes that while on a 
 visit to Gen. Allen Jones, at "Mount Gallant," 
 he was seated on the porch when General Jones' 
 little son, who was playing on the gallery, com- 
 menced screaming, with his hand upon his head. 
 He suffered very much, and died in two hours. 
 I have a miniature of this boy, a beautiful thing, 
 intended to be worn with a black velvet as a 
 bracelet. On the gold back of the locket is this 
 inscription: "Robin Jones, 1778. Died aged 
 eight. Too soon did heaven assert its claim, and 
 called its own away." 
 
98 
 
 This, and some other relics, which my mother 
 gave me, I ver^^ much prize. One is a gown, 
 worn by an ancestress during the Revolution. It 
 is of heavy brocade, with pink and white roses. 
 The gored skirt is as narrow as the hobble skirts 
 of to-day. It is trimmed with exquisite lace, 
 ^' Point de Venise, " which hangs in tatters. 
 
 I have also a chair cover, blue, and embroid- 
 ered with the first cotton brought to North Caro- 
 lina, the work of ]\Irs. Allen Jones. 
 
 The portrait of Robin Jones was given to ]\Irs. 
 Eppes. of Virginia, his granddaughter, and is 
 now at the residence of Colonel Hubard, M.C., 
 who married Mrs. Eppes' daughter. 
 
 The Long Family. 
 
 Col. Nicholas Long, founder of the Long fam- 
 ily in Halifax, Avas in his day one of the most 
 important men on the Roanoke; he was a 
 wealthy planter. His residence "Quankey," 
 near that old borough, had more than a State 
 reputation; it was the headciuarters of military 
 affairs. 
 
 When General Washington visited the Caro- 
 linas, he and his staff stopped with Colonel Long 
 for several days. Colonel Long came to North 
 Carolina about 1750 from eastern Virginia. He 
 had a daughter, Lucy, who married William H. 
 Battle, Assistant Justice of the Supreme Court 
 of North Carolina. Their son, Kemp Plummer 
 Battle, was formerly president of the University 
 of North Carolina. 
 
 Col. Nicholas Long married INIary McKinnie, 
 
99 
 
 daughter of John MeKinnie, in August, 1761. It 
 appears from a deed, dated 1751, that John 
 MeKinnie had four children : Mary, Patience, 
 Barnaby and Martha. 
 
 Nicholas Long, the oldest son of Nicholas 
 Long and Mary MeKinnie, was a gallant soldier 
 in the Revolution. He and Major Hogg had the 
 celebrated race after Tarleton with Colonel 
 Washington. It is related of him that two Brit- 
 ish cavalrymen pursued him. He wheeled and 
 sought safety in flight; they opened fire and in 
 the hot pursuit were separated. Observing this, 
 he suddenly turned and dispatched both with 
 his sabre. He married Rebecca Hill in 1778 and 
 moved to Georgia. 
 
 Mary Long married Bassett Stith, Virginia, 
 1790. McKee, in his "Life of Judge Iredell," 
 says, "Thomas Iredell visited Halifax in July, 
 1790. A letter from him gives a characteristic 
 account of the gay and opulent borough." "The 
 divine Miss Polly Long" had just been married 
 to Basset Stith, a Virginia beau. The nuptials 
 were celebrated by twenty-two consecutive din- 
 ner parties in as many different houses; the 
 dinner being regularly succeeded by dances, and 
 all terminated by a grand ball. Miss Wallace, 
 an heiress, Miss Lucas, and ]\Iiss Hooper were 
 the belles of the occasion. 
 
 Lunsford Long, another son, married Rebecca, 
 daughter of Gen. Allen Jones, 1794. They had 
 two daughters : Rebecca, who married Col. Cad- 
 walader Jones (the same name, but diff'erent 
 family), and my mother, ]\Iary, who married Dr. 
 William Polk. 
 
100 
 
 "Quankey" the home of the Longs, on 
 Quankey creek, was well known as a seat of 
 great hospitality, and as it was a large and 
 delightful home, Mrs. Long continued to reside 
 in it after the death of her husband. She was 
 left there alone, her children having all married 
 and moved away with their families, so she was 
 pleased to take charge of a young lad3^ pi"e- 
 sumably a relative, a sister of Sir Peyton Skip- 
 with, named Miss Richmond. This Miss Rich- 
 mond afterwards married Lemuel Long. 
 
 Mrs. Long was noted for her benevolence. She 
 took for charity several of the poor young girls 
 of the neighborhood to teach them to spin and 
 embroider and the accomplishments of the day. 
 
 The Haunted House. 
 The story that is told, and wliich is Avell known 
 l)y all in that section, was this: "As the old 
 lady sat one night with her distaff before her, 
 surrounded by her girls, they were startled by 
 the fall seemingly of an immense wardrobe, 
 which was in the apartment above. ^Irs. Long, 
 carrying a candle in her hand, and each girl 
 ])earing a light, proceeded up the long stairway 
 to investigate — but not an article out of its 
 place, and not a human being in the house but 
 themselves. After this each night the same 
 unaccountable noises were heard. Everything 
 was done to put an end to these sounds. At one 
 time it was thought it might proceed from the 
 cellar, where empty wine casks had stood, and 
 their iron hoops hung upon the wall. Then a 
 large tree was cut down, that overhung the 
 house, but all in vain. When the old lady 
 
101 
 
 breathed her last, it was said by those who sur- 
 rounded her, that a long- wailing cry was heard. 
 
 After Mrs. Long's death some member of the 
 family continued to reside in the house, until at 
 last worn out with trying to ferret the mystery, 
 it was sold and went into other hands. 
 
 Fifty years after this occurrence I left my 
 home in Tennessee to visit relatives in North 
 Carolina. As I passed over the bridge at 
 ' ' Quankey creek, ' ' I asked the conductor to point 
 out to me the old home. "I can show you the 
 site," he said, ''but the house was torn dow^n 
 long ago. One person after another tried to 
 live in it, but left frightened, so after being left 
 vacant for some years, it was torn down." 
 
 And so ended the weird experiences of the 
 haunted house. 
 
 Mrs. Long ended her long and eventful life 
 in her ninetieth year, and was buried in the 
 family graveyard at "Quankey." 
 
 Of the lovely old couple of whom I will now 
 write I feel it to be a pious duty, my father and 
 my mother. 
 
 Dr. William Polk. 
 
 Dr. William Polk, my father, married my mother, 
 Mary Rebecca Long, at Mt. Gallant, North Carolina, 
 about 1818. 
 
 Afterwards moved to Buena-Vista, Tennessee, in 1834. 
 
 Issue : 
 
 1. Grizelda Gilchrist, married Russel Houston, Chief 
 Attorney of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad for 
 fifty years, 
 
 2. Allan Jones, married first, Mary Clendenin; sec- 
 ond, Anna Clark Fitzhugh. 
 
 3. Thomas Gilchrist, married Lavinia Wood. 
 
102 
 
 4. Mary Jones, married Joseph Branch. 
 
 5. Lucius Eugene, married Sallie Polk (his cousin). 
 
 6. Cadwalader, married Carrie Lowry. 
 
 7. Eufus Julias, married Cynthia Martin. 
 
 1. Issue of Grizelda and Kussel Houston: 
 Allen, married Mattie Belle Shreve, of Louisville. 
 Lucia, married George Hull, of New York (her daugh- 
 ter, Grizelda, married Kichard Pierson Hobson). 
 
 Elise, married Theodore Presser, of Philadelphia. 
 
 2. Issue of Allen and first wife, Mary Clendenin: 
 Mary Polk, married Frank Hemphill, of Alabama. 
 Issue of Allen and second wife, Anna Fitzhugh : 
 
 1. Susan, married Woodie Kessee, of Helena, Arkan- 
 sas. 
 
 2. Anna Lee, married Sam Pepper, of Memphis. 
 
 3. Grizelda, married Thompson Hargreves, of Helena, 
 Arkansas. 
 
 4. Eobin Jones. 
 
 3. Thomas, married Lavinia Wood. 
 Issue : 
 
 Mary, married Willie Little John. 
 Caroline, married Ham Horner. 
 Zell, married Joe Sterling. 
 
 4. Mary Jones married Joseph Branch. 
 Issue : 
 
 Mary Polk, married Dr. Chas. W. Winn. 
 Lawrence Branch. 
 Mary Polk. 
 
 Lawrence, St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 Lucia, married Mr. John William Howard, of Ten- 
 nessee. 
 Issue : 
 
 Gerald Howard. 
 Lawrence Branch. 
 Joseph Gerald Branch, of Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 5. Lucius, married Sallie Moore Polk. 
 Issue : 
 
 Rufus, Member of Congress, from Pennsylvania, mar- 
 ried Isabel Greer. 
 
 Rebecca, married Scot Harlan. 
 William Julius, married Willie Glass. 
 
103 
 
 Lucius . 
 
 James Knox. 
 
 6. Cadwalader, married Carrie Lowry. 
 Issue : 
 
 William, married Lula Donnell. 
 Annie, married Chris Agee. 
 Cadwalader, married Lucile Greenfield. 
 Nina, married Will Coolidge, 
 Edmund, married Miss Wood. 
 
 7. Rufus, married Cynthia Martin. 
 Issue : 
 
 Eugene, Little Rock, Arkansas. 
 
 Rufus. 
 
 William Julius, married Sarah Chambers. 
 
 Charles, married Nannie Lee, 
 
 Four of these sons were soldiers in the Civil 
 War : Thomas Gilchrist, an aide to General 
 Tappan; Gen. Lucius Eugene, of Avhoiti I shall 
 write later ; Colonel Cadwalader, who was first 
 with Jackson in Virginia, afterwards in the 
 western army under General Price; promoted 
 for gallantry from second lieutenant to colonel. 
 At the battle of Prairie Grove he was left for 
 dead on the field, taken to the Federal Hospital, 
 and a month afterwards liberated in an exchange 
 of prisoners. Capt. Rufus Julius, of whom Sam 
 Watkins speaks in his book "Company H," as 
 being "beautiful as a girl," was a prisoner on 
 his eighteenth birthday at Johnson's Island. He 
 was in the last skirmish of the war in Alabama. 
 
 St. John's Church. 
 
 Although most of these homes of the Polks 
 have been burned, or passed into other hands, 
 there still stands sacred to memories of the past 
 St. John's Church. It was built in 1837 by the 
 
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105 
 
 Polk brothers, the site given by Andrew (the 
 youngest), the font by their sister, the handsome 
 gate at a later period by Van Leer Polk. It is 
 called ''the most historic church in Tennessee." 
 During the Civil War it was used alternately as 
 a hospital by the conflicting armies, whichever 
 was in control at the time. 
 
 The church was much mutilated by the troops 
 under Buell as they passed down the pike in 
 front of it to reinforce Grant at Shiloh. They 
 broke the bell and the window glasses, hacked 
 the organ, blowing the pipes as they marched, 
 and taking the beautifully embroidered altar 
 cloths as saddle-blankets. The portraits of 
 Bishops Polk and Otey, which were in the vestry 
 room, had been moved, fortunately, to the 
 Columbia Institute for safe-keeping. 
 
 The church from time to time has been opened 
 for services since the War, but is usually closed. 
 The Polk family, most of whom live in different 
 States, send funds to keep it in repair. It is to 
 Col. Harry Yeatman, however, that they are 
 chiefly indebted for its care. He was an officer 
 on Gen. Leonidas Polk's staff, and married his 
 niece, JMary, a daughter of Gen. Lucius Polk, 
 Sr., and lived at "Hamilton Place" for many 
 years, until his tragic death two weeks ago. 
 
 What dift'erent scenes have been enacted in 
 this old church ! In earlier days brides in their 
 white attire stood before its altar, and infants 
 were brought to be christened at the font. There 
 came a later day when soldiers fought around its 
 walls, and the dead and dying were piled upon 
 its floor. 
 
106 
 
 Among the dead who were buried there were 
 Generals Cleburne, Stahl and Granberry, and 
 at a later day, Gen. Lucius Eugene Polk, who 
 never recovered from the wounds he received 
 during- the war. Generations of those who died 
 earlier are buried there — representatives of the 
 old-time South. The ideal Southern gentleman, 
 with his courtesy and chivalry, the gracious 
 gray-haired matron, their surroundings as well 
 as their heredity developed their characteristics 
 of loyalty, truthfulness, courtesy and courage. 
 
 Other graves are there which also tell a story 
 of the past. It is of another race who were born 
 slaves. Between them and their owners was an 
 inherited bond of affection — responsibility on 
 the one hand, and on the other of service and 
 faithfulness. 
 
 Mammy Sue. 
 
 I recall among these graves a monument 
 which bears this inscription : ' ' Sacred to the 
 memory of Mammy Sue, the faithful nurse of 
 George and Sallie Polk's eight children." 
 
 In the morning the services in the church were 
 for the masters, in the afternoon their daughters 
 taught the children of the other race, and all 
 knelt together in prayer. 
 
 In the cemetery are two white monuments 
 exactly alike. My father, on his deathbed, believ- 
 ing the separation from his beloved wife to be 
 very brief, ordered them, l)ut my mother's was 
 not put in place until her death twenty years 
 afterward. 
 
 This church of many memories stands in a 
 
iU7 
 
 cemetery of seven or eight acres, surrounded by 
 a stone wall. 
 
 The large oak trees and tlie carpet of blue 
 grass make it a lovely spot, but the doors of the 
 church are closed, the windows unopened, the 
 iron gate in front locked. Sometimes a long pro- 
 cession winds through it, as the body of one who 
 has passed away in some far-off State is borne, 
 to be laid to rest beside his forefathers. 
 
 But in the distance is heard the sound of the 
 automobile and the roll of heavy wagons upon 
 the pike, and we realize the brightness of the 
 world without and the busy life which surrounds 
 the old church Avitli its story of the past. 
 
 THE END. 
 
UG 36 1312 
 
 BD-1 81 
 
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