The Arkansas banner., 1844-06-26
F..gm ..e n.aa.raIle Re.lsn- lsa Is.s.

Carolina, OR the second ,lay al November. l7a5, and is consequently n the ioTiy-third year ol bis age. lis ancestors, whose ori- ginal name, Pollock, has, by obvious tgausi- Uon, assumed is present form, emigrated. more than century ago, from Ireland. 6 country from which many oi our most Gls- fugaished men are proud to derive their ori- gin. They established themselves first in Maryland. where some ef their descendants still soiourn. The branch Of the family from which is sprung tle subject of this memoir removed tD the neighboghoea of Carlisle. in Pennsylvania, and thence to the western frar- ueT of North Carolina. some lime before the commencement of the Revolutionary war Is connection with that eveDtlul struggle. is one ot rare distinction. On the twentieth oi May, lff5, consequently mere than twelve month anterior 10 the declaration of the Fourth If July, the assembled inhabitants of Meekieaburg county. publicly Iyabsolgedthem- selves from their allegiance 10 the British crown. and issued formal manifesto of in- dependence, in the terms of manly cloquence, which have become .'familiar as household woflsn 10 the American people. Col. Thomas Polk, the prime mover Iu this act of noble daring, and one of the signefs of this first Declaration of Independence, was the great uncle of the present Speaker, who Is also connected with the Alexanders, Chairman and Secretary of the famous meeting, as well as with Dr. Ephraim Brevard, the author of the Declaration itself
 Mr. Jefferson having, sincerely. no doubt. but upon merely negative grounds, question: ed the authenticity of this interesting piece of history, the legislature of North Carolina, with a becoming pride of patriotism, caused the evidence establishing its validity to be collected in complete shape, and deposited in the archives of the State. The people of Mecklenburg were, almost to man, staunch Wings, in the genuine, revolutionary, accep- tation oi the term, and have been up to the present day remarkable fer their unwayering adherence to the Democratic principles As an evidence of the sturdy independence which characterizes them. 1t IS often pleasantly ob- served that, at the last war, they took up arms six months before, and did not lay them down until twelve months after the Govern ment In the contest for independence seve- ral ot Mr. Folks relatives distinguished them selves, even to the peril of life. To be allied to such people and lineage. is Q fit subject for honorable pride. Liberty does not ffown upon the indulgence of a sentiment so natu- ral: She does not reject the heritage of honor. while refusing to add to 1t, social or political distinctions suhversive of equal rights The American people have always minifested an atieetionate regard for those who bear the names of the heroes or martyrs of the Bevo- lution. They fafnisllnot proof of the al- leged ingratitude of republics.
 The father of Mr. Polk was farmer of unassuming pretensions, but enterprising cha racter. Thrown npon his own resources iii early life, he became the architect of his own fortunes. He was warm supporter of Bfr. Jefferson, and through life firm and consis- tent Republican. In the autumn of 1896, he removed to Tennessee, where he was among the first pioneers of the fertile valley of Duck river, then a wilderness, but now the most hourishlng and populous portion of the State The magical growth of country which was but yesterday redeemed from the sole domin- Ion of nature, is a phenomenon of great moral and political interest, and cannot fail to impress character of strength and enter prise upon the authors and pariicipators of the wonderful result How can man lan- guish or halt, when all around him is expand- ing and advancing with irrepressibe energy In this region, Mr Polk still resides, so that he may be said, literally, to have erown with its growth, and strengthened with its strength. Ol course, III the infancy of it's settlement, the opportunities for instruction could not be great withsianding this disadvantage --and the still more formidable one of al painful allietion, from which, after years of suffering, he was finally relieved by surgical operaiion-he acquired the elements of a good English education. Apprehending that his constitution had been too much impaired to permit the continement of study, his ia ther determined, much, however, against the will of the son, 10 make him commercial man; and with this view actually placed him with merchant. Upon what slender threads hang the destinies of life! 4 little more, and the uneompromising opponent of. the Bank of the United States. the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, might have been at this day, in spite of his origin and early tendencies, a Whig preacher Of panics, uttering jerensiads for the fate of that shadowy and intangible thing yclept "Credit system of shape it might be call'd that shape had none,
 Distinguished in member, joint or linlb
 Or substance might be called, that shadow seem'd For each seem'd either.s'
 He remained few weeks in a situation adverse to his wishes and incompatible with his.tastc. Finally, his earnest appeals suc- ceeded ill overcoming the resistance of his father, and in July 1913, he was placed under the eafe of the Rev Dr. Henderson, and sub sequeatly, al the academy of Murfreesboro', Tenn, then under the direction of Mr. Samuel P. Black, justly celebrated in that region as a classical teacher In the autumn of l8l5 he entered the University of North Carolina, having, in less than two years and halt, thoroughly prepared himself to commence his collegiate course. It will be seen from this hasty sketch, that the history of the Speaker furnishes an interesting example of talent and perseverance triumphing over dis hearfenir,r 1li c,,ltins il, nnrl.. l;fa So cn