State Historian: Don't Dig Up the Polks

James K. PolkLibrary of CongressWhen President Donald Trump came to town last week, he sparked a bit of controversy by laying a wreath at the grave of Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president who was, among other things, a slave owner and instrumental figure in the hellish removal of Native Americans from their land by way of the Trail of Tears.

He probably didn't know there was another dead-president controversy in town, this one even more alive.

A bill that could bring about the exhumation and relocation of President James K. Polk and his wife Sarah is scheduled to come up in the state Senate tomorrow. And now the official Tennessee state historian has come out in opposition to the proposal.

If you've been following Friend of Pith J.R. Lind's coverage at Patch, then you know the background. Some folks in Columbia want to have the former president and first lady dug up and moved from their current resting place on the grounds of the state Capitol to the Polk Home in Columbia. They argue that the move would be in accordance with Polk's wishes, although his will explicitly stated that the couple was to be buried at Polk Place in Nashville — which is where they were buried until the place was sold and the Polk's were moved to the Capitol in 1893.

A resolution declaring the state legislature's support for moving the Polks — sponsored by Sen. Joey Hensley who, frankly, has other things to worry about right now — could come to a vote in the Senate tomorrow. As Lind has reported, that legislation has attracted opposition from Nashville Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro, and it's not exactly clear if the resolution alone would be enough to have the Polks moved. 

Tennessee State Historian Carroll Van West declared his opposition to the idea yesterday on Facebook. He elaborated in a longer statement to Pith:

"I oppose any effort to move President Polk's grave and monument from Capitol Hill," he writes. "Such a move in fact would detract from rather than add to the value and significance of the Polk Boyhood Home in Columbia. This most distinguished President was buried in Nashville where he lived after his presidency.  His somber, dignified tombstone was designed by William Strickland, and it is appropriately located next to another of this famous architect's achievements, the Tennessee State Capitol. When Polk left the White House he came home to Nashville, and his wife stayed there for decades afterward. The Polks have rested in peace on Capitol Hill for almost 125 years — it is most appropriate that they continue to do so."

Pith also heard from another person who opposes the relocation of the Polks — a man named Bill Mason, who claims to be the first cousin six generations removed of the former president (who had no children of his own). According to a family tree he sent along, he would appear to be telling the truth. Mason sent a letter to every member of the legislature explaining his opposition. 

Some excerpted sections:

First, any representation that President and Mrs. Polk had any desire whatsoever to be buried in Columbia is false. His will left the home where he lived out his life, “lying and being in the city of Nashville,” to his beloved wife and explicitly directed “that at our respective deaths, it is desired by us, that our bodies may be interred on said premises, which I have denominated the Polk Place.” No mention was made of the Columbia house, which was never their residence. Mrs. Polk, a native of Murfreesboro, not Columbia, outlived her husband by decades and certainly would have known and acted if his real desire (or hers) was to be buried in Columbia.

...

Second, regardless of the prominence of those who would be exhumed, a third relocation of President Polk’s remains and a second relocation of those of Mrs. Polk would be disrespectful to them as persons. Such a move, in my view, makes their remains (whatever might survive of them) and the tomb that houses them into objects of curiosity, of status for the possessor, akin to a relic in a museum or art gallery, liable to be moved whenever some entity makes a case to do so. These are the bodies of real people who deserve dignity in their eternal repose. I would strongly object to any of my relatives being so treated. My cousin and his wife should be allowed to rest in peace.

As Mason notes, if Polk — who served as Tennessee's ninth governor and a Tennessee congressman before becoming president — is moved, he and his wife will be buried in their fourth and third graves respectively.