JAMES K. POLK
A REGISTER OF ADDITIONS TO HIS PAPERS
IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Revised and expanded by
Nan Thompson Ernst
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 1996
***
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
The addition to the papers of James Knox Polk (1795-1849),
lawyer, congressman, speaker of the House of Representatives,
governor of Tennessee, and president of the United States,
consists of material that was received through gift and purchase
by the Library of Congress during the years 1927-1984. Donor of
the major addition given to the Library in 1927 was Mrs. Rollin
P. Grant, the daughter of Mrs. Fall, who was Mrs. Polk's niece
and sole heir.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of James
K. Polk is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States
(Title 17, U.S.C.).
A microfilm edition of Series 3 to Series 9 and Series 11 is
available for consultation in the Manuscript Division Reading
Room. Copies may be purchased from the Library's
Photoduplication Service subject to the Copyright Law of the
United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). This microfilm edition may
also be requested on interlibrary loan through the Library's Loan
Division. Ten reels may be requested at a time for a loan period
of one month. Series 10 and Series 12 are not available in
microfilm editions.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Readers interested in consulting any of the division's
collections are advised to write or telephone the
Manuscript Reading Room at (202) 707-5387 before visiting.
Many processed and nearly all unprocessed collections are
stored off site, and advance notice is needed to retrieve
these items for research use.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Linear feet of shelf space occupied: 9
Approximate number of items: 8,000
***
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
1795, Nov. 2 Born, Mecklenburg County, N.C.
1806 Family moved to what is now Maury County, Tenn.
1818 Graduated, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.
1819-1823 Chief clerk, Tennessee Senate
1820 Began practicing law, Columbia, Tenn.
1824 Married Sarah Childress
1825-1839 Representative, sixth district of Tennessee, U.S. House of
Representatives
1835-1839 Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
1839-1841 Governor of Tennessee
1845-1849 President of the United States
1849, June 15 Died, Nashville, Tenn.
***
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The addition to the papers of James K. Polk (1795-1849) spans the years
1817-1891 with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1830-1850.
It includes correspondence, messages, speeches, notes, account and memoranda
books, family papers, printed matter, and passages copied from historic
documents, which have been added to the James K. Polk Papers as Series 3
through Series 12. The addition supplements Polk's diaries and general
correspondence in Series 1 and 2 of the collection. Series 3 through Series 9
and Series 11 are included in a microfilm edition prepared by the Library of
Congress with an accompanying _Index to the James K. Polk Papers_, published
in 1969. Series 10, Printed Matter, was omitted from the microfilming.
Series 12, Additions Since 1969, includes material added to the
collection after completion of the microfilm edition. It is not available in
a microfilm edition and no supplemental index has been prepared.
***
DESCRIPTION OF SERIES
Container Reel
Nos. Nos. Series
1-2 56-57 Series 3: Additional Correspondence and Related
Material, 1826-1849, n.d.
Letters received and related material. Arranged
chronologically.
1-3 57-58 Series 4: Letterpress Copy Books, 1845-1849.
Copies of Polk's outgoing letters entered
chronologically into five volumes. The first four
volumes have self-contained indexes.
1-4 59-61 Series 5: Messages and Speeches, 1833-1849.
Manuscript drafts by Polk of messages to Congress and
speeches, together with some printed copies. Arranged
chronologically.
1-2 61-62 Series 6: Notes, ca. 1831-1847, n.d.
Notes by Polk on a variety of subjects arranged
alphabetically on numbered mounting sheets, and in an
"Executive Record Book."
1-2 62 Series 7: Account and Memoranda Books, 1817-1850.
Miscellaneous account and memoranda volumes.
Arranged chronologically.
1 63 Series 8: Miscellaneous, 1827-1849.
Chronological file of broadsides and broadsheets,
many of which were sent as letters to Polk, and other
printed matter or documents pertaining to legal cases
and politics, particularly to Democratic party politics
in Tennessee. Additional newspaper clippings are
appended.
1-3 63-64 Series 9: Sarah C. Polk Papers, 1838-1891.
Letters received, invoices, receipts, checks, and
related documents. Arranged chronologically.
1-5 not Series 10: Printed Matter, 1826-1886.
filmed Messages, pamphlets, and speeches by Polk and
booklets and newspapers pertaining to him. Arranged
alphabetically by type of material.
64-67 Series 11: Omitted Correspondence, 1811-1849, n.d.
Microfilm reproduction of the incomplete and omitted
correspondence from the 1954 microfilm edition of
Series 2, General Correspondence.
1 not Series 12: Additions Since 1969
filmed Correspondence and miscellany including duplicates
and fragments, an engraved portrait, extracts copied
from historic documents, and philatelic covers.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
***
CONTAINER LIST
Container Reel
Nos. Nos. Contents
SERIES 3: ADDITIONAL CORRESPONDENCE AND RELATED MATERIAL
Box 1 Reel 56 May 1826-Dec. 1847, n.d.
Box 2 Reel 56-57 Jan. 1848-May 1849, n.d.
SERIES 4: LETTERPRESS COPY BOOKS
Box 1 Reel 57-88 11 Oct. 1845-10 Oct. 1846
Box 2 Reel 58 12 Oct. 1846-9 Sept. 1848
Box 3 Reel 58 14 Sept. 1848-28 May 1849
SERIES 5: MESSAGES AND SPEECHES
Box 1 Reel 59 1833, Dec. 30, speech (2 folders)
1833-43, miscellaneous speeches
1845
Mar 4, inaugural address
Mar. 11, Senate nominations
Dec. 2, first annual message (3 folders)
1846
Mar. 14, public lands proclamation
Mar. 24, foreign relations
Apr. 13, Cherokee Indians
Apr. 20, Secret Service fund
Box 2 Reel 59-60 May 11, hostilities by Mexico
June 8, volunteers, United States Army
June 10, Oregon question
Aug. 3, rivers and harbors
Aug. 8, French spoliations
Dec. 8, second annual message (4 folders)
Dec. 22, territorial government in Mexico
1847
Feb. 13, war with Mexico
Mar. 3, Ireland and Scotland
June, address at University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, N.C.
Dec. 7, third annual message
(3 folders)
Box 3 Reel 60-61 (3 folders)
Dec. 15, river and harbor bill
1848
Jan. 12, instructions for John Slidell
Feb. 22, Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Feb. 29, Mexican treaty
Apr. 3, French revolution
Apr. 29, Yucatan protection
May 29, Oregon
July 6, Mexican peace
July 24, boundaries, New Mexico and California
July 26, Prussian treaty
July 26, rivers and harbors
Aug. 1, Indians
Aug. 14
Appropriations veto
California claims
Oregon
Box 4 Reel 61 Dec. 5, fourth annual message (6 folders)
1849
Jan. 2, military in Mexico
Feb. 8, Mexico
Mar. 3
Wilmot Proviso veto
Panama railroad veto
SERIES 6: NOTES
Box 1 Reel 61-62 Subject file
Bank
Debates
Deposits bill
Banks in United States
History
States
Addresses
Internal improvements
Congressional apportionment
Constituent affairs
Electoral College
Foreign affairs
Indian affairs
Land Office memoranda
Military pensions
National armory
Pinckney resolution
Rich and poor
Six militiamen
Soldiers pensions
State Department, expenditures
Surplus revenue
Tariff
Trial cases
Box 2 Reel 62 Journal, "An Authentic Transcript of the Executive
Records of the Senate of the United States From the
4th of March, 1845, to the 3rd of March, 1847.
Prepared for the President of the United States,"
n.d.
SERIES 7: ACCOUNT AND MEMORANDA BOOKS
Box 1 Reel 62 Family and personal accounts, 1845-50
Samuel W. Polk accounts and estate, 1817-45
Partnership of Aaron v. Brown and James K. Polk, 1822-24
Partnership of Madison Caruthers and James K. Polk,
1820-23
Miscellaneous Congressional memoranda, 1829-38, n.d.
(6 vols.)
Personal expenses, 1839-41
Samuel W. Polk estate, 1839-42
Corcoran & Riggs Bank account, 1845-49
Treasury notes, 1847-48
White House household expenses, 1848-49
State of Tennessee, lists of individuals, n.d.
SERIES 8: MISCELLANEOUS
Box 1 Reel 63 Chronological file, 1827-49 (19 folders)
Newspaper clippings, 1827-46 (2 folders)
SERIES 9: SARAH C. POLK PAPERS
Box 1 Reel 63-64 Mar. 1838-May 1853
Box 2 Reel 64 June 1853-Dec. 1856
Box 3 Reel 64 Jan. 1857-Dec. 1891
SERIES 10: PRINTED MATTER
Box 1 not Booklets
filmed _New and Complete Edition of Ossian's Poems_ (1823),
inscribed by Polk to his wife, 1826
_Sketches, Civil and Military Services of William
Henry Harrison_, marked, 1840
Messages
1845-47 (3 folders)
Box 2 1848
Miscellaneous
1828-41 (5 folders)
Box 3 1842-85 (5 folders)
Undated (2 folders)
Box 4 Newspapers
_Baltimore Patriot_, Baltimore, Md., 3 June 1834
_Boston Post_, Boston, Mass., 1 Dec. 1846
_Boston Statesman_, Boston, Mass., 24 May 1834
_Christian Herald_, Detroit, Mich., 30 Aug. 1877
_The Globe_, Washington, D.C., 1833-43 (3 folders)
Miscellaneous, 1879, n.d.
_National Intelligencer_, Washington, D.C., 1834-43
(3 folders)
_New Hampshire Statesman and State Journal_, Concord,
N.H., 14 Mar. 1835
Box 5 _New York Herald_, New York, N.Y., 29 Sept. 1859
_North Carolina Standard_, Raleigh, N.C., 18 Sept.
1844
_Paul Pry_, Washington, D.C., 24 Jan. 1835
_Richmond Enquirer_, Richmond, Va., 1832-41
_The Times_, Chicago, Ill., 20 Feb. 1886
_United States Telegraph_, Washington, D.C., 1832-34
(2 folders)
Pamphlets, 1837-41
Speeches, 1826-41
Box
SERIES 11: OMITTED CORRESPONDENCE, 1811-1849, n.d.
Reel 64-67 Only on microfilm. _See_ _Index to the James K. Polk
Papers_
SERIES 12: ADDITIONS SINCE 1969
Box 1 not Correspondence, 1835-44
filmed Miscellany
Duplicates and fragments, 1849, n.d.
Engraved portrait, n.d.
_Extracts from the Journals of the Provincial
Congress . . . [South Carolina] . . . 1775,_
n.d. (1 vol.)
_Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence with
Accompanying Documents . . . Raleigh [North
Carolina] . . . 1831, and Extracts from the
Journals of the Provincial Congress . . .
[South Carolina] . . . 1885_ (1 vol.)
Philatelic covers, n.d.
*** Last updated 09/17/99 (mal) ***
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