James Knox Polk’s Delicate Operation

11th President James Knox Polk

In the early 19th century, any surgery was always dangerous.

Young Polk

A recreated log cabin in NC suggesting Polk’s birthplace.

Born in 1795 in North Carolina, James Knox Polk was the oldest of ten children born to a middle-class North Carolina family. They moved to Tennessee when Polk was ten.

Always considered a frail boy, he was one of our shortest Presidents (perhaps 5’6”), and like James Madison, he was also slight. Perhaps 130 lbs. max.

A residence of the Polks in Columbia, TN

Partly because of his frail health, and partly because of their remote location, he learned his educational basics at home. He would not have any formal education until his late teens.

Dr. Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830)

A commemorative postage stamp in 1959 for McDowell!

Nevertheless, while young-man Polk seemed bright enough, and had become accustomed to the rigors of “frontier” living…