James K. Polk Ancestral Home

The career of the eleventh U.S. President reflected and fulfilled the young nation’s commitment to westward expansion. The son of a North Carolina farmer and surveyor, James Knox Polk was ten years old when his family crossed the Appalachian Mountains. Growing up on the Tennessee frontier, he inherited his neighbors’ work ethic, resourcefulness, and democratic ideals. Although young Polk was accustomed to the rigors of frontier life, he lacked physical stamina. Shortly before his seventeenth birthday, he needed surgery for stones in his urinary bladder. The successful operation, performed by noted Kentucky surgeon Ephraim McDowell, enabled Polk to pursue an education with renewed enthusiasm.