Leonidas L. Polk
Encyclopedia
Leonidas Lafayette Polk (April 24, 1837 - June 11, 1892), or L.L. Polk, was an American farmer, journalist and political figure.

He was born in Anson County, North Carolina
Anson County, North Carolina
-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Anson County, North Carolina-External links:*...

. L.L. Polk fought in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 for the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

, and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

.

Returning to North Carolina after the war, Polk founded the town of Polkton
Polkton, North Carolina
Polkton is a town in Anson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,195.The town is named after its founder, Leonidas L...

, incorporated in 1875, where he started a weekly newspaper called The Ansonian. Through it he advocated for farmers and for the Grange movement
Grange movement
The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, also simply styled the Grange, is a fraternal organization for American farmers that encourages farm families to band together for their common economic and political well-being...

. Polk, a distant relative of President James K. Polk
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...

, became active in state politics, serving in the North Carolina House of Representatives
North Carolina House of Representatives
The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the state senate....

 and as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1865-66. In 1877, he was appointed the first North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture
North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture
The Commissioner of Agriculture is the head of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, as well as chairman of the state Board of Agriculture. As an executive officer elected statewide, the commissioner is also a member of the North Carolina Council of State.Leonidas L....

 and served until 1880. An agricultural collection he established as Commissioner was the basis for what became the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. This museum is the oldest established museum in North Carolina and the largest museum of its kind in the Southeast...

.

Polk returned to journalism by founding the Progressive Farmer
Progressive Farmer
DTN/The Progressive Farmer is a country life oriented magazine, published twelve times a year by DTN, a division of Telvent. The magazine is based in Birmingham, Alabama.-History:...

in 1886 in Winston. The magazine is still published to this day. At first, the paper's primary aim was to teach new agricultural methods, but soon it also focused on politics.

Meanwhile, Polk was also active in the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 church, once serving as president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. Polk was instrumental in establishing the North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...

 and Baptist Female University
Meredith College
Meredith College is a liberal arts women's college located in Raleigh, North Carolina. For the 2010-2011 academic year, there were approximately 2,300 students enrolled, including about 350 graduate students, making Meredith the largest women's college in the southeastern United States...

.

In the late 1880s, Polk rose to nationwide prominence through his leadership of the state and national Farmers' Alliance
Farmers' Alliance
The Farmers Alliance was an organized agrarian economic movement amongst U.S. farmers that flourished in the 1880s. One of the goals of the organization was to end the adverse effects of the crop-lien system on farmers after the American Civil War...

, which had begun in Texas. He became its national vice president in 1887 and its president in 1889. These words, spoken in 1887, were typical of Polk's rhetoric:
"Our farmers buy everything to raise cotton, and raise cotton to buy everything, and, after going through this treadmill business for years, they lie down and die and leave their families penniless."

The Alliance's mixed record using traditional two-party politics paved the way for the Populist Party, or People's Party
Populist Party (United States)
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

. Polk presided over the meeting in February 1892 that formally created the party. The Populists likely would have nominated Polk for president in 1892 (see U.S. presidential election, 1892), but he died unexpectedly in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 on June 11, 1892.

He was one of the first inductees into the North Carolina Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Polk's house is today owned by the state of North Carolina. It was moved on Nov. 12, 2000, to its new home on Blount Street in Raleigh. The Leonidas LaFayette Polk House Foundation plans to use part of the house for the Polk Museum. The rest will be used for state offices.

External links

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