Rufus King Polk was a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Rufus K. Polk was born in Columbia, Tennessee

Columbia, Tennessee

Columbia is a city in Maury County, Tennessee, United States. The 2008 population was 34,402 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. It is the county seat of Maury County....

, the son of Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 Brigadier General Lucius E. Polk

Lucius E. Polk

-References:* Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.-External links:*...

 and great-nephew of Leonidas Polk

Leonidas Polk

Leonidas Polk was a Confederate general in the American Civil War who was once a planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a second cousin of President James K. Polk...

. He attended Webb’s Academy

Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee)

The Webb School is a private coeducational college preparatory boarding and day school in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, founded in 1870. It has been called the oldest, continuously operating boarding school in the South...

 in Culleoka, Tennessee

Culleoka, Tennessee

Culleoka is an unincorporated community in Maury County, Tennessee, United States.The Culleoka School, enrolling kindergarten through grade 12, is operated as a unit of Maury County Public Schools....

, graduated from Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

 in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

South Bethlehem is a borough in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 444 at the 2000 census.South Bethlehem is a borough in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 444 at the 2000 census.South Bethlehem is a borough in Armstrong County,...

, in 1887, and took a post-graduate course in mining engineering. He settled in Danville, Pennsylvania

Danville, Pennsylvania

Danville is a borough in Montour County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the county seat, on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. Danville was home to 8,042 people in 1900, 7,517 people in 1910, and 7,122 people in 1940. The population was 4,897 at the 2000 census...

, and was employed as a chemist

Chemist

A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

. He held supervisory positions with several steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 companies and ultimately became engaged in the manufacture of structural iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

. He served as first lieutenant of Company F, Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

. He was a delegate to the 1900 Democratic National Convention

1900 Democratic National Convention

The 1900 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention that took place the week of July 4, 1900 at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri....

.

Polk was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth

56th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:- Leadership :- Senate :* President: Garret Hobart , until November 21, 1899 , vacant thereafter.* President pro tempore: William P. Frye * Democratic Caucus Chairman: James K. Jones...

 and Fifty-seventh

57th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:*Democratic: 151*Republican: 200 *Populist: 5*Silver : 1TOTAL members: 357-Leadership:-Senate:* President: Theodore Roosevelt , until September 14, 1901, vacant thereafter....

 Congresses and served until his death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Danville, Pennsylvania.

Sources

• The Political Graveyard