Tennessee Senate Committee Advances Polk Exhumation

NASHVILLE, TN — The relocation of the bodies of President James K. and First Lady Sarah Childress Polk from the State Capitol to Columbia cleared another hurdle Tuesday, as the State Senate's State and Local Government Committee advanced the exhumation and reinterment resolution.

Committee chairman Ken Yager introduced the resolution by saying "It should pass unanimously," a prediction that proved false.

The resolution's sponsor, Sen. Joey Hensley, noted that Tennessee's other two presidents are buried at their homes — Andrew Jackson at The Hermitage and Andrew Johnson at the national cemetery established at his home in Greeneville — while President and Mrs. Polk are on the grounds of the State Capitol. Hensley himself conceded that he had never visited the tombs of the Polks in his 14-year tenure in the legislature.

"The reason for this is so we can better recognize our seventh president," he told the committee. Hensley said that the Polk Home in Columbia, which was built by the president's father during James' time in law school at the University of North Carolina and never served as a permanent residence for the president, is the only surviving residence of Polk's other than the White House. Prior to the Capitol, the Polks were buried on the grounds of Polk Place, near the Capitol, and moved after its demolition.

While Yager and Sen. Bill Ketron, who formerly represented Columbia's Maury County and said moving the tomb "would be huge for tourism" in Columbia, were clearly supportive of Hensley's efforts to relocate the Polks, Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Nashville Democrat, was not. He said his last conversation with his predecessor, the late Sen. Douglas Henry, was regarding the 1981 legislation that requires the General Assembly approve the Polks' removal from the Capitol.

"Just last year we passed the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act which strikes me as requiring the process go through the (Tennessee Historical Commission) and it seems our role should follow that as opposed to get in the middle of something that just last year we said should be treated seriously," Yarbro said.

Hensley said that the THC would ultimately have to approve the action under the THPA. The commission has previously rejected other efforts to relocate monuments, particularly those related to the Confederacy. Hensley conceded that the Polks' will clearly states the couple's desire to be buried at the now-demolished Polk Place in Nashville. Yager said given that Polk Place no longer exists, the home in Columbia "would be fitting to his wishes," but again Yarbro disagreed.

"It's worth noting that Sarah Polk was from Murfreesboro, never really lived in Columbia, she lived in Washington and then they both came here. ... When Mrs. Polk passed away and Polk Place was lost, there was significant litigation and the state went to great lengths to keep them here," Yarbro said. "The process of exhumation and reinterment is not something we do a lot. This strikes me as an ahistorical and macabre affair."

Chairman Yager chastised Yarbro for that characterization, but again Yarbro emphasized his belief the legislature should tread carefully, because Columbia would make for the fourth resting place for the President — prior to the Capitol and Polk Place, he was buried in a mass grave for cholera victims at Nashville's City Cemetery.

"I don't know why we wouldn't hear from the THC before weighing in as a legislative body," he said.

The committee approved Hensley's resolution with an amendment — it adds that the legislature "approves" in addition to "supports" the relocation, as required by the 1981 law — on an 8-1 vote, with Yarbro dissenting. It now moves to the calendar committee.

Watch the video of the hearing below:

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Image via Flickr user Brent Moore, used under Creative Commons