VanLeer Polk
American politician and diplomat From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
VanLeer Polk (a.k.a. Van Leer Polk) (July 9, 1856 - December 19, 1907) was an American politician and diplomat from Tennessee. He served in the Tennessee Senate as a representative for Maury County in the 1890s. He was appointed Consul-General in Calcutta, India, and was one of six representatives of the United States at the 1906 Pan-American Conference. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family.
VanLeer Polk | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 9, 1856 |
| Died | December 19, 1907 |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, diplomat |
| Parent(s) | Andrew Jackson Polk Rebecca Van Leer |
| Relatives | William Polk (paternal grandfather) Antoinette Polk (sister) |
Early life
Polk was born at Ashwood Hall in Ashwood, Tennessee, on July 9, 1856. He attended the Silling's School in Vevey, Switzerland and in Rugby, England.[1] His father, Andrew Jackson Polk, was the son of Colonel William Polk.[2] His mother, Rebecca Van Leer, was an heiress from the Van Leer family to an iron fortune from Cumberland Furnace.[2]
Career
Polk was a member of the Democratic Party and represented Maury County in the Tennessee Senate during the 1890s. With Flourney Rivers, a state senator for Giles County, he introduced railroad commission bills.[3]
Polk invested in silver mining operations in Mexico[4] along with Tennessee politicians Duncan Brown Cooper and Henry Cooper.[5]
In 1883, a committee of the Tennessee State Senate discovered a $400,000 (~$11.1 million in 2023) deficit in their accounting with funds being misappropriated by Polk's cousin, M.T. Polk.[4] Polk and his cousin were apprehended by detectives in San Antonio, Texas but were released possibly due to the acceptance of a bribe and headed for Mexico. U.S. Marshals arrested Polk's cousin 18 miles from the Mexico border and he was returned to Tennessee and found guilty of embezzlement.[6]
Polk was appointed as Consul-General to Calcutta, India[7] by President Grover Cleveland.[8] In 1906, he was appointed as one of six United States commissioners to the Pan-American Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by President Theodore Roosevelt.[1][9]
He worked as editor of the Weekly News and Scimitar newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee.[1]
Personal life
He married Dorothy Kitchen Bodine in New York City on February 20, 1907. He died on December 19, 1907, in Memphis, Tennessee.[1]
References
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