James Madison Polk

James Madison Polk and his wife, Icy Jane Stewart

 

   James Madison Polk, 05 May, 1849 -- 29 September,1914, born in Lawrence County Mississippi. James was the son of Joel Luke Polk, born in South Carolina, and grandson of Luke Polk, also born in South Carolina. His great grandfather, Luke Polk, Sr. was a Revolutionary  War soldier.  James Madison served as a private in Company I, "Covington Rangers", Seventh Mississippi Infantry Regiment in the Civil War.  His first taste of battle was with James Chalmers at the Battle of Shiloh and his final engagement was the Battle of Franklin, where he was captured and ended the war in a Union prison camp.

   Following the Civil War, he married Icy Jane Stewart, (in 1867) and they had five children, four boys and a daughter. He went into farming and became a relative large landowner in the Mt. Carmel area of Mississippi.  Active in community affairs he was instrumental in helping organize Jefferson Davis County in 1904 and served as one of its first county supervisors.

   James had three older brothers who also served in the Civil Was.  They served with the "White Rebels", organized at Silver Creek, Mississippi, and became part of the 38th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and fought at Iuka, Vicksburg, Harrisburg, among other sites.