Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/72

of the United States from 1861 to 1868 " (Boston, 1868) and " The Conventions of Geneva of 1864 and 1868. and St. Petersburg International Com- mission " (Leavenworth. INM;,.

POLAND. Luke Potter, jurist, b. in Westford, Vt., 1 Nov., 1815: d. in Waterville, Vt., 2 July. 1887. He attended the common schools, was em- ployed in a country store and on a farm, taught at Jlorristown, Vt., studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1843, and prosecuting attorney for the county in 1844-'5. In 1848 he was the Free-soil candidate for lieutenant-governor, and in the same year he was elected a judge of the Vermont supreme court. He was re-elected each successive year, becoming chief justice in 1860. un- til he was" appointed in November, 1865, on the death of Jacob Collamer, to serve out his unexpired term in the U. S. senate. On its conclusion he en- tered the house of representatives, and served from 1867 till 1875. While in the senate he secured the passage of the bankrupt law, besides originat- ing a bill for the revision and consolidation of the statutes of the United States. As chairman of the committee on revision in the house, he superin- tended the execution of his scheme of codification. He was chairman of the committee to investigate the outrages of the Ivi-Klux Klan, and of the in- vestigation committee on the Credit mobilier trans- actions ; also of one on the reconstruction of the Arkansas state government. Several times, while serving on the committee on elections, he came into conflict with other Republicans on questions re- garding the admission of Democratic members from the M>uth. He was chairman of the Vermont delegation to the Republican national convention of 1876, and presented the name of William A. Wheeler for the vice-presidency, for which office he himself had been brought forward as a candidate. Mr. Poland was a representative in the state legis- lature in 1878. He was elected to congress again in 1882, and served from 1883 till 3 March, 1885. POLETTE, Antoine, Canadian jurist, b. in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, 25 Aug., 1807 ; d. in Three Rivers, 6 Jan., 1887. He studied law, be- came an advocate in 1828, entered parliament in 1848, and was appointed queen's counsel in 1854. He was made a commissioner for consolidating the laws in 1856, and in 1860 puisne judge of the su- preme court of Quebec, which post he held till he retired in 1880. He was a royal commissioner in the Canadian Pacific railway inquiry of 1873.

POLHEMUS, Abraham, clergyman, b. in As- toria, Long Island, N. Y., in 1812; d. in Newburg, N. Y., in October, 1857. His an- cestor. Rev. Johannes T. Polhemus. a native of Holland, came to this country in 1654. Abraham was gradu- ated at Rutgers in 1831, and at New Brunswick theologi- cal seminary in 1835, and was pastor in Hopewell. N. Y.. till ISoT. anil in Newark. N. J., from May of that year till his death. .Mr. Polhemus

was very popular in

the community in which he lived, and was clear and logical as a pulpit orator. He published an " Address before the Alumni of Rutgers College" (1852). A " Memorial." containing twelve of his sermons, the address at his installation in Newark, by Dr. David H. Riddle, and his funeral discourse, by Dr. John Forsyth, chaplain, U. S. A., was print- ed after his death.

POLIGXAC. Camille Armand Jules Marie (po-leen-yak). Count de, soldier, b. in France, 6 Feb., 1832. He is a descendant of the Duchess of Polignac, a favorite of Marie Antoinette. At the begin- ning of the civil war he came to this country, offered his services to the Confederate government, and was made brigadier-general on 10 Jan.. 1802. and attached to the Army of Tennessee. Subsequently he was given command of a division and commis- sioned major-general on 13 June, 1864. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-'! he served with his countrymen, and he has since been engaged in journalism and in civil engineering. On several occasions he has been sent to Algiers in charge of surveying expeditions by the French government, and his work has received special recognition.

POLK, James Knox, eleventh president of the United States, b. in Mecklenburg county, N. C., 2 Nov., 1795; d. in Nashville, Tenn.. 15 June, 1849. He was a son of Samuel Polk, whose father, Eze- kiel, was a brother of Col. Thomas (q. v.). grandson of Robert Polk, or Pollock, who was born in Ire- land and emigrated to the United States. His mother was Jane, daughter of James Knox, a resi- dent of Iredell county, N. C., and a captain in the war of the Revolution. His father, Samuel, a farmer, removed in the autumn of 1806 to the rich valley of Duck river, a tributary of the Tennessee, and made a new home in a section that was erected the following year into the county of Maury. Be- sides cultivating the tract of land he had pur- chased, Samuel at intervals followed the occupa- tion of a surveyor, acquired a fortune equal to his wants, and lived until 1827. His son James was brought up on the farm, and not only assisted in its management, but frequently accompanied his father in his surveying expeditions, during which they were often absent for weeks. He was in- clined to study, often busied himself with hi~ fa- ther's mathematical calculations, and was fond of reading. He was sent to school, and had succeeded in mastering the English branches when ill health compelled his removal. He was then placed with a merchant, but having a strong dislike to commer- cial pursuits, he obtained permission to return home after a few weeks' trial, and in July, 1813. was given in charge of a private tutor. In 1815 he entered the sophomore class at the University of North Carolina, of which institution his cousin. William (q. v.), was a trustee. As a student young Polk was correct, punctual, and industrious. At his gradua- tion in 1818 he was officially acknowledged to be the best scholar in both the classics and mathemat- ics, and delivered the Latin salutatory. In 1847 the university conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1819 he entered the law-office of Felix Grundy, who was then at the head of the Tennessee bar. While pursuing his legal studies he nttraeted the attention of Andrew Jackson, who soon after- ward was appointed governor of the territory of Florida. An intimaey wa^ thus begun between the two men that in after-year* great I inlliieiieed tin- course of at least one of them. In 1S20 Mr. Polk was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Columbia, tin- enmity-seat of Maury county. Here he .-iiiained such immediate success as fails to the lot of few, his career at the bar only ending with his election to the governorship in 1839. At times he practised alone, while at others he was associated