First Families of Polk County

by Marian Presswood, Polk County Historian

 

f imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the East Tennessee Historical Society should really be flattered, for we practically copied in full their idea of a First Families of Tennessee. They began theirs as a Bicentennial project back in 1996 and we quickly followed suit, even using (by permission) their form and guidelines. Basically, the ETHS program says to be eligible you must be able to prove each step in a direct lineage back to an ancestor who was living in the area that became Tennessee in 1796. So, it follows that to be eligible for a First Families of Polk County membership you must be able to prove direct lineage back to an ancestor who was living in what became Polk County when it was formed in the fall of 1839. We may be a bit more lenient, for we usually allow anyone who was on our 1840 census to assume their ancestor was here a month or two earlier since we really have no way to prove that they were or were not. And the county didn’t do anything much toward organization until the Spring of 1840, anyway.  Many of the folk who were listed on that census did purchase land in the Ocoee District. We did admit descendants of one person who had lived here for several years while it was still Indian Territory, but was deceased at the time the county was formed, and that was the Beloved Woman, Cherokee Peacemaker, Nancy Ward.

   Both groups charge a nominal fee for the application verification and the nice certificate that is issued. For an application for FF of Polk just send a SASE to PCHGS, P.O. Box 636, Benton, TN 37307. An application form is online for ETHS at their web site.

   For years now, we've been meaning to make a simple list of all 70 of our First Families ancestors so you can see if your ancestor was here when the county was formed. We retain all information sent as proof (so be sure to send only copies, no originals) which is then made available for researchers of that family. Almost all of the ancestors have multiple descendants who made applications, 215 of them to be exact. For example, probably half our applicants who have been approved for membership are descendants of Rev. Elijah Clayton!

    Following the ancestor (could be male or female) we will also add the spouse, if known.