Rufus King Polk (August 23, 1866 – March 5, 1902) was a Democratic member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from 1899 to 1902.

Biography

Rufus K. Polk was born in

Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colu ...

, the son of

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

Brigadier General Lucius E. Polk and great-nephew of

Leonidas Polk Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a Confederate general, a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separat ...

Education

He attended Webb's Academy in

Culleoka, Tennessee Culleoka is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in the southeastern corner of Maury County, Tennessee, United States. located southeast of Columbia, Tennessee, Columbia. The population was 4,964 in 2010 and in 2016, the ...

, graduated from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania South Bethlehem is a borough in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 489 at the 2020 census. Geography South Bethlehem is located in northern Armstrong County in western Pennsylvania on the south side of Redbank C ...

, in 1887, and took a post-graduate course in mining engineering.

Career

He settled in

Danville, Pennsylvania Danville is a borough in and the county seat of Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. The population was 4,221 at the 2020 census. Danville is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolita ...

, and was employed as a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. He held supervisory positions with several

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

companies and ultimately became engaged in the manufacture of structural

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

. He was a delegate to the

1900 Democratic National Convention The 1900 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention that took place the week of July 4, 1900, at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. The convention nominated William Jennings Bryan for president ...

Spanish-American War

He served as first lieutenant of Company F, Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

Congress

Polk was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses and served until his death in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Death and burial

He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in

Sources

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The Political Graveyard
1866 births 1902 deaths Lehigh University alumni People from Danville, Pennsylvania People from Columbia, Tennessee Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Rufus K. American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Army officers Military personnel from Pennsylvania 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub