Col. Thomas Polk (1732-1794)

He was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and in 1753 moved to North Carolina, participating in the War of Sugar Creek when local settlers took up arms against large private landholders who were speculating on real estate. In 1775, he founded Charlotte, North Carolina, and signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. During the American Revolutionary War, he served as a Colonel in command of the 4th North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Line at the Battle of Brandywine. In 1780, he accepted a commission as General of Purchases for both the State of North Carolina and the Continental Army. After the war, he returned to North Carolina, was elected to the North Carolina Council of State (1783-84) and as a Delegate to the Third Continental Congress in 1786, but did not attend any of that Congress' sessions. His home accommodated President George Washington during his tour of the southern states (1791) and he was the great-uncle of the 11th U.S. President James K. Polk.