People/CharactersElias Polk

Elias Polk (b. 1805) was the body servant and slave of James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States. He was also his driver. He was so attached to JK Polk that he refused several opportunities for freedom. He was to be freed upon the death of JK Polk's widow, Sarah, but emancipation freed him before that. He sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and was a member of a Colored Democrat club, making him relatively unpopular with other Blacks. He eventually returned to Washington, D.C., where he worked in a patronage job for the US House until the Republicans regained control, and then for the Post Office. He prided himself on having met every president from John Quincey Adams to Grover Cleveland. [from The Invisibles by Jesse J. Holland]