Sarah Childress Polk was FLOTUS in the mid-1840s – a time of major technical and industrial advances.

Technology, Circa 1840s

When James and Sarah Polk were in the White House (1845-49), the country had grown enormously. Between 1830 and 1840, the population had risen from around 13,000,000 to 17,000,000. There were now 27 states in the Union with more to come. The Gold Rush of 1849 was on a close horizon, and would help propel the nation into a modern age of industry and invention.

Railroad tracks now connected Washington to Baltimore, and New York to Philadelphia, and points beyond. Railroad trains themselves were beginning to look more like trains we recognize today, rather than the early design of stage coaches linked together like a pull-toy.

The telegraph also connected cities and towns by wire! The Morse Code tapped out messages that could travel a hundred miles in a minute – or less. Schoolboys everywhere learned the new Code, both as a hobby and as a means of future employment.

Gas and oil lighting had been around for decades. New York and Philadelphia had already installed the necessary pipe lines by the 1840s, and the new street lights powered by gas was cheaper than candles. And safer. Washington DC had begun the infrastructure by the mid-40s, and was now focusing on updating the White House lighting system. A prize coup for the technology.

The Polks:

The Polks: an unlikely Presidential couple.

Neither James Knox Polk nor his wife Sarah had ever expected to be First Couple. He had been a middling Tennessee Congressman in the 1830s, including a stint as Speaker of the House. Then he served a term as Governor of Tennessee. Then he lost the next two elections, and promptly disappeared.

Political and factional/sectional infighting among the Democrats resuscitated Polk as an innocuous candidate, agreeable to everyone (mostly those who did not know him). That he won against Whig’s Henry Clay – who everybody knew, was a huge upset. Most people said that Polk did not win, rather that Henry Clay lost.

Mrs. Polk

Sarah Childress Polk (1802-91) was a well educated Tennessean who had accompanied her Congressman husband to Washington and had thrived in its socio-political atmosphere. Attractive and stylish, she walked the fine line between the traditional and the progressive, and just about everyone thought well of her.

The Polks had no children, thus Sarah was spared many of the common health issues of 19th century women. With no “family” responsibilities at home, plus a personal disinclination for mundane housekeeping, she was free to accompany her husband on his political travels. She enjoyed it. He, a rather stiff fellow with few intimates, was glad to have her company. He enjoyed it.

Sarah had opinions and suggestions (progressive), but they were for his ears alone (traditional). She was not about to change once she became First Lady. That she took on a fair amount of the secretarial/administrative work during her husband’s single term in office (sparing him the out-of-pocket expense) was little known during their time. While they were considered rather well-to-do, they were a thrifty pair.

President James Knox Polk

Sarah deferred all political matters and many of the mansion’s “household” functions to her husband’s decision, but the one area of responsibility she absolutely controlled was the tenets of her devout Presbyterian faith. This precluded dancing, alcohol, card playing and insistence on strict observance of the Sabbath. They conducted no business nor received visitors on Sunday. If someone came by unknowingly, they were invited to accompany them to church, but it was rare.

Both Polks were sincerely overwhelmed by their sense of office. They believed it was an awesome responsibility (in the Biblical sense), and that all their efforts should be fixed firmly on the business of government. No idle pastime was permitted.

Nevertheless, despite eschewing frivolity and refreshments (another out-of-pocket expense), the Polks did a reasonable share of gracious entertaining.

The Gaslight Story

Twenty years is sufficient time to determine the benefit/necessity of new inventions. By the late 1840s, gas lighting had proven itself there to stay, which it did for another forty years.

Once the Capitol Building installed gas lighting around 1847, the Baltimore Gas Company extended its pipeline beneath Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Gas street lamps placed along the avenue were also connected to the line, illuminating Washington’s most famous street.

Gas lights usually looked like the candles they replaced.

It was a boon opportunity for the premier residence in the country to have its chandeliers retooled for modern convenience. The President was consulted, and Congress was consulted – and an appropriation for gas installation was approved.

The only one not on board was First Lady Polk. She especially loved her magnificent bronze chandelier that President Monroe had hung in the Blue Room, which held thirty long tapers. The White House, committed to high elegance, used beeswax candles, the most expensive kind. Hundreds were purchased regularly to light the public rooms. Sarah loved their grace and the subdued lighting they offered.

In a word, Sarah was a skeptic. Notwithstanding, she lost that battle, and gas was duly installed. But Mrs. Polk kept her candles – just in case.

Just In Case

The Baltimore Gas Company, like all utilities, are in business to make money. And to save money, in what was still considered an early-to-bed-early-to-rise environment, they made it a practice to turn off the gas at 9 PM.

Unaware that the POTUS and FLOTUS were having a soirée, the gas company shut off the valves without notice, and the huge chandeliers and candelabra were abruptly extinguished and the entire place was in the dark.

The Monroe Chandelier – today!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mrs. Polk, who had insisted on keeping her long tapers, was able to rescue her guests from darkness. The candles were brought and lit, bringing light to what might have been a dark spot on their record.

The elderly Sarah Polk.

Her “memorials” – a reprinted copy!

Decades later, when the elderly Widow Polk (who lived to be nearly 90) told her life story to the couple who penned her biography, she listed her White House gaslight experience as one of her most treasured memories.

Sources:

Anthony, Carl Sferrazza – First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents’ Wives and Their Power, 1789-1961, Harper Perennial, 1992

Boller, Paul F., Jr. – Presidential Wives, An Anecdotal History, Oxford University Press, 1988

Nelson, Anson and Fanny – Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk – ADF Randolph Company (reprint of 1892 publication)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/first-ladies/sarahpolk

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=12