William Hawkins Polk

William Hawkins Polk (May 24, 1815 – December 16, 1862) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 6th congressional district from 1851 to 1853. He was the younger brother of President James K. Polk. Prior to his election to Congress, he had been a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives (1841–1845), served as U.S. Minister to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1845–1847), and fought as a major in the Mexican–American War. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Polk supported the Union. He ran for Governor of Tennessee in 1861, but lost to the secessionist incumbent, Isham G. Harris. Early life Polk was born in Maury County, Tennessee, the ninth of ten children of Samuel Polk (1772–1827) and Jane (Knox) Polk (1776–1852). He attended the public schools of Columbia, and the University of North Carolina in 1832 and 1833. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1839, and commenced practice in Columbia. Polk engaged in reckless behavior as a youth that his family found troubling. He was described as a spendthrift prone to "extravagance" and "light amusements." A letter from his brother, James K. Polk, warned him, "you are getting into habits that must inevitably destroy you."