union, which lasted twenty-eight years, till his death in 1875, during which time she was principally absorbed in domestic duties and the care of a large family. In 1869 he had a very important share in the establishment of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, the first State board established in this country. Mrs. Plunkett became greatly interested in sanitary matters through her husband's influence, and was especially anxious to awaken in the women of America an interest in the theory and practice of household sanitation. She was convinced that, if the women of the country would inform themselves of what is needed, and see that it is put in practice, there would be a great gain in the saving and lengthening of life and in making it more effective and happy while it lasts. To promote that cause she wrote many newspaper articles, and in 1885 published a valuable book "Women, Plumbers and Doctors," containing practical directions for securing a healthful home, and she probably would have continued to fulfill what seemed a mission to her, had not a great calamity befallen her only son, Dr. Edward L. Plunkett In his twenty-first year, while studying to become a mechanical engineer, he became totally blind. After the first shock and grief were passed, he resolved to study medicine and enrolled himself as a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, his mother becoming his reader and constant assistant Through the use of pictures and models, she was enabled to make herself his intelligent helper, and by taking a five-year course instead of the usual three, he was graduated with honor and at once set about the instruction of medical undergraduates in the capacity of "coach" or "quiz-master," a work to which he brought great enthusiasm and indomitable will, and in which he had achieved notable success, when, in 1890, after a week's illness, he died. The work to which Mrs. Plunkett had dedicated herself having thus fallen from her hands, she at once resumed her pen and returned to sanitary subjects, though at the same time producing other articles, political, educational and aesthetic, for various magazines and journals. One on the increasing longevity of the human race, entitled "Our Grandfather Died Too Soon," in the "Popular Science Monthly," attracted wide attention. Her leaning towards the prevention and healing of disease is ever conspicuous, and she is probably most widely known in connection with the establishment and growth of a cottage hospital in Pittsfield, Mass., called "The House of Mercy," started in 1874, of which she is president. It was the first one of its class, to be supported by current contributions from all religious denominations, in this country. She belongs to the great army of working optimists.
POLK, Mrs. Sarah Childress, wife of James K. Polk, eleventh Governor of Tennessee and eleventh President of the United States, born in Murfreesboro, Tenn., 4th September, 1803, and died in Nashville, Tenn., 16th August, 1891. She was the daughter of Joel and Elizabeth Childress, of Rutherford county, Tenn.
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SARAH CHILDRESS POLK.
She was educated in the Moravian Seminary, Salem, N. C, and on 1st January, 1824, she became the wife of Mr. Polk, then a member of the legislature of Tennessee, of which during the previous session he had been clerk. They took up their residence in Columbia, Maury county, where Mr. Polk had for some time practiced law. The following year he was elected to Congress, and she accompanied him to the National Capital. There she became noted for her quick sympathy, ready tact and graceful manners, for a lovely and inspiring womanhood, and for her devotion to her husband, whose ambition in political life she seconded. Theirs was a union of heart and life, full of strength and blessing to both, growing in tenderness and devotion. Mrs. Polk stamped herself on the social life of Washington and impressed all with whom she was brought into contact as being a woman of deep piety and profound convictions, a noble character made up of strength, individuality and gentleness, clinging love and single-hearted devotion to her husband, relatives and friends. Her experience in the National Capital prepared her for the duties that devolved upon her as the wife of the governor of the State in 1839. In Nashville she became at once the social leader. She was as successful as Mr. Polk was, though he was then declared to be one of the most statesmanlike, prudent, thoughtful and conscientious of the governors of Tennessee. After a brief season of rest from official cares he was elected President of the United States. In 1845 they again became residents of Washington. During his term of office Mrs. Polk achieved her greatest successes as a social leader. As the mistress of the White House she set an example of American simplicity that has become one of the traditions of the presidential mansion. Gentle, dignified, courteous, approachable and bright, she was esteemed equally by the high and the lowly. Well-informed, thoughtful, vivacious, her conversation had a charm for all, while she kept strictly within the sphere of a true and noble womanhood. In domestic life she did not neglect the little duties of the household, while she kept in sympathy with her husband's deeper cares. She banished dancing from the President's mansion and wine from the table, except at the State dinners, and it was all done so kindly that none were offended. Upon the close of his term they journeyed homeward by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi river, stopping in Memphis for a day or two. There the ex-president in a speech to his friends predicted
