Notes |
- Genealogies for a long time have named this couple as the ancestors of President Polk along the line of the immigrant Robert ("Bruce") Pollock. This couple is also usually labeled as the parents of Charles Polk(e), Indian trader. DNA testing, however, has now show that these connections are impossible--that neither President Polk's kin, nor Charles Polk's kin, descend from here. Their immigrant ancestors remain unknown.
This is visible at the World Families Polk-Pollock project site. Each group of ancestors on the y-Results page come from a common lineage. Robert Pollock's family ("Robert Polk of Maryland, b.c. 1635") appears in one group. Charles Polke Indian Trader (often located as the child of this couple, William and Nancy Knox) is in another. William Polk b. 1700 d. c. 1757 (who m. Margaret Taylor) is in a third, separate group; he is also often placed as the child of William and Nancy Knox.
Because the male Polk descendants of William b. 1700 and immigrant Robert Pollock b. abt. 1635 do not share a common ancestor it is clear is that a relationship between the these two lines is not possible, cutting the descent to the President's line at this point.
No male Polk descended from President Polk's near line of descent has stepped forward to be tested for this project--that is, no male Polk descended his father (William, b. 1772 m. Jane Knox) or his grandfather (Ezekiel, b. 1747 m. Mary Wilson). His line back to William b. abt. 1700 who married Margaret Taylor is probably pretty secure. Beyond this, however, connections remain unknown. [2]
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