f the
late Thomas G. Polk, of Tennessee, and of Mrs. Rayner, wife of the
Hon. Kenneth Rayner, of Washington City.

Ezekiel Polk, one of the older brothers of Colonel Thomas Polk, was
the first clerk of the county court of Lincoln, after its separation
from Mecklenburg in 1768; a Magistrate of Mecklenburg county at a
later period; and was a man of considerable wealth and influence,
owning much of the valuable lands around "Morrow's Turnout," now the
flourishing village of "Pineville." He was the grandfather of James K.
Polk, President of the United States in 1845, some of whose noblest
traits of character were illustrated in _refusing to serve a second
term_ and in being _never absent from his post of duty_. Well would it
be for the best interests of our Republic if other occupants of the
"White House" would imitate his noble example.

_Zaccheus Wilson_, was one of three brothers who moved from
Pennsylvania and settled in Mecklenburg county about 1760. At the time
of the Mecklenburg Convention on the 19th and 20th of May, 1775, he
signed that instrument, pledging himself and his extensive family
connections to its support and maintenance. He was said to be a man of
liberal education, and very popular in the county in which he resided.
He was a member of the Convention which met at Halifax on the 12th of
November, 1776, to form a State Constitution, associated with
Waightstill Avery, John Phifer, Robert Irwin and Hezekiah Alexander.

The Wilsons were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and were arrayed by early
education, civil and religious, against tyranny in any form. The
eldest brother, Robert Wilson, who lived for many years in Steele
Creek congregation, was the father of eleven sons, seven of whom were
at one time (all who were old enough) in the Revolutionary army.
Shortly after the Revolution, Zaccheus Wilson moved to Sumner county,
Tennessee, and there died at an advanced age.

_Ezra Alexander_ was a son of Abraham Alexander, the President of the
Mecklenburg Convention of the 20th of May, 1775. He and William
Alexander each commanded a company in Colonel William Davidson's
battalion, under General Rutherford, against the Tories assembled at
Ramsour's Mill, near the present town of Lincolnton. He was also
engaged in other military expeditions during the war, whenever the
defence of the country demanded his services.

_Charles Alexander_ and _John Foard_, two of the signers, served as
privates in Captain Charles Polk