VanLeer Polk

VanLeer Polk (a.k.a. Van Leer Polk) (July 9, 1856 - December 19, 1907) was an American politician and diplomat from Tennessee. He served in the Tennessee Senate as a representative for Maury County in the 1890s. He was appointed Consul-General in Calcutta, India, and was one of six representatives of the United States at the 1906 Pan-American Conference. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family. Early life Polk was born at Ashwood Hall in Ashwood, Tennessee on July 9, 1856. He attended the Silling's School in Vevey, Switzerland and in Rugby, England. His father, Andrew Jackson Polk, was the son of Colonel William Polk. His mother, Rebecca Van Leer, was an heiress from the Van Leer family to an iron fortune from Cumberland Furnace. Career Polk was a member of the Democratic Party and represented Maury County in the Tennessee Senate during the 1890s. With Flourney Rivers, a state senator for Giles County, he introduced railroad commission bills. Polk invested in silver mining operations in Mexico along with Tennessee politicians Duncan Brown Cooper and Henry Cooper.