Polk County
Tennessee
Polk County was established in 1839 in southeast Tennessee near the Georgia border. Before the 1940s, the Black population was heavily populated. According oral history, after a particular racist altercation with the local white coal miners, the Black residents were forced out of the area and migrated to the mountains.
Henderson King was Black resident in Polk County born in North Carolina. His wife was Janie King and they had three sons named Joseph, William, and Frank. He later remarried to Fannie Jarrett and had several more children. He moved to Polk County, owned a farm and purchased several hundred acres of land in the Murney Community (Benton Station). He was known for being an advocate for accessible education for the Black community. He established a school (King School) in Benton and oversaw the employment and boarding of the teachers and the upkeep of King’s School. King did have altercations with another well-known neighbor, Chauncey McKissic. McKissic eventually succeeded in obtaining the land. This along with the out-migration of Black residents led to the closing of the school in 1958. King is buried in King Cemetery in Benton Station.
Kings Elementary School
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Images obtained from Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Collection
King's Elementary was an Rosenwald School in Polk County located in 411 highway. One of the principals at the school was Mansfield D. Neely. Ms. Mary F. Conley, a teacher at the school, advocated for the students to attend a concert event in Chattanooga in hopes of inspiring a future musician.
There is a documented Freedman Bureau School in Ducktown, Polk County, Tennessee in September 1867. There was an enrollment of fifty students with a combination of both Black and Native American kids. The teacher was A.G. Marshall.