Bishop Polk, the first Bishop of Louisiana

Bishops are often buried in the cathedral of their diocese. Look down and you’ll see the crypt of Bishop Leonidas Polk and his wife. Polk was a major contributor to the growth of the church in America. As the first bishop in the Louisiana territory, and missionary bishop to the Republic of Texas, Polk oversaw a vast area, and was instrumental in the founding of several parishes in Louisiana. But at the same time, he was a slave owner. Before moving to Louisiana, he lived in Maury County, Tennessee and was the largest slaveholder in the county, with estimates of up to 400 enslaved people in 1850. When he became Bishop of Louisiana, he made his home (Leighton plantation) in Thibodaux, Louisiana for easy travel across the wide diocese. He enslaved people there as well. Craftsmen from his plantation built a chair you’ll see later.

Early after moving to Louisiana, he was rector of Trinity Church New Orleans (on Jackson Avenue, off St Charles Avenue). He resigned as rector to devote his time to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, which he helped to found.

Then, Louisiana seceded from the Union in 1861. Polk resigned as bishop and took command of Confederate forces in western Tennessee. He had been a long-time friend of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. They had been cadets at West Point military academy at the same time. Davis appointed Polk a major general. His record as a field commander was poor. Historian Steven Woodworth writes: “Polk’s incompetence and willful disobedience had consistently hamstrung Confederate operations west of the Appalachians, while his special relationship with the president made the bishop-general untouchable.” He was killed by Federal artillery in 1864 and buried in Augusta, Georgia. His remains were moved here in 1945 and reinterred under the choir floor.