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Richard –

Very sorry for the long delay in getting back to you on this - was on travel for a couple weeks and am just catching up.

I very much appreciate your feedback although it is a bit disappointing to find out there are no Templemoyle Pollock Y-DNA results that I can access. I guess I understand your situation a little better now – i.e that you have Pollocks turning up as possible relations via autosomal testing but don’t know of any specific Pollocks in your tree at this point. 

My interest in Pollocks of Templemoyle is that two of them, John and Robert, wrote letters to President James K. Polk in 1846 and 1848 and claimed that his ancestors had originated from there. Following is transcript of letter written by Robert

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To his Excellency, The President of the United States,

The undersigned Robt. Polk (alias Pollock) of Templemoyle County Londonderry, Ireland Testifieth
That subscriber is the son of Samuel Polk now 90 years old, that the said Samuel Polk declares he was born years after Ezekiel left this country to sail for the United States; that Ezekiel Polk, he has been led to believe, was grandfather to James K. Polk, the presiding president of the United States, that the said Ezekiel Polk and Samuel Polk were first cousins; that besides the subscribers and his father, there also resides in Templemoyle Robert Polk, Sr., brother of Samuel, and uncle to the subscriber.

That feeling pleased and honored that our bearing the name of Polk of Irish extraction, sprung from the same ancestry, occupied the highest situation in one of the first and most powerful nations on the Earth, subscriber could not resist the temptation (when an esteemed and excellent friend was to sail for America) of making known to President Polk, that in the land of his forefathers, and in the very house of his progenitors, there still lives in peace and independence a few descendants of that old family, who feel a disinterested pleasure in knowing that a near and worthy Kinsman has been advanced to honor.

The above particulars I will have transmitted, with every proof of their authenticity, should you at any time require it, and any thing farther you may desire to know can be communicated verbally by Mr. Jas. K. Fisher, my young friend and the bearer of these lines,

With every feeling of respect,
believe me yours faithfully,
Robert Pollock
Templemoyle
4 March 1848
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It is of course not uncommon for people to claim relationship to prominent individuals of the same surname and there are some incorrect statements in this which makes the basic claim questionable. In particular the statement that Ezekiel Polk, grandfather of President Polk, left from Templemoyle is definitely not true and the timeline is seriously off, for it is well known that Ezekiel was born in Pennsylvania in 1747. Ezekiel’s self-composed epitaph, etched on his tombstone, contains the phrase “Pennsylvania born.” His father, William Polk/Pollock was in America by 1727, when he purchased a tract of land in Cecil County, Maryland. He sold this in 1736 and moved to the Cumberland Valley area of Pennsylvania, where Ezekiel was born. The family moved again, finally settling in what is now Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, around 1753. William Polk was afterwards referred to as William Polk of Carlisle, since Carlisle was later made the seat of Cumberland County PA, although Carlisle did not really exist during the time William and his family lived in that area. William’s date of death and place of burial are not known; he was alive in 1757 and probably died shortly afterwards.

President Polk took the letter seriously and had a copy sent to his cousin Bishop Leonidas Polk for comment. Bishop Polk replied that “I have not a doubt that the writer is of the same family, as well from the name of the locality, for that was the precise region from which I have always heard our ancestors came. He is however deceived in the degree of his relationship to us.” Whether he meant Londonderry as the “precise region,” or Templemoyle, is open to question but this certainly makes Templemoyle a place of interest for further research.

If you come across any Pollocks from this area or descendants of such that I can contact please let me know.

No I don’t have the will abstracts for Ephraim and Thomas Pollock of Dunboe – where can I get them?

Thanks again for your informative note and please accept my apologies for my delayed response.

Regards -

John Polk