I was reading up on the history of the presidential turkey pardon earlier today, and for some reason, I thought it was a much older tradition. However, it apparently didn’t become official until the 1980s. Even so, turkeys have played a major role in United States history.
There's one legend passed down over the years that back during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, his son, Tad, became so attached to the turkey that the Lincolns planned to eat for Christmas dinner that he named him Jack. The bird supposedly followed Tad around the White House, and when his fateful date came, Tad begged to keep him. The story goes that Lincoln allowed it and joked about pardoning the turkey, but George H.W. Bush was the first president to officially do so and make it an annual tradition in 1989.
However, I'd like to talk about a different bird from U.S. history today: Poll the Parrot.
Related: The Strange but True Tale of America’s Thanksgiving Raccoon
There have been some unique and interesting White House pets over the centuries — like the Thanksgiving raccoon I wrote about earlier this week — and Andrew Jackson's parrot, Poll, sometimes called Polly, is one of the most legendary. Jackson and his wife, Rachel, apparently had a number of animals that they kept at Hermitage, their Tennessee home, including numerous horses and ponies. One year, Andrew added the bird to the mix as a gift to Rachel.
Rachel took care of it until her death, and after that, Andrew took over and, by all accounts, fell in love with it. It's not clear whether he ever took the bird to the White House with him, but letters between him and relatives indicate that he may have left it in Tennessee during his presidency because there was a period of time when he would ask about the bird regularly. But after his term was over in 1837, the bird was rarely mentioned in any of his correspondence.
African Grey parrots are quite intelligent. Research has shown that they can perform some tasks with the cognitive ability of a child up to six years old. Studies have also shown that they can be altruistic and even express preferences, like choosing types of music they want to listen to. They can also learn up to 1,000 words from the people around them, and if you know anything about Jackson's raucous ways, all of this makes sense.
Jackson died in 1845, and the story goes that mourners gathered at the Hermitage for his funeral, but they couldn't even get to the sermon because Poll was making such a fuss. But the real distraction was what she was saying: curse words. And lots of them. The presiding minister, Reverend William Menefee Norment, was so flustered that he had to ask someone to remove Poll from the room.
Normen later wrote, "Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet, got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house."
A Cumberland University student who had visited Jackson just before his death also confirmed the story. "While still at school, word reached Cumberland University that General Jackson was dead. Only six weeks before he had shaken his hand. Rev. Norment says he went to the funeral and that the General’s parrot, excited by the multitude and the wailing of the slaves, let loose perfect gusts of ‘cuss words.'"
Either way, it gave me a laugh. The tales from Jackson's life are some of the most interesting of any president. He was not one for quiet moments and polite company, and apparently his bird wasn’t either. Seems like the most fitting way for him to leave this earth.
