Poll (parrot)
| 🐈 🐕 🐎 Species | African grey |
|---|---|
| Known for | Shouting profanities at Andrew Jackson's funeral |
Poll was an African grey parrot originally owned by Rachel Jackson, but adopted by her husband Andrew Jackson after her death. It is commonly reported that Poll learned to shout profanities by listening to Andrew Jackson, and had to be removed from his 1845 funeral due to causing a disturbance with its foul language.[1]
Reverend William Menefee Norment, who attended Jackson's funeral, recollected that Poll "got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house",[1][2] although Snopes notes that this anecdote only arose decades after the funeral took place, and that no other eyewitness accounts of the alleged event exist.[3]
Life
Andrew Jackson purchased Poll for his wife for $25 in 1827, but she died a year later in 1828. Jackson loved Poll dearly, and often wrote letters to his nephew, William Donelson, asking about the bird's health; Donelson took care of Poll while Jackson could not. In his letters, Donelson described Poll as "fat and saucy" and predicted that she would "live to be an old Bird".[3]
Poll appeared less frequently in Jackson's letters after 1837, due in part to Jackson living with the bird at that point and no longer enquiring about its health. Poll outlived Jackson, and after his death was likely cared for by Jackson's family at the Hermitage. The last known reference to Poll was in an 1850 letter written by Jackson's adoptive grandchildren.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Doering, Laura (February 14, 2013). "Presidents & Their Pet Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co". Lafeber® Pet Birds. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ↑ Cheathem, Mark R. (April 16, 2012). "Andrew Jackson's Profane Parrot". Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ibrahim, Nur (April 26, 2024). "Andrew Jackson's Parrot Kicked Out of His Funeral for Swearing?". Snopes. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
This article "Poll (parrot)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Poll (parrot). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
