A controversial resolution starting the process of moving the remains of James K. Polk and his wife, Sarah, passed in the state Senate on Monday.
Sponsored by Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, the resolution expressed the General Assembly's support to move Polk from his tomb on the east side of the state Capitol building to the 11th president's former home in Columbia, which is now a museum.
"This is an historic event," said Tom Price, the curator of the James K. Polk Home and Museum in Columbia.
The campaign to move the Polks' remains has drawn national attention and caused divides among his descendants. Sitting in the Senate gallery were opponents of the move Teresa Elam, a seventh-generation niece of Polk from Wilson County, and Bill Mason, a sixth-generation first cousin, who were clearly distraught after the vote.
"It's like taking a soldier out of Arlington and burying him behind the barn," Elam said.
Polk has hardly had a peaceful rest. He has been moved twice since he died in 1849. Originally interned in the Nashville City Cemetery because of a cholera outbreak, he was moved to a family plot at his Nashville estate, Polk Place, as his will instructed a year later. His land was sold by family in 1893, and his body and Sarah's were moved to a new memorial on the grounds of the Capitol, where he has remained ever since.
Arguments on the floor centered around what it would mean to properly honor a former president. Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, came out against the move, and argued that more should be done to honor the memorial in its current place.
"One of the unique features of our state Capitol is the burial of Polk and his wife, Sarah," he said.
While the resolution passed 20-6, the Polks have a long way to go before they take up residency in Columbia. The joint resolution still needs to pass the House and then the Tennessee Historical Commission before finally a hearing before the Davidson County Chancery Court. But for Elam, taking the first step will only make the rest of the process even more inevitable.
"It's like chopping down a tree. That first chop is the easiest one to get down, then after that it just gets easier," she said.
Reach Kirk A. Bado on Twitter @kirk_bado.