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5 unusual facts about Polk Miller


Algernon Sidney Buford

Among Bon Air's residents of the period was druggist Polk Miller, who founded Sergeant's Pet Care Products and became a notable musician.

Burkeville, Virginia

Polk Miller, renowned old time banjo-player, story-teller, veterinarian, and Confederate veteran; was born on a plantation just west of Burkeville in 1844.

Polk Miller

Miller's recorded renditions of the traditional gospel song Old-Time Religion, as well as the Confederate war song The Bonnie Blue Flag, as well as the folk song Watermelon Party are featured in the 2013 video game Bioshock: Infinite.

Bon Air Elementary was the inspiration for a series of children's books, The Kids of the Polk Street School by Patricia Reilly Giff.

Although he did not perform in blackface, Polk sometimes billed himself as "The Old Virginia Plantation Negro" and performed Negro spirituals and pop and folk tunes such as James A. Bland's Carry Me Back to Old Virginny.



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