John Caldwell Calhoun II was born on July 9, 1843, in Demopolis, Alabama, to Andrew and Margaret Calhoun. His grandfather was Vice President John C. Calhoun. His father was a planter who owned $110,000 of real estate and $184,400 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Marengo County, Alabama, until the 1850s, when they moved to Pendleton, South Carolina. He attended South Carolina College in the early 1860s.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on July 17, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company D of Hampton’s Legion on August 5. According to his service records, he was 5 feet tall, with black hair and black eyes. He was promoted to sergeant soon afterward, but he was discharged on October 28, 1861. He received a commission as captain of Company C of the 4^th South Carolina Cavalry. The regiment took part in the defense of Petersburg and the Carolinas campaign. It surrendered as part of General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee on April 26, 1865.

 

He settled in Yazoo County, Mississippi, after the war and earned a living as a planter. He married Linnie Adams on December 8, 1870, and they had four children. They moved to Chicot County, Arkansas, and he purchased several more plantations in the ensuing years. He eventually moved to New York City, where he invested in mining companies and railroads. He died in New York City on December 18, 1918.

 

Image: John C. Calhoun II (courtesy Wikicommons)

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