Andrew Pickens Calhoun was born on October 15, 1811, in Keowee, South Carolina, to John and Floride Calhoun. His father was a politician who served as a United States senator and vice president. He attended Yale University and South Carolina College. He married Eugenia Chappell on January 21, 1833, but she died soon afterward. He then married Margaret Maria Green, and they had at least six children: Duff, born around 1839; John, born around 1844; Margaret, born around 1847; Andrew, born around 1852; James, born around 1854; and Patrick, born around 1856.
They moved to Marengo County, Alabama, and he worked as a planter. By 1850, he owned $54,000 of real estate. In 1854, he purchased his father’s Fort Hill plantation and returned the family to Pendleton, South Carolina. By 1860, he owned $110,000 of real estate and $184,400. He enslaved at least 54 people. He died in Pendleton on March 16, 1865, “after an illness of about two hours.”