John Caldwell Calhoun II (1843–1918) was an American planter and businessman. He was a large landowner in

Chicot County, Arkansas Chicot County ( ) is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,800. The county seat is Lake Village. Chicot County is Arkansas's 10th county, formed on October 25, 1 ...

, and a director of railroad companies. He was a prominent financier and developer of the "

New South New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War. Reformers used it to call for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with the ...

Early life

He was born on July 9, 1843, in

Demopolis, Alabama Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and T ...

.John N. Ingham
''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders''
Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Publishing Group, Volume 1, 1983, pp. 124-125 His father, Andrew Pickens Calhoun, was a planter. He had a brother,

Patrick Calhoun Patrick Calhoun (March 21, 1856 – June 16, 1943) was the grandson of John C. Calhoun and Floride Calhoun, and the great-grandson of his namesake Patrick Calhoun. He is best known as a railroad baron of the late 19th century, and as the found ...

. His paternal grandfather, John C. Calhoun, served as the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

from 1825 to 1832. He was educated in

. He graduated from South Carolina College in 1863. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

of 1861–1865, he served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

(CSA).

Career

In 1866, Calhoun entered in a partnership with James R. Powell, a businessman from

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, whereby he moved freedmen from the Southeast to

Yazoo County, Mississippi Yazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,065. The county seat is Yazoo City. It is named for the Yazoo River, which forms its western border. Its name is said to come from a ...

, where they worked on new plantations. A year later, he decided to do this on his own, and on a larger scale. Over the years, he moved over 5,000 freedmen from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama to the Yazoo Valley of Mississippi. By 1869, Calhoun moved to the Florence Plantation in

, which was inherited by his wife through her mother. By 1881–1882, he acquired a few more plantations in Chicot County: Harwood, Hebron, Luna, Fawnwood, Patria, Hyner's, and Latrobe. He also acquired the

Sunnyside Plantation The Sunnyside Plantation was a former cotton plantation and is a historic site, located near Lake Village in Chicot County, Arkansas, in the Arkansas Delta region. Built as a cotton plantation in the Antebellum South, it was farmed using the f ...

from the Starling family for US$90,000. He also acquired the

Lakeport Plantation Lakeport Plantation is a historic antebellum plantation house located near Lake Village, Arkansas. It was built around 1859 by Lycurgus Johnson with the profits of slave labor. The house was restored between 2003 and 2008 and is now a part of Ar ...

from his mother-in-law. He established the Calhoun Land Company, the Florence Planting Company, and the Chicot Planting Company. He teamed up with investors J. Baxter Upham of Boston and

Austin Corbin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

of New York City. However, due to heavy debt, by 1885, he let his brother divest of their Arkansas landholdings. Meanwhile, Calhoun moved to New York City, where he invested in the construction of Southern railways. He served as on the Board of Directors of railroad companies. He became the majority proprietor of the Baltimore Coal Mining and Railway Company. He sued the

United States Shipbuilding Company The United States Shipbuilding Company was a short-lived trust made up of seven shipbuilding companies, a property owner and steel company. Its stocks and bonds were unattractive to investors, and several of its member shipyards were overvalued, co ...

Personal life

He married Linnie Adams on December 8, 1870, in

Marengo County, Alabama Marengo County is a County (United States), county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, Alabama, Demopolis, ...

. She was the daughter of Betsy Johnson and grandniece of

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

, who served as the

from 1837 to 1841. They had three sons and one daughter.

Death

He died on December 18, 1918, at his home 200 West Fifty-eighth Street, in Manhattan. He was buried at the Saint Philips Episcopal Church Cemetery in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun, John C, II 1843 births 1918 deaths People from Demopolis, Alabama People from Chicot County, Arkansas Businesspeople from Manhattan 19th-century American planters Confederate States Army personnel Calhoun family University of South Carolina alumni