John Coleman Calhoun (March 1871 – September 28, 1950) was a politician in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada and a municipal councillor in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Biography

Calhoun was born in 1871 in

Albert County, New Brunswick Albert County (2016 population 29,158) is New Brunswick's third-youngest county located on the Western side of the Petitcodiac River on the Chignecto Bay in the Bay of Fundy. Prior to the abolition of county government in 1967, the shire town w ...

, where he remained until he moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

in 1885. He stayed there for ten years before moving to Alberta to engage in ranching and fur trading. He moved to Edmonton in 1895 where he worked in real estate and

horse trading Horse trading, in its literal sense, is the buying and selling of horses, also called "horse dealing". Due to the difficulties in evaluating the merits of a horse offered for sale, the sale of horses offered great opportunities for dishonesty, l ...

. In 1906, he built the King Edward Hotel, which would become Edmonton's leading hotel after a 1910 expansion. Calhoun made his first bid for elected office in the 1905 election, when finished ninth out of ten candidates for alderman, thus missing out on any of the four seats available. However, on May 7, 1906,

John R. Boyle John Robert Boyle, (February 1, 1870 or February 3, 1871 – February 15, 1936) was a Canadian politician and jurist who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, a cabinet minister in the Government of Alberta, and a judge on ...

resigned from

Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

, and Calhoun was elected to finish his term (which ran until December of that year). He did not seek re-election, but did run in the 1907 election, once he was a year removed from office. He was a part of a group of city businessmen that acquired the first

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

franchise for the city. He finished ninth of twelve, and did not try to re-enter politics again. Calhoun sold the King Edward Hotel in 1940, and retired, splitting his time between a home in

and his home in Edmonton. Calhoun died in an Edmonton hospital on September 28, 1950. He was survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters and was cremated shortly after his funeral service. John Calhoun was a long-time member of the

Independent Order of Foresters The Independent Order of Foresters, operating as Foresters Financial, is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that provides life insurance and other financial solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United ...

References

Edmonton Public Library biography of John CalhounCity of Edmonton biography of John Calhoun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun, John 1871 births 1950 deaths People from Albert County, New Brunswick Businesspeople from Edmonton Canadian ranchers Canadian fur traders Edmonton city councillors Canadian hoteliers