John Ewing Colhoun (October 26, 1802) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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and

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from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Colhoun, was born in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

, where he attended common schools before graduating from the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

) in 1774. He was a member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

from 1778 to 1800. He studied to be a lawyer and was admitted to the

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in 1783, commencing practice in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. He was a farmer and was elected a member of the privy council and was also a

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of confiscated estates in 1785.

Origin and family

Colhoun (and Calhoun) is a surname that originated in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

to where Colhoun's great-great-great-grandfather Robert Colquhoun migrated from

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

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. Colhoun was born to

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...

immigrants to colonial America from

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

. Colhoun appears to have himself changed his surname from Calhoun to Colhoun. Colhoun married Floride Bonneau a member of a prominent

Huguenot family. They had three children: John Ewing Jr. who became a planter, Floride Bonneau (1792–1866) who married her father's first cousin John Caldwell Calhoun, and James Edward (1798–1889 later changed last name to Calhoun), a planter who would become an officer in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in the 1820s. Floride became

Second Lady of the United States The second lady of the United States or second gentleman (SLOTUS or SGOTUS) is the informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office. Coined in contrast to " first la ...

in 1825. John Colhoun was also a first cousin of

Joseph Calhoun Joseph Calhoun (October 22, 1750April 14, 1817) was a Democratic-Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives (1804–1805) and represented South Carolina in the United States House of Representatives (1807–1811). Born in ...

, and brother-in-law of Andrew Pickens.

Early background

In 1774, Colhoun graduated from the College of New Jersey (later to become

). On 16 August 1775, he joined Capt. Charles Drayton's company of volunteer militia for service in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

at its organization in Charleston, South Carolina. After the war, in 1783, he studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in

, working mostly in estate settlements and personal injury suits. In 1785, he was elected a member of the privy council and also a commissioner of confiscated estates. He rose to prominence after marrying Floride Bonneau who was heiress to an extensive plantation. Colhoun, became a planter by-trade, and later acquired several plantations across the state of

, including his Santee Plantation in St. Stephen's Parish, his Keowee and 12 Mile Plantations in the Old Pendleton District (where a slave plot was discovered in 1798. He eventually owned thousands of acres. At the time of his death, he owned 108 slaves.), and his Pimlico and Bonneau's Ferry Plantations in St. John's Parish. Another plantation he owned, the location of which is unclear, was called Mount Prospect. Colhoun grew mostly indigo, rice, oats, and vegetables on his plantations, as well as raising cattle, and breeding horses. His Keowee Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and it is within the Old Pendleton Historic District of

Pendleton, South Carolina Pendleton is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,489 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a sister city of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The town is located southeast of Cl ...

, also listed on the NRHP.

Senator

In 1801, after 22 years of service in the

, Colhoun defeated

Jacob Read Jacob Read (1752 – July 17, 1816) was an American lawyer and politician from Charleston, South Carolina. He represented South Carolina in both the Continental Congress (1783–1785) and the United States Senate (1795–1801). Biography Read wa ...

, incumbent, by a vote of 75 to 73, sealing his victory and was elected a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

from the state of

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...

and was a member of the committee which was instructed to report a modification of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

system of the United States. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the

7th United States Congress The 7th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1801, ...

as a senator, serving from March 4, 1801, until his death on October 26, 1802, in

. He was interred in the family cemetery in the Old Pendleton District.

References

External links

John Ewing Colhoun papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colhoun, John Ewing 1740s births 1802 deaths Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina Politicians from Staunton, Virginia American people of Scotch-Irish descent South Carolina lawyers South Carolina state senators United States senators from South Carolina Calhoun family South Carolina Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Princeton University alumni People from Pendleton, South Carolina People from colonial Virginia Year of birth uncertain 19th-century South Carolina politicians 19th-century United States senators 18th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly

Origin and family

Early background

Senator

See also

References

External links