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Abbeville in Abbeville County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds

 
 
Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, July 19, 2008
1. Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds Marker
Inscription.
5.5 miles southeast is the burial ground of Patrick and Martha Caldwell Calhoun, Parents of John C. Calhoun; Deputy Surveyor 1756; First Representative from Up Country to Commons House of Assembly, 1769-1772; Member of First Provincial Congress, 1775; Second, 1775-1776; General Assembly, 1776; and frequently after until his death, 1796. His greatest service to his state was his successful fight for the Circuit Courts Act, 1762. Across the road is his home site.
 
Erected 1950. (Marker Number 1-1.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1756.
 
Location. 34° 8.102′ N, 82° 24.856′ W. Marker is in Abbeville, South Carolina, in Abbeville County. Marker is at the intersection of State Highway 72 and Mt. Carmel Road (State Highway 823), on the left when traveling south on State Highway 72. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Abbeville SC 29620, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Lebanon Presbyterian Church (approx. 1.4 miles away); Forest Lawn Memory Gardens Veterans Monument (approx. 3.1 miles away); Quay-Wardlaw House (approx. 3½ miles away); Trinity Episcopal Church (approx. 3½ miles away); Maj. Thomas D. Howie
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(approx. 3½ miles away); The Old Livery Stable (approx. 3½ miles away); Old Bank Building (ca. 1865) (approx. 3.6 miles away); Humane Society Alliance Fountain (1912) (approx. 3.6 miles away); "Big Bob" (approx. 3.6 miles away); Abbeville Square (approx. 3.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Abbeville.
 
Regarding Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds. The Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds is located directly across from the "Birthplace of Calhoun" marker on Mt. Carmel Road. A short drive into the woods will take you to the grounds. Mt. Carmel Road was also the route taken by Jefferson Davis after he spent the night in Abbeville on his flight from Richmond.
 
Also see . . .
1. Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds. South Carolina Department of Archives and History:
This cemetery contains the graves of Patrick Calhoun and members of his family, who settled in the Long Canes area of Abbeville County in the 1750s. (Submitted on July 20, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

2. Members of the First Provincial Congress. Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About South Carolina - Its History and Its People website entry:
First Session - January 11-17,
Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker -<br>Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds Marker<br>In Far Right image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, June 13, 2011
2. Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker -
Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds Marker
In Far Right
1775. Second Session - June 1-22, 1775. (Submitted on December 22, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

3. John C. Calhoun. Wikipedia entry:
John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was the 7th Vice President of the United States and a leading Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. (Submitted on May 24, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 
 
Additional commentary.
1. The Patrick Calhoun Family Cemetery - National Register Nomination Form (1975)
Description
The Patrick Calhoun Cemetery contains approximately 30 graves, some unmarked except for field stones. The area is enclosed by a 70' by 70' field-stone wall, varying in height from ground level to three feet high. Originally, the cemetery had an iron fence; this has been removed as a result of vandalism.

There are a variety of tombstone types, dating from 1796 to 1862. The most impressive marker is a monument with a square base and octagonal obelisk, erected in 1844 by John C. Calhoun to his mother, sister, and father, Patrick Calhoun.

Standing in a secluded area wooded with pine and hardwood trees, on land originally belonging to Patrick Calhoun's plantation, the cemetery
Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, June 13, 2011
3. Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker
A tribute to the Armed Forces
that have defended the
United States of America
Sponsored by
The Garden Club Council of Abbeville,
South Carolina
In Cooperation with
The South Carolina Department of Highways
is located several feet from South Carolina Highway 823, just south of White's Creek.

Significance
This cemetery contains the graves of Patrick Calhoun and members of his family, who settled in the Long Cane area of Abbeville County in the 1750s. Patrick Calhoun, early settler of backcountry South Carolina soon achieved a reputation as an Indian fighter. He entered politics and served in South Carolina's early assemblies. Realizing that the Charleston-based state legislature often served only the interests of the lowcountry planters, Calhoun became a spokesman for the rights of the backcountry settlers. He was influential in securing the right to vote for this region as well as promoting its representation in the legislature. He was also the father of John C. Calhoun, U.S. Senator and Vice-President of the United States (1824-1832). John C. Calhoun spent his early life in the Abbeville community and its adjacent countryside, the homeplace of the Calhoun family. In 1844 he erected a monument in the family cemetery to his father. (John C. Calhoun is buried in Charleston. A statue in tribute has been erected in Statuary Hall of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.)

Military and Political
James, Ezekiel, William and Patrick Calhoun, four brothers, emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania in the 1730s and then moved southward along the Alleghenies
1825 Map Detail of Abbeville County<br>Showing P. Calhoun's Location image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott
4. 1825 Map Detail of Abbeville County
Showing P. Calhoun's Location
to Wythe County, Virginia. Indian attacks, after Braddock's defeat, forced them to move southward again. In 1756 they established the Calhoun settlement in the Long Canes community of present-day Abbeville County, S.C.

In February 1760, the Cherokee Indians were threatening the frontier, and a caravan of about 250 settlers from the Long Canes Community were traveling to Fort Moore, near Augusta, for shelter. The caravan, of which Patrick Calhoun and his family were a part, was attacked by over 100 Indians, and many of the settlers were killed. This event, known as the Long Canes Massacre, awoke the indignation of the colonial government towards the Indians and resulted in the burning of Cherokee towns. Patrick Calhoun returned to the massacre site in 1760 and erected two stone markers, which are still standing today. He was also instrumental in having a company of government troops sent to the Long Canes Community in 1764 to protect the settlers from further Indian attacks. He was placed at the head of this company. Throughout the Cherokee skirmishes of the 1760s, Patrick Calhoun had the reputation of being a skilled Indian fighter and later became a hero of local legends.

In 1769, Patrick Calhoun led a band of upcountry settlers to Charleston, where they demanded and received the right to vote. Calhoun was elected the first representative from the upcountry
Entrance to Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds -<br>Located on SC Highway 823 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, November 2, 2010
5. Entrance to Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds -
Located on SC Highway 823
in the Provincial assembly as a result of this expedition. From 1769-1772, he served in the Commons House of Assembly from Prince Williams Parish. He participated in the First and Second Provincial Congresses (1775-1776) and was a member of the state's first General assembly (1776), in which he served until his death in 1796.

Patrick Calhoun's grave is the earliest recorded in the cemetery, which is located on the former grounds of his plantation. before dying his political and military career, he earned a livelihood as a farmer and surveyor.

John C. Calhoun, son of Patrick and Martha Calhoun, was born in the Long Canes settlement in 1782 and lived there on his father's plantation until about 1795. At this time he entered the Academy of his brother-in-law, Dr. Moses Waddell, across the Savannah River in Georgia.

After Patrick Calhoun died in 1796, John C. Calhoun left Waddell's Academy and returned home to manage the family plantation, which included the family cemetery. In 1800 he reentered Waddell's academy, which had been moved to the South Carolina side of the Savannah River, and in 1802 he entered Yale. After acquiring a law degree from Yale in 1806, Calhoun returned to South Carolina and opened a law office in Abbeville in 1807. The Law Range where Calhoun had his office is still standing in the town of Abbeville.

In 1811 Calhoun married
Drive Leading from the Cemetery to S.C. Highway 823 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, March 23, 2011
6. Drive Leading from the Cemetery to S.C. Highway 823
and made his home in Bath, S.C., across the Savannah River from Augusta. In 1825 he built a mansion at Fort Hill in the northwest corner of the state but continued to maintain connections in the Long Canes community. In 1844, while he was U.S. Secretary of State, John C. Calhoun erected a monument in the family cemetery to his father, mother, and sister. The monument, with inscriptions written by Calhoun, stands today.
    — Submitted July 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

2. Patrick Calhoun
During his lifetime, Patrick Calhoun was a legendary figure in the Upcountry. On October 5, 1764, he was appointed Commander of a group of Rangers by the Provincial Government. He was later made Justice of the Peace for Granville County and (later) Ninety-Six District under the Provincial Government. On March 8, 1769, he was elected to the Commons House of Assembly from Prince William's Parish. He was Deputy to the 1st Congress (Jan-Nov 1775) from Ninety Six District.

He was first married to a Miss Craighead, the daughter of an immigrant Irish protestant minister. After her death, he married Martha Caldwell, the daughter of Capt. William Caldwell and the mother of all of his five children. For nearly the next century, the Calhoun family, through its marriages, personalities,
Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
7. Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds
Oblisk in the center was erected by John C. Calhoun in memory of his father and mother.
and connections, continued to be instrumental in the development of Abbeville District and South Carolina.

1. William Calhoun (1772-1840), married to Catherine Jenna De Graffenreid.
2. Catherine Calhoun (1775-1796), married to Moses Waddell, a local educator.
3. Patrick Calhoun, Jr. (1776-1840), married to Nancy Needham De Graffenried.
4. James Calhoun (1779-1843), married to Sarah Caldwell Martin.
5. John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850), married Floride Bonneau Calhoun (Colhoun).

According to John C. Calhoun, Patrick was "more Jeffersonian than Jefferson." The elder Calhoun opposed the federal Constitution because it allowed people other than South Carolinians the power to tax South Carolina, thus violating the very principles the Revolution was fought over. Despite his staunch support of liberty, at the time of his death, Patrick Calhoun's plantation owned a 1,200-acre cotton plantation and more than 30 slaves.
    — Submitted July 20, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

3. Patrick Calhoun, the First Lawmaker from the Upper Country
Patrick Calhoun — We have now seen the men who were leaders in the work of making settlements near the seacoast of South Carolina. We have followed some of
Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, March 23, 2011
8. Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds
the settlers as they made their way from the seashore up the four great rivers, the Savannah, the Edisto, the Santee, and the Pee Dee.

We must now turn our eyes to the northern border of the colony to watch the coming of a great multitude of settlers from Scotland. Among these new colonists we shall see a strong, brave man leading the rest of his people in the work of building homes in the highlands. This man is Patrick Calhoun, the father of the great and good South Carolina statesman, John C. Calhoun.

Scotch Emigrants to the Upper Country — Patrick Calhoun was a Scot, a descendant of that large body of people who left the lowlands of Scotland and crossed over to Ireland, where they were called Scotch-Irish. Then they sailed across the Atlantic to Pennsylvania. Some of them made their way southward from Pennsylvania through Virginia into the Carolinas. The journey through the forests was long and weary. The women and children were borne along in carts. The men walked in advance, some with rifles and some with axes. Each night the company of pilgrims went into camp. Around the great camp fire they sang some of the Psalms of David and prayed for God's guidance and protection. At last the Calhouns and other Scots came to the upper country of South Carolina.

Long Canes Settlement — In February, 1756, Patrick Calhoun led a small
Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, March 23, 2011
9. Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds
group of Scots with their families into the region west of the Saluda River. The land near the creeks and rivulets was covered with wild cane from five to thirty feet in height. They built homes on Long Cane Creek, in the present Abbeville County. Their community was named the Long Canes settlement. In the year 1760 some Indians attacked this settlement and killed a number of the colonists. The rest fled, and among the number, Patrick Calhoun. Afterwards he returned to the country of the cane brakes, in Abbeville.

The Waxhaws Settlement — About the year 1760 a company of Scots Cut down the trees and built log cabins in the district known as the Waxhaws settlement. These early settlers wore buckskin breeches and woolen hunting-shirts. They had caps made of raccoon skins, with the tail of the animal hanging from the back part of the cap. They were good marksmen, and then- rifles brought down game at long range. They built their log houses near the rivers and creeks, and the first season after their arrival a crop of corn was grown.

The stream of Scots from the northward kept on bringing settlers to the Waxhaws. A log church was built. The earth was the only floor and the seats were made of split logs. The people of the settlement came together in this building every Sunday to worship God according to the Presbyterian form of service.

The
Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds -<br>Southeast Corner Showing Field Stone Wall image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
10. Patrick Calhoun Burial Grounds -
Southeast Corner Showing Field Stone Wall
Settlement of Lancaster County
—Through the Waxhaws settlement the stream of settlers poured into the region now called Lancaster County. Then they crossed the Catawba and found the hills and ridges covered with forests of hickory, chestnut, and oak. The ground in the woodlands was hidden under a carpet of wild-pea vines and wild flowers. This fair region of forest and vine and flowing stream was the home of vast numbers of buffaloes, deer, bear, turkeys, partridges, geese, and ducks. The Scots made it their own home and their habitations remain in this earthly paradise, until this day. From the Catawba region they passed across to the headwaters of the Broad and Saluda. One of the early settlers on Tyger River in the present Spartanburg County was Anthony Hampton from whom sprang all the great soldiers bearing the name of Hampton in South Carolina.

Other Settlements in the Upper Country — About 1765, as captain of the armed men of the settlement, Patrick Calhoun marched some distance down the Saluda to meet and offer welcome to two bodies of settlers who entered the colony at Charles Town. One of these was made up of Germans, who settled on Hard Labor Creek, in Abbeville County. The other company was a group of Huguenot families, who established themselves near Long Canes. The Calhouns furnished them for a time with food. The Huguenots called their
Low Stone Wall Around Burial Grounds image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, March 23, 2011
11. Low Stone Wall Around Burial Grounds
settlements New Bordeaux and New Rochelle, and afterward they gave to the county the French name, Abbeville. Just before the outbreak of the Revolution some Scots sailed to Charles Town Harbor and then moved into the highlands to join the other Scots who were moving southward from Pennsylvania and Virginia. These Scots took possession of nearly all of the upper country of South Carolina. They were intelligent people, and worked with great energy. They killed the wild beasts, drove away the Indians, cut down the forests, and planted corn and wheat. They built churches and schoolhouses. Their ministers were well- educated men, and the people themselves had a good knowledge of the Bible.

Patrick Calhoun Admitted to the South Carolina Legislature -— In 1768 Patrick Calhoun, with a few others, presented himself before the legislature at Charles Town and asked the rulers of the colony to show more justice to the settlers in the highlands. These settlers wished the same privileges that were given to other tax-payers. They asked the lawmakers to open public roads, to organize courts of justice, to allow the upper country to send delegates to the legislature, and to help the mountaineers as they helped the lowlanders to build schoolhouses and churches and to secure ministers. In the following year (1769) Patrick Calhoun took his seat among the lawmakers at Charles
Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -<br>Northwest Corner image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
12. Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -
Northwest Corner
Town as the first representative chosen by the people of the upper country. Patrick Calhoun's last wife was the daughter of John Caldwell, a Scot who joined the settlement in Abbeville. Their son was John Caldwell Calhoun, South Carolina's great lawgiver. (Source: The Making of South Carolina by Henry Alexander White, pgs 62-67.)
    — Submitted April 24, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

4. Patrick Calhoun's Obituary
Died, on Monday the 15th ultimo, at his seat in Abbeville county, the hon. Patrick Calhoun, esq. in the 69th year of his age. He had served as a member of the legislature in this Sate for many years; was the first person who ever acted in that capacity, from that part of the State in which he resided; and was a member of the Senate at its last session. During the past summer he was attacked with a lingering fever, which much enfeebled his constitution. On his return from Columbia, he was seized with a bleeding nose, which exhausted him greatly till his life came to a close. He was a friend to virtue and piety; and a foe to vice in every form. The fidelity and patriotism which he exhibited as a public character, are too well known and acknowledged, by most of his numerous acquaintance, to need an encomium or eulogium. (Source: The South
Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -<br>West Inscription image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
13. Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -
West Inscription
Patrick Calhoun
the Father of
Catherine, William, James,
John Caldwell & Patrick
Calhoun
Born in the County of Donegal
Ireland
June 11th 1727,
and died January 15th 1796

in his 69th year.
Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. VII, No. 1
by the South Carolina Historical Society (1906) pg 90, quoting the City Gazette & Daily Advertiser for Monday, March 7, 1796.)
    — Submitted May 24, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

5. The Early Calhouns
In 1756 James, Ezekiel, William and Patrick Calhoun and their sister, Mrs. Mary Noble, widow of John Noble, and their mother, Mrs. Catherine Calhoun, removed to South Carolina, arriving, according to a letter written by John C. Calhoun, a son of Patrick, in February. They settled on Long Cane Creek, Prince William's Parish, Granville County, where they took up lands. July 18,1756,400 acres were surveyed out to William, who subsequently received other grants; November 7, 1756, two hundred acres were surveyed out to Patrick, who subsequently received other grants; July 11, 1758, 350 acres were surveyed out to Ezekiel, who subsequently received other grants; and August 11,1758, 350 acres were surveyed out to James, who subsequently received other grants. Patrick had been commissioned by the Surveyor General (Egerton Leigh) as his deputy surveyor (or this work and laid out the lands for his brothers.

Ezekiel Calhoun made his will September 3, 1759, and it was proved before Thomas Bell, to whom a dedimus
Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -<br>North Inscription image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
14. Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -
North Inscription
Catherine
the Daughter of
Patrick & Martha Calhoun
and the first Wife
of the Reverend Doctor Waddel

Died in March 1796,
in the 21st year of her age
without issue.
had been issued for the purpose, May 25,1762. Ho gave his son John his gun and saddle and a balled face horse: gave one-third of his personal property to his wife Jean and the rest thereof to his children, John, Patrick, Ezekiel, Mary, Rebecca, Catherine and Jean, to be equally divided between them; gave all of his lands on Long Cane and on Reed Creek, Augusta County, Virginia, to his three sons to be divided equally between them21; gave his wife (when the lands should be valued and divided) her third part thereof in money or in the lands; gave a similar interest to each of his four daughters; gave wife the management of the plantation whereon he then dwelled and the care of the children during her widowhood; appointed wife executrix and brother Patrick executor and brothers James and William overseers. Alexander Noble, John Wilson and Robert Norris, witnesses.

In 1760 the Cherokee Indians began to give trouble to the people of the Up-Country of South Carolina and on the first day of February, 1760, while the people of the Long Cane Settlement were removing with their families to Augusta for safety they were attacked and twenty-three of the number were slain. The following contemporary accounts of the massacre were published:

"Yesterday se'nnight the whole of the Long-Cane Settlers, to the Number of 150 Souls, moved off with most of their Effects in Waggons; towards
Patrick Calhoun Signature image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott
15. Patrick Calhoun Signature
Augusta in Georgia, and in a few Hours after their setting off, were surprised and attacked by about 100 Cherokees on Horseback, while they were getting their Waggons out of a boggy Place: They had amongst them 40 Gunmen, who might have made a very good Defence, but unfortunately their Guns were in the Waggons; the few that recovered theirs, fought the Indians Half an Hour, and were at last obliged to fly: In the action they lost 7 Waggons, and 40 of their People killed or taken (including Women and Children) the Rest got safe to Augusta; whence an Express arrived here with the same Account, on Tuesday Morning."

"Mr. Patrick Calhoun, one of the unfortunate Settlers at Long-Canes, who were attacked by the Cherokees on the 1st Instant, as they were removing their Wives, Children and best Effects, to Augusta in Georgia for Safety, is just come to Town, and informs us, 'That the whole of those Settlers might be about 250 Souls, 55 or 60 of them fighting Men; that their Loss in that Affair amounted to about 50 Persons, chiefly Women and Children, with 13 loaded Waggons and Carts; that he had since been at the Place where the Action happened, in order to bury the Dead, and found only 20 of their Bodies, most inhumanly butchered; that the Indians had burnt the Woods all around, but had left the Waggons and Carts there empty and unhurt;- and that he believes all the fighting men
Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -<br>Southeast Corner image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
16. Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -
Southeast Corner
would return to and fortify the Long-Cane Settlement, were part of the Rangers so stationed us to give them some Assistance and Protection.'"

"We have no late Advices from Fort Prince-George, or any Consequence from Places in that Route. But from Fort Moore, we learn, that a Gang of about 18 Cherokees, divided into 3 or 4 Parties, on the 15th Instant, way-laid, killed, and scalped Ulric Tobler, Esq; a Captain of Militia in those Parts, as he was riding from his Father's to that Fort; and shot Mr. William Calhoun, who was with him, in the Hand: 3 other Persons, who were in Company escaped unhurt: the Indian who killed Capt. Tobler, left a Hatchet sticking in his Neck, on which were 3 old Notches, and 3 newly cut."

The South-Carolina Gazette of Monday, October 8, 1764, referring to the proceedings of the General Assembly in June preceding, said:

"On the 5th, they likewise voted pay for a company of rangers, for six months, to protect the Long-Canes settlement, against the incursions of Indians; to consist of a commission officer, a sergeant, and 20 men; of which Patrick Calhoun, Esq; is appointed captain, who serves without pay."

Patrick and William Calhoun were both made Justices of the Peace for Granville County and subsequently (after 1769) for Ninety Six District under the Provincial Government, and at the election held on the 7th and 8th of
Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -<br>South Inscription image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
17. Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -
South Inscription
Martha Caldwell
the Wife of Patrick Calhoun
and the Mother of
Catherine, William James,
John Caldwell, & Patrick
Calhoun
Born on Cub Creek,
Charlotte County Virginia
1750.

Died in May 1862.
Aged 52 years.
March, 1769, Patrick Calhoun was elected to the Commons House of Assembly from Prince William's Parish and served until the next election, in October, 1772, the first representative from the Up-Country.

At the commencement of the Revolutionary struggle in South Carolina, Patrick Calhoun was sent as a deputy to the first Provincial Congress (January 11, 1775-November 1, 1775) from Ninety Six District and was reflected to the second Provincial Congress (November 1, 1775-March 26, 1776) and as a member of that body became a member of the first General Assembly (March 26, 1776-October 21, 1776) to the State of South Carolina when that Congress adopted an independent constitution on March 26,1776, and resolved itself into a General Assembly. He subsequently served in almost every House of the General Assembly until his death. He was elected one of the county court judges for Abbeville County, Ninety Six District, in 1791. (Source: The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Volumes 7-8 by South Carolina Historical Society, pgs 83-89.)
    — Submitted November 16, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

6. Patrick Calhoun
There were two ways of getting to South Carolina in Colonial times. The first immigrants, many of whom were men of capital, landed at Charleston,
Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -<br>East Inscription image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
18. Patrick and Martha Calhoun Monument -
East Inscription
Erected
by
John Caldwell Calhoun,
the surviving member of
the family, 1844.
and, settling in the fertile low country along the coast, became prosperous planters of rice, indigo, and corn before a single white inhabitant had found his way to the more salubrious upper country in the western part of the Province. The settlers of the upper country were plain, poorer, people who landed at Philadelphia or Baltimore and travelled southward along the base of the Alleghanies to the inviting tablelands of the Carolinas. In the lower country, the estates were large, the slaves numerous, the white inhabitants few, idle, and profuse. The upper country was peopled by a sturdier race who possessed farms of moderate extent, hewn out of the wilderness by their own strong arms, and tilled by themselves with the aid of few slaves. Between the upper and the lower country there was a waste region of sandy hills and rocky acclivities, uninhabited, almost uninhabitable, which rendered the two sections of one Province separate communities scarcely known to one another. Down almost to the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the farmers of the upper country were not represented in the Legislature of South Carolina, though they were then as numerous as the planters of the lower country. Between the people of the two sections there was little unity of feeling. The lordly planters of the lower country regarded their Western fellow citizens as provincial or plebeian; the farmers of
James Calhoun Tombstone<br>Carved by T. Berry & Co.<br>Washington, D.C. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
19. James Calhoun Tombstone
Carved by T. Berry & Co.
Washington, D.C.
James Calhoun
the Son of
Patrick and Martha Calhoun
and the Father of
James M., John A., William H.,
Caroline, and Sarah Calhoun
Born 1779
Died Jan. 31, 1843.
the upper country had some contempt for the planters as effeminate aristocratic and Tory. The Revolution abased the pride, lessened the wealth, and improved the politics of the planters; a revised Constitution in 1790, gave preponderance to the up-country farmers in the popular branch of the Legislature; and thenceforth South Carolina was a sufficiently homogeneous commonwealth.

Looking merely to the public career of Calhoun, the special pleader of the Southern aristocracy, we should expect to find him born and reared among the planters of the low country. The Calhouns, on the contrary, were up-country people farmers Whigs, Presbyterians, men of moderate means who wielded the axe and held the plough with their own hands, until enabled to buy a few “new negroes” cheap and savage; called new because fresh from Africa. A family party of them (parents four sons and a daughter) emigrated from the North of Ireland early in the last century, and settled first in Pennsylvania; then removed to Western Virginia; whence the defeat of Braddock, in 1755, drove them southward, and they found a permanent abode in the extreme west of South Carolina, then an unbroken wilderness. Of those four sons, Patrick Calhoun, the father of the Nullifier, was the youngest. He was six years old when the family left Ireland; twenty nine when they planted the “Calhoun Settlement”
Sarah Martin Calhoun Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 20, 2008
20. Sarah Martin Calhoun Tombstone
Consecrated
to the Memory of
Sarah Calhoun
wife of James Calhoun
died March 11, 1845.
An affectionate mother
remembered by her children.
in Abbeville District, South Carolina.

Patrick Calhoun was a strong-headed, wrong-headed, very brave, honest, ignorant man. His whole life, almost, was a battle. When the Calhouns had been but five years in their forest home, the Cherokees attacked the settlement, destroyed it utterly, killed one half the men, and drove the rest to the lower country; whence they dared not return till the peace of 1763. Patrick Calhoun was elected to command the mounted rangers raised to protect the frontiers, a duty heroically performed by him. After the peace, the settlement enjoyed several years of tranquility, during which Patrick Calhoun was married to Martha Caldwell, a native of Virginia, but the daughter of an Irish Presbyterian emigrant. During this peaceful interval, all the family prospered with the settlement which bore its name; and Patrick, who in his childhood, had only learned to read and write, availed himself of such leisure as he had to increase his knowledge. Besides reading the books within his reach, which were few, he learned to survey land, and practiced that vocation to advantage. He was especially fond of reading history to gather new proofs of the soundness of his political opinions, which were Whig to the uttermost. The war of the Revolution broke in upon the settlement, at length, and made deadly havoc there; for it was warred upon by three foes at once –
James and Sarah Martin Calhoun Tombstones image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, March 23, 2011
21. James and Sarah Martin Calhoun Tombstones
the British, the Tories, and the Cherokees. The Tories murdered in cold blood a brother of Patrick Calhoun's wife. Another of her brothers fell at Cowpens under thirty sabre wounds. Another was taken prisoner and remained for nine months in close confinement at one of the British “Andersonvilles” of that day. Patrick Calhoun, in many a desperate encounter with the Indians, displayed singular coolness, courage, adroitness, and tenacity. On one memorable occasion, thirteen of his neighbors and himself maintained a forest light for several hours with a force of Cherokees ten times their number. When seven of the white men had fallen, the rest made their escape. Returning three days after to bury their dead, they found upon the field the bodies of twenty three Indian warriors. At another time, as his son used to relate, he had a very long combat with a chief noted for the certainty of his aim – the Indian behind a tree the white man behind a fallen log. Four times the wily Calhoun drew the Indian's fire by elevating his hat upon his ramrod. The chief, at last, could not refrain from looking to see the effect of his shot; when one of his shoulders was slightly exposed. On the instant, the white man's rifle sent a ball through it; the chief fled into the forest and Patrick Calhoun bore off as a trophy of the fight his own hat pierced with four bullets.

This
William Calhoun Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
22. William Calhoun Tombstone
Sacred to the Memory of
William Calhoun
who departed this life
10th December 1840
aged 61 years 2 months.
Patrick Calhoun illustrates well the North-of-Ireland character; one peculiarity of which is the possession of will disproportioned to intellect. Hence a man of this race frequently appears to striking advantage in scenes which demand chiefly an exercise of will; while in other spheres, which make larger demands upon the understanding the same man may be simply mischievous. We see this in the case of Andrew Jackson, who at New Orleans was glorious; at Washington, almost wholly pernicious; and in the case of Andrew Johnson who was eminently useful to his country in 1861, but obstructive and perilous to it in 1866. For these Scotch-Irishmen, though they are usually honest men, and often right in their opinions, are an un-instructable race, who stick to a prejudice as tenaciously as to a principle, and really suppose they are battling for right and truth, when they are only wreaking a private vengeance or aiming at a personal advantage. Patrick Calhoun was the most radical of Democrats; one of your despisers of conventionality; an enemy of lawyers, thinking the common sense of mankind competent to decide what is right without their aid; a particular opponent of the arrogant pretensions of the low country aristocrats. When the up country people began to claim a voice in the government, long since due to their numbers, the planters, of course, opposed their demand. To establish their
Catherine Jenna Calhoun Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
23. Catherine Jenna Calhoun Tombstone
Sacred to the Memory of
Catharine Jenner
wife of William Calhoun
who departed this life
February 3rd 1829
aged 42 years 7 months.
right to vote, Patrick Calhoun and a party of his neighbors armed with rifles, marched across the State to within twenty three miles of Charleston, and there voted in defiance of the plantation lords. Events like this led to the admission of members from the up country; and Patrick Calhoun was the first to represent that section in the Legislature. It was entirely characteristic of him to vote against the adoption of the Federal Constitution, on the ground that it authorized other people to tax Carolinians; which he said was taxation without representation. That was just like a narrow, cranky, opinionative, unmanageable Calhoun.

Devoid of imagination and of humor, a hard-headed, eager politician, he brought up his boy upon politics. This was sorry nourishment for a child's mind, but he had little else to give him. Gambling, hunting, whiskey, and politics were all there was to relieve the monotony of life in a Southern back settlement; and the best men naturally threw themselves upon politics. Calhoun told Miss Martineau that he could remember standing between his father's knees, when he was only five years old, and listening to political conversation. He told Duff Green that he had a distinct recollection of hearing his father say, when he was only nine, that that government is best which allows to each individual the largest liberty compatible with order and tranquility,
Catherine Calhoun Waddel Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
24. Catherine Calhoun Waddel Tombstone
Daughter of Patrick &
Martha Calhoun
Wife of Rev. Dr. Waddel
Died March 1796
Aged 21 Years
and that improvements in political science consist in throwing off restraints. It was a strange child that could remember such remark. As Patrick Calhoun died in 1795, when his son was thirteen years old, the boy must have been very young when he heard it, even if he were mistaken as to the time. Whether Patrick Calhoun ever touched upon the subject of slavery in his conversations with his children is not reported. We only know that, late in the career of Mr. Calhoun, he used to be taunted by his opponents in South Carolina with having once held that slavery was good and justifiable only so far as it was preparatory to freedom. He was accused of having committed the crime of saying, in a public speech, that slavery was like the “scaffolding” of an edifice, which, after having served its temporary purpose, would be taken down, of course. We presume he said this; because everything in his later speeches is flatly contradicted in those of his earlier public life. Patrick Calhoun was a man to give a reason for everything. He was a habitual theorizer and generalize, without possessing the knowledge requisite for safe generalization. It is very probable that this apology for slavery was part of his son's slender inheritance. (Source: Famous Americans of Recent Times by James Parton, Ticknor & Fields (1867), pgs 115-119.)
   
Patrick Calhoun Jr. Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
25. Patrick Calhoun Jr. Tombstone
In Memory of
Patrick Calhoun
The Father of
Edward, Martha Ann,
Catherine Jennet
Patrick Ludlow, Francis A.,
& Benjamin A. Calhoun.
Born February 3rd 1784
Died October 1840.
— Submitted January 16, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

7. The Circuit Court Act Of 1769
The two common law courts at Charleston, together with the courts of justices of the peace for the trial of petty cases, amply served the needs of the province during the earlier years of its existence. As the settlements gradually extended further and further away from the coast, however, it became burdensome for the people to travel one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles to Charleston to attend court. The matter became still more serious when the Scotch-Irish, after Braddock's defeat in 1755, poured into the upper part of the province from the colonies to the northward. They were a law-abiding people and had little need for courts of justice, until the peace of 1763 and the consequent disbanding of the British and French armies let loose a hoard of worthless vagabonds among them. The government at Charleston was helpless to preserve order, especially as the settlers refused to go down there for jury or witness service. The better class of frontiersmen demanded that courts should be established in their midst and determined to take the law into their own hands until this was done. A kind of law and order league, known as the Regulators, was organized for the purpose of inflicting summary punishment on criminals of
Nancy Calhoun Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
26. Nancy Calhoun Tombstone
In Memory of
Nancy Calhoun
wife of Patrick Calhoun
and mother of six children.
She died Anno Domini 1841,
aged 54 years.
all descriptions. The government finally realized the seriousness of the situation and took steps to provide a system of circuit courts for the entire province.

The principal obstacle to this course was that it would lessen the fees of the provost marshal of the province. The patent for this office had been held since 1759 by Richard Cumberland, the English dramatist, who exercised his official duties through deputies and received a large share of the financial returns. Mr. Roger Pinckney, his deputy in the province, informed a committee of the assembly in December, 1766, that Cumberland was inclined to sell his patent. The committee of correspondence was ordered to write to Mr. Garth, the colony agent in England, and authorize him to treat with Cumberland for any sum not exceeding £4,000 sterling. While anarchy and lynch law were becoming the order of the day in upper South Carolina, Garth and Cumberland were in England higgling over the compensation to be paid for the loss of the office of provost marshal. Cumberland refused to sell for less than £5,000 sterling. Finally, on November 11, 1767, the assembly resolved to pay this sum and authorized Garth to close the bargain.

"An Act for establishing Courts, building Gaols, and appointing Sheriffs and other officers for the more convenient administration of Justice in this Province" soon passed the council and
Edward Calhoun Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
27. Edward Calhoun Tombstone
Edward Calhoun
son of
Patrick and Nancy Calhoun
Born 1809 - Died 1862.
A member of the Presbyterian
Church.
assembly and was ratified by the governor, April 12, 1768. The entire province was divided into seven judicial districts, each named for the town in which the court was to meet: Charleston, Beaufort, Orangeburgh, Georgetown, Camden, Cheraws, and Ninety-Six. The courts of general sessions and common pleas were still to sit at Charleston three and four times per annum respectively, but their jurisdiction was restricted to the Charleston district. Circuits for the trials of all cases, civil and criminal, were to be held in the other districts in April and November of each year. The chief justice of the province and the assistant justices of the common law courts at Charleston were to be judges in all the courts. They were given power to decide without jury disputes involving less than twenty pounds sterling, except when land titles came into question, when both parties demanded a jury, or when one party demanded it and paid the expenses. The office of provost marshal was abolished and provision made for a sheriff in each district, who was to be appointed by the governor from a list of three selected by the judges of the court of common pleas. Whenever the king should be pleased to appoint judges during good behavior they were to receive the following salaries: the chief justice £500 sterling, and the assistant justices £300 sterling each per annum; the attorney-general and the clerk
Frances A. Calhoun Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
28. Frances A. Calhoun Tombstone
In Memory of
Frances A. Calhoun
wife of Edward Calhoun
and the mother of
nine children,
five of whom are living.
She was born
October 29th 1807 and
died October 9th 1859.
of the common pleas then in office were allowed £200 and £300 respectively. The act was not to go into effect until approved by the crown, nor were the courts to be opened for business until all the court houses and gaols had been completed.'

The necessity of waiting for the king's approbation of the law before putting it into operation gave rise to another long delay. The Board of Trade referred it to their special counsel, Mr. Matthew Lamb, who brought up a number of objections. First, he criticised the clause which allowed judges in the circuit courts to determine summarily cases involving not more than twenty pounds sterling. This sum was too large, he declared, objections having been made in other colonies when a much lower limit was fixed. Secondly, the abolition of an office held under patent from the crown was an encroachment on the royal prerogative. Thirdly, the clause providing salaries for the judges whenever the king should be pleased to appoint them during good behavior was derogatory to His Majesty's dignity. Fourthly, the salaries provided for the attorney-general and the clerk were only for the present officers, and did not extend to the future.

The Lords of Trade in their report to the king, made September 15, 1768, disregarded Lamb's first two objections, laid considerable stress on the third and fourth, and added a fifth, namely, that the method
Martha Whitten Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
29. Martha Whitten Tombstone
In Memory of
Mrs. Martha Whitten
Born Nov 5th 1805
Died Oct 5th 1831
of appointing sheriffs took away the discretionary power of the governor and hence of the crown. The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council agreed entirely with the objections of the Board of Trade, but the two main objections, those concerning the tenure of judges and the appointment of sheriffs, seemed still stronger to them "insomuch that they considered the first as indecent and disrespectful to His Majesty and the other as altogether inadmissible." His Majesty in council issued an order, October 7, 1768, rejecting the bill and forbidding the governor to give his assent to any similar act in the future until the two objections just noticed were obviated.

Meanwhile the disturbances in the back settlements were increasing. Lieutenant-Governor Bull issued a proclamation, August 15, 1768, calling on all law-abiding citizens to help put down the riots. The Regulators and their opponents, the Scovilites, threatened for a time to plunge the upper country into a bloody civil war.

The assembly was dissolved November 19, 1768, because of a quarrel with Governor Montagu over the Massachusetts circular letter of February 11. Although an election was held shortly afterwards, the new assembly was not allowed to meet for business until June 26 of the following year. Montagu had just returned from an extensive tour of the back country. Consequently, in his opening speech,
William Moffley Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
30. William Moffley Tombstone
In Memory of
William Moffley
who departed
this life
March 1819
Aged 63 years.
he dwelt upon the grievous condition of affairs in that section of the province, due to the lack of courts, and urged the assembly to take some steps to remedy the matter. At the same time he informed them that the circuit court act had been disapproved in England and laid before them the report of the Board of Trade.

Messrs. Lynch, Lowndes, Powell, Gaillard, Rutledge, Gadsden, and Kershaw, who had been appointed a committee to consider the question, reported, on July 4, that a bill should be brought in similar to the other, but without the objectionable stipulation in regard to judges holding office during good behavior. Such a measure was at once passed through both houses and sent up to the governor. He refused to ratify it on the ground that only one of the objections of the Board of Trade had been disposed of. The assembly maintained that they had obviated the only objection upon which the board had laid any stress, but Governor Montagu stood firm in his opposition. A new bill was introduced, enacted into a law on July 29, and was carried to England by the governor himself. This act is not to be found at all in Cooper's collection of the statutes, though a mutilated form of it is given in Grimke. It was, however, identical with the act of the preceding year, except in the clauses relating to the tenure of judges, the salaries of the clerk of the crown and the attorney-general,
Lucrella Moffley Tombstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
31. Lucrella Moffley Tombstone
In Memory of
Lucretia Moffley
who departed
this life
30th March 1817
Aged 69 years.
and the appointment of sheriffs.

As soon as Governor Montagu arrived in London, he laid the act before the Board of Trade. A favorable report was received, and the king in council signified his approval on November 29. Lieutenant-Governor Bull was notified and was requested to send over a list of persons suitable to act as assistant judges. The evident intention was that the assistants should be selected from among the colonists, but, if so, the idea was soon abandoned. We cannot be sure whether this change of policy was due to the refusal of the South Carolina lawyers to serve, to the unwillingness of the home government to trust them, or to the pressure brought to bear by the spoilsmen in London. Perhaps all three causes had their effect. At any rate, the entire bench was appointed and sent out from England. It consisted at first of Thomas Knox Gordon, chief justice, and Edward Savage, Charles Matthews Coslett, John Murray, and John Fewtrell, assistant justices.' These men formed an addition to the ranks of the needy placemen, whose increasing numbers had already begun to arouse the animosity and weaken the loyalty of the people. South Carolina had some experience in carpetbag government a century before the days of Reconstruction.

The act of 1768 contained a clause, which was repeated in that of 1769, providing that the law was not to go into operation until
Mrs. F.W. Graves Tombstone<br>Age 31 Years image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 2, 2009
32. Mrs. F.W. Graves Tombstone
Age 31 Years
all the court-houses and gaols in the province were completed, although no appropriation for expenses or details in regard to the matter were inserted in either act. Bull informed the assembly, February 21, 1770, of His Majesty's approval of the law, and urged them to take immediate steps for erecting the necessary buildings. A committee report of March 7, 1770, presented plans for court-houses in the country districts to be built of wood, for gaols to be built of brick at Georgetown, Port Royal, and Orangeburgh, and of wood in the other districts, and for a brick gaol at Charleston. To meet the expenses of this work the issue of £50,000 in paper money orders was recommended. The house agreed to the report with an amendment authorizing the issue of £70,000 instead of £50,000. Accordingly, an act was passed, April 7, 1770, for issuing this amount in public orders, to be redeemed within five years from the funds arising under the general duty law.

The work on the new buildings proceeded so slowly that the assistant judges complained to Lord Hillsborough, January 23, 1772, that it was being delayed on purpose to keep them out of their salaries, some of the popular leaders declaring that, as the law was not to be put into force until all the court-houses and gaols were completed, the salaries of the judges could not begin until that time. In consequence of orders from the
Patrick Calhoun Homesite - Present Condition image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, July 19, 2008
33. Patrick Calhoun Homesite - Present Condition
Apparently, nothing but the land remains of the original homesite.
home government, the province was compelled to pay the judges and attorney-general their salaries in full from February 19, 1770, the date on which Lieutenant-Governor Bull issued his proclamation announcing the confirmation by the king of the act relating to circuit courts.

A proclamation of May 19, 1772, announced that all of the court-houses and gaols had been completed and that the courts were to be opened at once. The six districts outside of Charleston were divided into two circuits, the southern including Orangeburgh, Ninety- Six, and Beaufort, and the northern including Camden, Cheraws, and Georgetown. (Source: South Carolina as a Royal Province, 1719-1776 by William Roy Smith, pgs 141-145.)
    — Submitted April 24, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

8. Marker Style
The marker shown reflects the earliest style of South Carolina Historical Markers. It was in use between the 1930s and 1955s. The original design was cast aluminum and crowned with an encircled palmetto tree. The markers were painted silver with black lettering.
    — Submitted September 16, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
 
John C. Calhoun<br>March. 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, circa 1840
34. John C. Calhoun
March. 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850
U.S. House of Rep from S.C. 1811–1817
U.S. Secretary of War 1817–1825
Vice President of the U.S. 1825–1832
U.S. Senator from S.C. 1832–1843,
1845-1850
U.S. Secretary of State 1844–1845
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 14, 2022. It was originally submitted on July 20, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 7,943 times since then and 39 times this year. Last updated on August 22, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. Photos:   1. submitted on July 20, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   2, 3. submitted on June 19, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   4. submitted on January 16, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   5. submitted on November 5, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   6. submitted on June 19, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   7. submitted on November 17, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   8, 9, 10, 11. submitted on June 19, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   12. submitted on November 17, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   13, 14. submitted on June 18, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   15. submitted on April 27, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   16. submitted on May 6, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   17, 18. submitted on June 18, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   19, 20. submitted on September 22, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   21. submitted on June 19, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. submitted on May 6, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   33. submitted on July 30, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   34. submitted on May 24, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.

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