Clan Colquhoun of North America Newsletter

Ida Calhoun Scott of Austin, TX and some of her cousins have spent literally years sorting together family and general Calhoun material gathered over several generations for donation to the Nashville (TN) Public Library (1113 Elm Hill Pike). The donation is officially under the name of Ida’s mother as the Ida Reid Calhoun Burritt Collection. This Collection was dedicated 26 July 2003 under a proclamation from the office of the Mayor of Nashville.

Ken Fieth, Archivist; John Connolly, Davidson Co. Historian; Ida Calhoun (Futch) Scott with Mayor’s proclamation; Patrick Nolan, president of the Friends of the Archive.

This wonderful occasion held a double purpose as the “Calhoun Cousins Reunion” convened at the same time. The patriarch of the family, Hugh Calhoun, was thought to have been born at sea between Belfast and Philadelphia. Sometime in the mid 1800’s the family moved to Nashville and opened a silversmith and jewelry shop. Archivist Ken Fieth indicated to Ida in a letter from October 2000 that her collection may be used in a future Nashville museum.

Clan Colquhoun Of NA now has a new web site. It’s located at www.clancolquhoun.org. This website is mastered by Dave and Dee Calhoun of Texas and it looks great!

The 32^nd Charleston (SC) Scottish Games were held 20 September 2003 and by most accounts a record breaking crowd attended. Attendees were able to hear no less than 26 pipe bands! Steve and Mary Hudson man the Charleston Colquhoun tent for us. They won Best Clan Tent at the 2001 Games. Charleston is an historian’s dream vacation. You might want to take about two weeks to see almost everything this city has to offer if you combine a visit to the Games next September with a vacation. Sometimes the Colonial history of Charleston is overshadowed by the part the city played in the War Between The States, also referred to as the American Civil War. A most renowned Calhoun is buried in Charleston and is sometimes blamed for creating the 1860’s war even though he died 11 years before it started. This is one example of the influence and power John Caldwell Calhoun had in his time. He served in politics for 41 years. This service included US Representative, Senator, Secretary Of War, Secretary Of State, and twice a Vice President. Volumes are available to read about his life, but you may not have heard about what happened after his death. According to the biography written by Irving H. Bartlett, JC Calhoun had not prepared for his death with burial instructions or even a will. Working until the end, JC Calhoun died in Washington. His body stayed in a vault in the Congressional Cemetery http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/ for three weeks while waiting for instructions from the family about his burial. It would take more time than we have now to research those three weeks, but it would be fascinating. JC Calhoun had no love for Charleston. Charleston was the hometown of his wife, Floride Bonneau Colhoun (maiden name), a distant cousin. Miss Colhoun was a distant enough cousin that there existed the different spellings of their names from the original Scots. Calhoun had been raised on interior farmland in SC. He regarded life in such cities as Charleston as frivolous and at the expense of the work of planters such as himself. In a letter to Floride he described “the misconduct of the inhabitants (of Charleston)…their intemperance and debaucheries.” Their marriage lasted 39 years despite their different backgrounds. The body of JC Calhoun made the way from Washington to Charleston via steam ship. According to the biography Charles M. Wiltse wrote in 1951, a contingent of 25 people from Pendleton (Calhoun and Floride’s home near Clemson University) tried to have him buried there, but a decree from the state legislature declared he should rest in “South Carolina’s greatest city”. Calhoun was buried at St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church,

http://www.stphilipschurchsc.org/spce/history

his wife’s church, but this is not the end of story. This colonial church, organized in 1680, had deep roots in a town that took account of such things. There are two graveyards: one on the “church” side, the “East Church Yard” and the other across Church Street, the “West Church Yard”. The East Church Yard has been historically reserved for natives of Charleston. The West Church Yard had been used, years before Calhoun was born, not only for people not native to the city but also transients. Calhoun, despite his notoriety and achievements, had to be buried on the West side because he was not a native Charlestonian. About 14 years later the Federal Army made its way North after completing Sherman’s March To The Sea.

Calhoun’s tomb as the Union Army The 1884 tomb today

found it (thanks to Civil War Treasures from the New York Historical Society
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cwnyhshome.html

Charlestonians were afraid the Union Army would deface the grave of John C. Calhoun (they had done such things in the colonial cemetery in Savannah a few months before). JC Calhoun’s body was disinterred and moved across the street to the East Yard in a secret location. There was quite a bit of interest in Calhoun’s grave by the Union Army. It was even photographed and commented on in the national press. The war ended and Charleston went through the difficult period of “Reconstruction”. It wasn’t until 1884 that JC Calhoun was reburied in the West Church Yard with a new stone monument. John C. Calhoun’s wife Floride died in 1886 and was buried in the more prestigious East Church Yard with her family.

Thanks to Robert and Susan Kirkpatrick for setting up another tent at the Ligonier Games (PA). Robert reports: “We had another good rendezvous with fellow Colquhouns at the Ligonier Games on Sept. 6. Among our many visitors, 26 signed in and 6 filed applications for membership. Also interesting was my ‘jamming’ session on

the pipes with a fellow Colquhoun, Piper Kilpatrick (‘Piper’ is actually his name!)---we played ‘The Colquhoun March’ of course. The day was certainly a success!”

On 31 May, Clan Chattan USA became the first recipient of the Laura Kilpatrick Spirit Award at the Glasgow (KY) Highland Games. This award, presented in memory of Laura by her husband, Jim Kilpatrick, is given to the clan that embodies the warmth and friendliness that Laura brought to the games by making visitors feel welcome in their tent. (From The Highlander Sep/Oct 2003).

The 31^st Stone Mountain Games, the other Great Southeastern Game, will be held the weekend of October 18^th. Clan Colquhoun Society of NA will have it’s annual meeting Saturday afternoon after the parade of tartans, usually about 1pm, at the clan tent.

Last year’s winner of the Judge Marcus and Bernice Calhoun Memorial

award for Grade II Piper was 14 year old Jennifer Ewing of the John Mohr MacIntosh Pipe Band (Atlanta). Presenting the award is past Society President Skeets Cahoon.