Mr. Calhoun was born in Ireland seventy years ago, a son of John and Jane (Anderson) Calhoun. The early years of his life were passed on his native soil. Ambitious to see something more of the world, and to make something more of himself than he could on the old Isle, April 12, 1841, he left his parents and his seven brothers and sisters and started out on the long journey to the New World. He sailed from Quebec and from there made his way to the United States, and for six years was engaged in the marble works in Lenox, Mass. His wages were $1 a day, and when it was stormy he could not work, and there were but nine months in the year when the establishment where he was employed was in operation. Notwithstanding the fact that out of his small earnings he had to pay his board during the six years that he was there, he frugally saved up his money and at the end of that time, had a snug little nest egg of between $600 and $700. With this little capital he determined to try life in the West, and in 1847 started for Peoria, going to Albany by rail, and thence by canal to Buffalo, and from there by steamboat on the lakes to Chicago. In that city he had an opportunity to ride with a farmer who had been there with a load of wheat from Peru. Arriving at that place he embarked on a steamer for Peoria, and landed here in the month of September. He found Peoria scarcely more than a village, with a population of three thousand people, and no indication of the marvelous growth that has since taken place, making it a large and wealthy city. The first work that our subject did in Illinois was to quarry rock for the first bridge that ever spanned the Illinois River, which was afterward the first free bridge over that stream. He also helped to lay the stone in the piers of the bridge. He lived in Peoria for twenty years, and made money and acquired a competency, and at the end of that time moved to the farm on which he now lives. It comprises eighty acres of land of exceeding fertility, which, when he purchased it, was in a wild state, but is now as fine a place as one could wish to see.

Mr. Calhoun was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Borland, April 12, 1849. She was a daughter of John and Mary (Jamieson) Borland, and was their eldest child. They were from Beithshire, Scotland, coming to America in 1843, and to Peoria in 1848. They spent the remainder of their lives here and died leaving a large family. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun had three children, all of whom died in infancy.

The pleasant wedded life of our subject was brought to a close by the death of his wife, November 14, 1877. The removal of this tried and true companion left a vacancy in the life or our subject that can never be filled. Mrs. Calhoun was a woman of great patience and fortitude, of the serenest trust in God, of a discerning spirit and a kindly bearing, one who knew well how to guide the affairs of her own house so as to insure the comfort of the household. The family on both sides were of Presbyterian stock, but Mrs. Calhoun joined the Methodist Church when she arrived at years of discretion and lived a true Christian life, dying in full faith. When living in Scotland her minister gave her a card of recommendation and certificate of good standing in the church.

Mr. Calhoun possesses in a full degree those qualities of heart and intellect that mark him as a genial, kindly man, of sound common sense and prudent judgment. Though of foreign birth these United States of America have no more loyal and devoted citizen than he. He said to the writer, “I love my adopted country. I became a citizen by adoption and took the oath of allegiance at Lenox, Mass., while living there, and I can truthfully say that I have ever been true to my adopted country in the darkest days of the Rebellion, and I can say with a true heart, long may the Stars and Stripes float over the best Government and country on the globe.” In politics Mr. Calhoun is quite independent, never allowing anyone to influence his vote, aiming always to support whomsoever he deems best fitted for office, irrespective of party.

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