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Famous Residents John C. Calhoun (1782 - 1850) Calhoun County was named after John C. Calhoun, the United States 7th Vice President. Calhoun was born in 1782 to Scottish parents in Abbeville County, South Carolina. Not long after graduating from law school he began his political career, starting with the South Carolina Senate and moving onto the United States Congress. He also served as Secretary of War under Monroe before becoming Vice President for John Quincy Adams and again for Andrew Jackson. He became the first Vice President to resign from the position. Evidently he resigned because of his political differences with President Jackson. He went on to become a senator from South Carolina again. Calhoun was the driving force behind state's having the right to nullify federal laws. Certain federal laws were benefitting the industrial North while adversely affecting the southern slaveholders. Calhoun died in 1850 prior to the Civil War. There are eleven counties named for him. Jacques Marquette (1637 - 1675) Father Jacques Marquette was one of the first Europeans to step foot in Calhoun County. He was born in France in 1637. As a young man he decided to become a Jesuit priest and upon becoming a priest traveled to Canada where he brought Christianity to Indian tribes throughout Canada and the Northern United States. In 1673 Louis Joliet invited Marquette to help him map the Mississippi River. They were among the first Europeans to travel the great river. Marquette was able to work as a missionary among many Illinois tribes. They traveled the Illinois River and spent time in Calhoun County witnessing to local Indians. Marquette died in 1675 but lives on through a University, railroad, lake, river, park, and several towns named for him. QuincyNet Home Copyright© 2000 - 2003 by QuincyNet, a division of HCW Ltd. All Rights Reserved