CALHOUN, JOHN, was born Oct. 14, 1808, in Boston, Mass., and in 1821 accompanied his father to the Mohawk Valley, in New York. After finishing his studies at the Canajoharie Academy, he studied law at Fort Plain, both in Montgomery county. In 1830 he came to Springfield, Ill., and resumed the study of law, sustaining himself by teaching a select school. He took part in the Black Hawk war of 1831-2, and after its close, was appointed by the Governor of the State, Surveyor of Sangamon county. He induced Abraham Lincoln to study surveying, in order to become his deputy. From that time the chain of freindship between them continued bright to the end of their lives, although they were ardent partizans of different schools in politics. John Calhoun was married Dec. 29, 1831, in Sangamon county, to Sarah Cutter. See Cutter sketch. They had nine children in Sangamon county, and in 1854 Mr. Calhoun was appointed by President Pierce, Surveyor-General for Kansas and Nebraska, and he moved his family to Kansas. Of all their children--

JOHN, Jun., born Nov. 15, 1832, died in his third year, in Sangamon county.

ANDREW, born June 11, 1835, in Sangamon county, was killed Jan., 1860, by the explosion of a steam saw mill in Leavenworth county, Kansas.

ELIZABETH, born March 18, 1835, in Sangamon county, was married March 1, 1870, in the Catholic church at Leavenworth, Kan., to Henry Jackson, a native of England. He is a Lieutenant in the 7th Reg. U. S. Cav., and is now--1876--on detached duty in the signal service at Washington, D. C.

SETH J. was born March 4, 1839, in Springfield, Ill. He went with his father to Kansas in 1854, and when the rebellion commenced he enlisted in Battery H, 1st Mo. Art., It had been an infantry regiment under Col. Frank P. Blair, and after the battle of Wilson creek, changed to artillery. It was under Gen. Grant from the siege of Fort Donelson to the evacuation of Corinth, and under Sherman in his "march to the sea." Seth J. Calhoun was wounded July 22, 1864, in the battle of Atlanta, Ga., and soon after promoted to second Lieut. of his Battery. He served one full term, re-enlisted as a veteran, served to the end of the rebellion and was honorably discharged. He now--1875--lives in Leavenworth, Kan.

ALBERT, born Feb. 10, 1841, in Springfield, and died in his fourth year.

MARTHA, born Jan. 9, 1843, in Springfield, resides with her mother.

SUSAN, born Sept. 8, 1844, in Springfield, Ill., married, August 29, 1866, in Leavenworth, Kansas, to Virgil W. Parker, who was born Dec. 16, 1840, in Rome, N. Y. They have one child, ADELIA, and reside in Atchison, Kansas.

MARY, born May 25, 1847, and

JAMES, born Nov. 30, 1852, both in Springfield, Ill., live with their mother.

John Calhoun died Oct. 25, 1859, at St. Joseph, Mo. His widow and unmarried children now--1876--reside in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Hon. John Calhoun deserves more than a passing notice. He entered the political field in 1835, being the Democratic candidate that year for the State Senate of Illinois, but there being a large Whig majority in the county, he was defeated by Archer G. Herndon. In 1838 he was elected to represent Sangamon county in the State Legislature. In 1841 he, with John Duff, completed the railroad from Jacksonville to Springfield, being the first to reach the State Capital. In 1842 he was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court of Sangamon county by Judge Treat. In 1844 he was one of the Presidential Electors of Illinois for President Polk. In 1849-'50-'51, he was successively elected Mayor of Springfield. In 1852 he was one of the Presidential Electors of Illinois for President Pierce, and was selected by his colleagues to carry the vote to Washington City. In 1854 he was appointed, by President Pierce, Surveyor General of Kansas and Nebraska, and moved his family to Kansas.

Here he entered a political field with new and exciting sectional elements. He was elected a delegate to the convention that framed what has passed into history as the Lecompton Constitution. He became the President of that body, which was composed of unscrupulous pro-slavery adventurers, with a small number of conservative members, among whom was the President. That odious instrument would have been adopted by the convention without submitting it to a vote of the people, had it not been for the determined opposition of President Calhoun, who threatened to resign, and opposed it by every method in his power, unless it was submitted; and when it came to the polls he voted against adopting the pro-slavery clause. That instrument provided that the President of the Convention should count the vote and report the result.

Soon after this duty was discharged he started for Washington City, leaving all the returns and papers relating to the election with one L. A. McLane, Chief Clerk of the Surveyor General's office. He has been described as "A brilliant clerk, but, vain, vacillating, and ambitious of doing smart things, and economical of the truth generally." The instructions given to him by Gen. Calhoun before starting east, was to afford every facility to any body of respectable men to examine the returns, as evidences of dissatisfaction were already apparent, and the conviction soon became general that a stupendous fraud had been committed against the ballot. Soon the excitement became intense, endangering the lives of some of the conspicuous actors, and McLane became alarmed. Gen. Thomas L. Ewing, Jun., and Judge Smith called upon him, with a letter from Mr. Calhoun, instructing the clerk to let those gentlemen examine the returns. Mr. McLane falsely stated to Messrs. Ewing and Smith that the returns-were not in his possession; that Gen. Calhoun had taken them with him when he left for Washington. A few evenings later, McLane attended a ball at Lawrence, where he was plied with good cheer, attentions and flattery, so grateful to his appetite and vanity, and after becoming mellow by the occasion, a Lawrence belle, acting the part of Deliah, drew from him the secret of the coveted papers. The next day he was called upon by a committee of the territorial legislature, who demanded the returns, when he again denied having them in his possession. He was then summoned before a committee of the legislature, and there stated under oath that Gen. Calhoun had taken the returns with him. The cross-questions revealed to him the fact that the Lawrence belle had betrayed him. Realizing his position, he returned that night to Lecompton, and with a few cronies, put the returns in a candle box, and buried it under a wood pile. A porter in the Surveyor-General's office, by the name of Charles Torrey, who had for a long time acted as a spy for the enemies of Gen. Calhoun, watched the operation, and gave the information. A company of men from Lawrence soon after unearthed the box, and bore away the prize.

The exposure of McLane's villainy was now complete, and he precepitately fled the Territory, with a mob in close pursuit. Thus the odium of the dastardly acts of this man were unjustly visited upon Gen. Calhoun. Unqualified abuse and misrepresentations were heaped upon him, and spread broadcast over the country by the press. That broke down his spirits, and he soon after left the Territory, went to St. Joseph, Mo., and died there. He deserved a better fate. He was a man of genial, hopeful, generous temperament; ever ready to serve or defend a friend, but rarely defending himself, except on the spur of the moment; of great ability, and for a time was the best political orator in the State of Illinois. He was brilliant, but deficient in practical application. President Lincoln has been heard to say that John Calhoun was the strongest man he had ever met on the stump; that he could manage Douglas, but that Calhoun always gave him his hands full.