Floride Calhoun
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| Floride Bonneau Colhoun Calhoun | |
 Floride Calhoun
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| Born | February 15, 1792 South Carolina, U.S. |
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| Died | July 25, 1866 (aged 74) Pendleton, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Occupation | Second Lady of the United States |
| Spouse | John Caldwell Calhoun |
Floride Calhoun (February 15, 1792 – July 25, 1866) was the wife of prominent U.S. politician John C. Calhoun.
She was born Floride Bonneau Colhoun to U.S. Senator John E. Colhoun and Floride Bonneau. She was a niece of Rebecca Colhoun Pickens, wife of Andrew Pickens. On January 8, 1811, she married John C. Calhoun, her first-cousin-once-removed (her father's first cousin). Soon after their marriage, her husband was elected to Congress, leaving his wife in charge of his plantation, "Fort Hill," in present-day Clemson, South Carolina. Within the next eighteen years, she gave birth to ten children, including five sons and five daughters, although three daughters died in infancy.
In 1817, she accompanied her husband to Washington upon his appointment as Secretary of War. Eight years later, She became Second Lady of the United States, with her husband's election as Vice President, serving in that role from 1825 to 1832. During her tenure as Second Lady, she became embroiled in a social scandal involving Peggy Eaton, the wife of Secretary of War John Eaton, in what became known as the Petticoat Affair. Floride had organized a coalition among the wives of Jackson cabinet members against Peggy Eaton, whom Floride discovered had committed adultery with Eaton while still married to her first husband John B. Timberlake. The affair allegedly drove Timberlake to suicide after he discovered the affair. The coalition resulted in the resignation of Jackson's Cabinet, except Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, who was a widower. The social ostracism of Mrs. Eaton by Mrs. Calhoun further damaged already-strained relations between Vice President Calhoun and President Andrew Jackson.[1]
Following her husband's resignation as Vice President and election to the United States Senate, she returned to "Fort Hill," resuming her former status as a plantation mistress. Her husband died in 1850. In 1854, she sold the plantation to her oldest son, Andrew Pickens Calhoun, and held the mortgage. In 1855, she moved to a smaller house in Pendleton, South Carolina, which she dubbed "Mi Casa." She endured the deaths of six of her seven surviving children. After Andrew died in 1865, she filed for foreclosure against Andrew's heirs. She died the following year. After lengthy legal proceedings, the plantation was auctioned at Walhalla in 1872. The executor of her estate won the auction, which was divided among her surviving heirs. Her daughter, Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson and son-in-law, Thomas Green Clemson, received about three-fourths of the plantation including the house and her great granddaughter, Floride Isabella Lee, received the balance.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Clemson University page on Floride Colhoun Calhoun
- ^ E. M. Lander, Jr., The Calhoun Family and Thomas Green Clemson: The Decline of a Southern Patriarchy, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, 1983.
| Honorary titles | ||
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| Preceded by Hannah M. Tompkins |
Second Lady of the United States 1825-1832 |
Succeeded by Letitia Tyler |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Calhoun, Floride Bonneau Colhoun |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Floride Bonneau Colhoun |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Spouse of John C. Calhoun |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 15 1792 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | South Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 25 1866 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Pendleton, South Carolina |
