William Henry Calhoun

Calhoun was born in 1815 in Pennsylvania.{{cite web|title=Cup. Artist/Maker: Calhoun, William Henry|url=http://mesda.org/item/collections/cup/21231/|website=Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts|accessdate=April 22, 2018}} His paternal grandfather, Robert, emigrated from Ireland with family, and his father Hugh was born on their voyage to America in 1789.{{cite news|last1=Davis|first1=Louise|title=Early Silversmiths Left Marks on City. Names of Elliston, Calhoun Figure Big in Nashville History|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/111745328/?terms=%22william%2BR.%2BElliston%22|accessdate=April 14, 2018|work=The Tennessean|date=August 14, 1983|pages=93–94|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }} Calhoun was of Scotch-Irish descent; his family had been silversmiths for generations in Ireland. Calhoun moved to Nashville, Tennessee with his parents before 1812, and his father returned to Pennsylvania to serve in the War of 1812. After the war, the family moved to a farm in Ohio, where Calhoun's his younger brother, George Reid Calhoun, was born.

Calhoun was "trained as a silversmith in Philadelphia."

Calhoun returned to Nashville in 1835, where he managed his father's jewelry store at 16 Public Square. He sold Deringer pocket pistols.{{cite book|last1=Shideler|first1=Dan|title=2012 Standard Catalog of Firearms: The Collector's Price & Reference Guide|date=2011|publisher=Krause Publications|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=9781440216886|oclc=798902012|page=385|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZDamMrZHs0C&q=%22W.+H.+Calhoun%22+nashville&pg=PA385}} He designed cups for agricultural fairs like the one held by the Tennessee State Agricultural Society of Gallatin in 1855. He also designed cutlery like salt spoons,{{cite web|title=Pair of Salt Spoons: Artist/Maker: Calhoun, William Henry|url=http://mesda.org/item/collections/pair-of-salt-spoons/21032/|website=Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts|accessdate=April 23, 2018}} and tea sets including "pitchers, goblets, julep cups, ladles, flatware." Confederate General Robert H. Hatton owned silverware designed by Calhoun.{{cite book|last1=Caldwell|first1=Benjamin Hubbard|title=Tennessee Silversmiths|date=1988|publisher=Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts|location=Winston-Salem, N.C.|isbn=9780945578017|oclc=837245410|pages=49–53}}

By 1860, Calhoun was worth "$84,300 in real property and $40,000 in personal property." During the American Civil War, Calhoun was a supporter of the Confederate States of America.{{cite news|title=NEWS FROM NASHVILLE.; Two Wealthy Rebels Arrested as Hostages The Cumberland Cleared of Rebels. Connecticut Democratic State Convention|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1863/02/19/archives/news-from-nashville-two-wealthy-rebels-arrested-as-hostages-the.html|accessdate=April 22, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=February 19, 1863}} In February 1863, he was arrested for his Confederate support on the order of Union Brigadier General Robert Byington Mitchell pending the release of Union prisoners.{{cite news|title=Special Orders No. 46|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/86535271/?terms=%22william%2Bh.%2Bcalhoun%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=The Nashville Daily Union|date=February 28, 1863|page=3|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}

Calhoun resumed his activity as a jeweler in 1865.{{cite news|title=A Magnificent Watch|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/86537688/?terms=%22calhoun%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=The Nashville Daily Union|date=August 22, 1865|page=3|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}

Calhoun married Mary Pickless; they had a daughter, Mary Ella Calhoun, who later married Robert Foote in 1888.{{cite web|title=Mary Ella Calhoun Foote|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6H9-3BY|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=April 23, 2018}} Calhoun was the Grand Master of the Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1845.{{cite news|title=Odd Fellowship in Tennessee. Tennessee Lodge, the First in the State. Instituted in June, 1839. Over a Thousand Initiations. First Hall of the Order of Tennessee--List of the Grand Masters Up to the Present Date.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/119136133/?terms=%22william%2Bh.%2Bcalhoun%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=The Tennessean|date=May 2, 1897|page=17|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}{{cite news|title=An Old Nashville Man. W.H. Calhoun's Portrait Presented Odd Fellows' Grand Lodge.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/119073823/?terms=%22william%2Bh.%2Bcalhoun%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=Nashville Union and American|date=March 19, 1896|page=2|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}

File:Calhoun Hall.jpg

Calhoun died in 1865. His wife died in 1891.{{cite news|title=Died in New York.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/119065906/?terms=%22william%2Bh.%2Bcalhoun%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=The Tennessean|date=December 27, 1891|page=3|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }} His brother took over his store and acquired a farm on 21st Avenue; it later became Hillsboro Village. Calhoun's portrait, done by Washington Bogart Cooper, was given to the Odd Fellows' Grand Lodge in 1896. His daughter Mary bequeathed her estate to Vanderbilt University for the construction of Calhoun Hall in 1918. Even though the will was challenged in court by her heirs,{{cite news|title=Foote Will Case Decision Reserved. Court of Civil Appeals Remands to Lower Court. Will Be Appealed.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/118868270/?terms=%22mary%2Bcalhoun%2Bfoote%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=The Tennessean|date=February 27, 1921|page=6|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}{{cite news|title=Will Verdict Reversed. Suit Over $125,000 Bequeathed to Vanderbilt University.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/333636033/?terms=%22mary%2Bcalhoun%2Bfoote%22|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=Evening Star|date=February 28, 1921|page=5|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }} the university won in 1924{{cite news|title=Vanderbilt Gets Foote Bequest, But Disposition Awaits Board's Action. Trustees Probably Will Decide on Disposition of $150,000 Memorial Fund, June 9.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/178364523|accessdate=April 23, 2018|work=The Tennessean|date=February 19, 1924|pages=1–2|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }} and the building was completed in 1928.{{cite news|title=Buildings Bear Leaders' Names. Garland, Buttrick and Calhoun To Be Honored at Vanderbilt.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/178879089/?terms=%22william%2Bhenry%2Bcalhoun%22|work=The Tennessean|date=March 25, 1928|page=7|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}

Calhoun's cutlery is in the collections of the Tennessee State Museum as well as the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. His work was auctioned by Christie's in 2008.{{cite web|title=Important American Silver: A SILVER CUP OF SOUTHERN INTEREST MARK OF W. H. CALHOUN, NASHVILLE, TN, CIRCA 1846|url=https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-silver-cup-of-southern-interest-mark-5032287-details.aspx|website=Christie's|accessdate=April 23, 2018}}

• {{cite book|last1=Caldwell|first1=Benjamin Hubbard|title=Tennessee Silversmiths|date=1988|publisher=Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts|location=Winston-Salem, N.C.|isbn=9780945578017|oclc=837245410}}

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun, William Henry}}

Category:1815 births

Category:1865 deaths

Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent

Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee

Category:American silversmiths