Meredith Calhoun
| Meredith Calhoun | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1805 South Carolina, USA |
| Died | March 14, 1869 (aged c. 63) Paris, France |
| Residence |
Colfax, Grant Parish Louisiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | enslaver Newspaper editor |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Smith Calhoun |
| Children | William Smith Calhoun Marie Marguerite Ada Lane |
Meredith Calhoun (1805 – March 14, 1869) was an enslaver and a newspaper editor in Grant Parish, Louisiana, known for his editorial activism on behalf of the Democratic Party.
Calhoun was born in South Carolina but moved to Rapides Parish, Louisiana about 1830. He married Mary Margaret Smith Taylor, granddaughter of William Smith, an Alabama judge and former United States senator from South Carolina, on May 24, 1834. Their children were William Smith "Willie" Calhoun (born ca. 1835) and Marie Marguerite Ada (born ca. 1845). The couple purchased 14,000 acres from Senator Smith, who had acquired the land in 1836. They divided the property fronting the Red River into four plantations on which they grew primarily cotton and sugar cane. The Calhouns established one of the largest sugar mills in Louisiana and their estate was valued in excess of $1 million in the 1860 census, a considerable holding at that time.
"Calhoun's Landing," as the principal plantation was called, became an important shipping point on the Red River and the beginning of Colfax, the seat of government of Grant Parish, some twenty-five north of Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in Central Louisiana. Calhoun purchased the Red River Democrat newspaper and renamed it the National Democrat. The publication was strongly supportive of the 1860 Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. Douglas, however, was soundly trounced nationally by the Republican choice, Abraham Lincoln, also of Illinois. Louisiana voted for the outgoing Vice President of the United States John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, running as the breakway "Southern Democratic" candidate.
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