John Ewing Colhoun was a United States and lawyer from South Carolina.
Background
Colhoun, was born in Staunton, Virginia where he attended common schools before graduating from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774. Colhoun was born to Ulster-Scottish immigrants to colonial America from County Donegal.
Education
He studied to be a lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 1783, commencing practice in Charleston, South Carolina.
Career
Colhoun (and Calhoun) is a surname that originated in Ulster to where Colhoun"s great, great, great, grandfather Robert Colquhoun migrated from Dunbarton, Dumbartonshire in Scotland. Colhoun appears to have himself changed his surname from Calhoun to Colhoun. Floride became Second Lady of the United States in 1825.
John Colhoun was also a first cousin of Joseph Calhoun, and brother-in-law of Andrew Pickens.
In 1774, Colhoun graduated from the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University). On 16 August, 1775, he joined Captain
Charles Drayton"s company of volunteer militia for service in the Revolution at its organization in Charleston, South Carolina. After the war, in 1783, he studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Charleston, South Carolina, working mostly in estate settlements and personal injury suits.
Colhoun, was a planter by-trade, who later acquired several plantations across the state of South Carolina, including his Santee Plantation in Saint Stephen"s Parish, his Keowee and 12 Mile Plantations in the Old Pendleton District, and his Pimlico and Bonneau"s Ferry Plantations in Saint John"s Parish.
Another plantation he owned, the location of which is unclear, was called Mount Prospect. Colhoun grew mostly indigo, rice, oats, and vegetables on his plantations, as well as raising cattle, and breeding horses. His Keowee Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and it is within the Old Pendleton Historic District of Pendleton, South Carolina, also listed on the NRHP.
He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 7th United States Congress as a senator, serving from March 4, 1801 until his death on October 26, 1802 in Pendleton, South Carolina.
He was interred in the family cemetery in the Old Pendleton District.
Membership
He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1778 to 1800. He was a farmer and was elected a member of the privy council and was also a commissioner of confiscated estates in 1785. In 1785, he was elected a member of the privy council and also a commissioner of confiscated estates.
In 1801, after 22 years of being a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Colhoun defeated Jacob Read, incumbent, by a vote of 75 to 73, sealing his victory and being elected a member of the United States Senate from the state of South Carolina Senate and was a member of the committee which was instructed to report a modification of the judiciary system of the United States.