George Benton Calhoun, Mayor of Marion in 1913 & 1914 and Williamson County Circuit Clerk, was born May 19, 1875 in Johnson County, the son of Thomas Hayes (1831-1894) and Mary Jane Elizabeth (Robinson) Calhoun (1837-1877. His siblings were: Martha Alice Calhoun, William M. Calhoun, James A. Calhoun, Sarah Francis Calhoun, Susan Calhoun, Charles R. Calhoun, Jacob Jefferson Calhoun and Thomas J. Calhoun.
He married Eva Campbell, daughter of Theodore L. and Julienetta May Campbell on Feb. 11, 1900 in Williamson Co., Illinois at the home of her mother, Julia Campbell.
In the 1880 census George B. was listed as Jordan, probably a mistake of the census taker. The family was living in Goreville, Illinois. Tom, a widower, had 6 children: James, Francis, Susan, Charley, Jacob and George. George’s mother, Mary Jane Elizabeth, had died in 1877 when George was two.
The census in 1900 had George and Eva as newlyweds, ages 25 and 22, living in Marion, Illinois. George was a bookkeeper.
1910 found George and Eva living in Ward 3 in Marion. They had three sons: Don, Thomas, and George. George B. was a bookkeeper for the Carterville District Coal Co and they owned their own home.
George B. Calhoun served as a Marion City Commissioner under four terms of Mayor J.C. Mitchell’s administration of 1907 through 1910 and served as Mayor of Marion himself for two terms in 1913 and 1914.
When George registered for the WWI draft in 1917, he was 43, medium height, medium weight, brown eyed and gray hair and working as a superintendent in a coal mine.
The 1920 census found the Calhoun’s in East Marion with two of their sons, Lee (Thomas Lee) and George Allen. Also living with them were George’s sister, Sarah Grisham, and her son, William. George B. was still superintendent in the coal mines.
In 1922, George was living at 508 S. Virginia Street in Marion and was manager of the Egyptian Battery Service Company located at 113-115 W. Calvert Street. In 1928 he was a salesman living on South Madison St. He was elected in 1928 to be circuit clerk, a post he held until 1936.
In the 1930 census, George was Circuit Clerk of Williamson County. They had several other family members living with them in the census, their son, George Allen, their son, Don, and his wife Daisy and their two daughters and Eva’s divorced brother. The two sons were working as salesmen and the brother-in-law was working as a restaurant manager.
Only Don Calhoun could be found in the 1940 census. He was living with his wife and one daughter, Peggy, on East Thorn St. in Marion.
George B. Calhoun died in Marion in May 10, 1946 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. His death record said his occupation had been circuit clerk. He was married to Eva at the time of his death.
His obituary gives the following information, George B. Calhoun, 306 S Madison Street, former Marion mayor and circuit clerk, died Friday May 10, 1946 at the age of 70 years.
He was survived by his wife, Eva, and three sons: Don of West Frankfort, Lee of Wilmington, California and George Allen of Marion. One sister, Mrs. Sarah Francis Grisham, Mercedes, California, also survived him.
A resident of Marion most of his life, Mr. Calhoun was active in civic and business affairs for many years. He was formerly superintendent of Carterville District and Slogo mines. He served two terms as mayor and two terms as Circuit Clerk. He was educated in the schools of Johnson County, Carbondale Normal and City Business College at Quincy.
George and Eva had 3 children: Don B. 1901, Thomas Lee b. 1902, and George Allen b. 1908. C. H. and Eva’s oldest child, Don, left Marion and was residing in Springfield, Illinois in 1956 and in Bodfish, California in 1999 when he was 98. He married Daisy D. and had two daughters in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.
Their second child, Thomas “Lee” migrated to the West and died in Laguna Hills, Orange County, California in 1985. He married Reba Howard in 1923. They had two children, one of whom was DeWitt Calhoun who died at 30 in 1955.
George Allen Calhoun was their third child. He was last noted living at home in 1930.
Eva died in 1964 in Los Angeles, California At least one of her sons had moved to California. Thomas “Lee” died there in 1985.
(Sources: Census records, Marion Daily Republican. Events in Egypt, WWI Draft records, Illinois Death Records, compiled by Colleen Norman)