Franklin Pierce Calhoun 1859-1919

Franklin Pierce Calhoun was the son of George Albert Calhoun and Susan Amelia Griffing. Most of the town records concerning Franklin list his place of birth as Clinton, Middlesex County, Connecticut, the home of his maternal 3rd great grandfather Samuel Griffin. In Clinton he would have known all of the Griffin cousins from James N. Griffin’s family. Family records list his date of birth as March 9, 1859. The date is confirmed in the 1900 federal census. His full name is listed in the birth record of his son, Albert Franklin, in the Wallingford town records. Franklin’s father died in 1863 while serving in the Union Army. As a result he grew up in the household of his mother and her 2nd husband William J. Bradley. The family is in Essex, Connecticut in 1870. At some point the family moved back to the Madison/Guilford area where most of them married and raised their families. Franklin’s marriage record is found in the Madison town records. The record is dated October 11, 1882. It lists Franklin P. Calhoun, born Clinton, living Madison, age 22 and Alice R. Spencer age 18, born Madison, living Madison. The marriage is also found in the Methodist Church records. October 11, 1882, Franklin P. Calhoun, 22, Clinton and Alice R, Spencer, 18, Madison, by the Rev W.F. Marwick with the notation “married at my residence”. The first 3 children in the family were born in Guilford. The town records list the following births. ------Estella Calhoun (Florence Estella) August 3, 1883, Frank Calhoun age 23 and Alice Spencer age 19. The town clerks in Guilford always noted the birth order for each child. They list Estella as the 1st child born in the family. Her marriage record to Nelson E. Darrow is also found in the Guilford records. Florence Estella Calhoun age 14, January 12, 1898.------ Listed as the 2nd child, Ethel M. Calhoun born November 9, 1889. Her father is listed as Franklin P. Calhoun of Clinton age 33. ------ The 3rd child is listed simply as, M, a male born January 8, 1893 his parents listed as Franklin P. Calhoun and Alice R. Spencer. The nature of the town records seems to indicate a stillborn child.------ The 4th child is Albert Franklin Calhoun born September 25, 1899. Albert’s birth is part of the Wallingford town records. It lists his father as Franklin Pierce Calhoun age 40; it notes the area of his birth as Yalesville. The record notes that he is part of a family of 4 children with 3 surviving, as does the 1900 federal census. ------Franklin and Alice are buried in the Alderbrook Cemetery in Guilford. Frank P. Calhoun 1859-1919 and Alice R. Calhoun 1863-1930. Also buried in the family plot are Florence E. (Estella) Calhoun 1883-1921 and her 2nd husband Edward Miller 1884-1926. There is also a headstone for her son by her 1st marriage, Charles Darrow 1897-1919, killed in France ( actually date April 20, 1818). Also buried in Alderbrook is Franklin’s sister Jane and parts of her family including her husband Alexander E. Ingraham.------Franklin Pierce Calhoun/ Susan Amelia Griffing / Harry Allen Griffin / Edward / James / Samuel Griffin. Click on images to enlarge.