Editing John C. Calhoun (section)

==Death and burial==
[[File:Closeup of John C. Calhoun grave IMG 4649.JPG|thumb|Calhoun's grave at [[St. Philip's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina)|St. Philip's Church]] yard in Charleston|alt=Very large, imposing grave stone, perhaps {{convert|15|ft|m}} high, with simply Calhoun's birth and death dates engraved.]]
Calhoun died at the [[Old Capitol Prison|Old Brick Capitol]] boarding house in [[Washington, D.C.]], on March 31, 1850, of tuberculosis, at the age of 68. The [[last words]] attributed to him were "The South, the poor South!"<ref>{{cite book |series=Congressional Record |title=Proceedings and Debates of the 76th Congress, Third Session, V. 46, Part 14, Appendix |chapter=Extension of Remarks of John H. Bankhead, 2nd |date=March 11, 1940 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8vg-d-2uPMC&pg=PA1318 |page=1318 |access-date=September 22, 2019 |last1=Congress |first1=United States }}</ref>

He was interred at [[St. Philip's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina)|St. Philip's Churchyard]] in Charleston, South Carolina. During the Civil War, a group of Calhoun's friends were concerned about the possible desecration of his grave by Federal troops and, during the night, removed his coffin to a hiding place under the stairs of the church. The next night, his coffin was buried in an unmarked grave near the church, where it remained until 1871 when it was again exhumed and returned to its original place.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.charlestonfootprints.com/charleston-blog/calhouns-moving-grave/2014/01/07/ |title = Calhoun's Moving Grave |work = Charleston Footprints |date = January 7, 2014 |access-date = March 17, 2016 }}</ref>

After Calhoun had died, an associate suggested that Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]] give a eulogy in honor of Calhoun on the floor of the Senate. Benton, a devoted Unionist, declined, saying: "He is not dead, sir—he is not dead. There may be no vitality in his body, but there is in his doctrines."<ref name="John C. Calhoun: He Started the Civil War">{{cite web |last=Rafuse |first=Ethan S. |url = http://www.historynet.com/john-c-calhoun-he-started-the-civil-war.htm |title = John C. Calhoun: He Started the Civil War |publisher = Historynet |date = June 12, 2006 |access-date = May 1, 2016 }}</ref>

The [[Clemson University]] campus in South Carolina occupies the site of Calhoun's [[Fort Hill (Clemson, South Carolina)|Fort Hill plantation]], which he bequeathed to his wife and daughter. They sold it and its 50 slaves to a relative. When that owner died, Thomas Green Clemson foreclosed the mortgage. He later bequeathed the property to the state for use as an agricultural college to be named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.clemson.edu/about/history/properties/fort-hill/ |title = Fort Hill History |publisher = Clemson University |access-date = May 5, 2016 }}</ref>

Calhoun's widow, Floride, died on July 25, 1866, and was buried in St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery in [[Pendleton, South Carolina]], near their children, but apart from her husband.<ref name="Floride Bonneau Colhoun Calhoun" />