Happy Birthday To An Unsung Visionary

Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson is often overlooked when discussing the founding of Clemson University. On February 16, the university celebrated what would have been her 199th birthday as well as the impact of her leadership and vision in our university’s history. Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna died from a sudden heart attack on Sept. 22, 1875. It was her wish that her husband (Thomas Green Clemson) preserve her father’s house and use the land for a state agricultural college. Today, Clemson University occupies the former Fort Hill plantation, with the house at the center of the campus.

Anna Clemson acquired her mother’s grace and style and her father’s (John C. Calhoun) interest in politics. Documents show that Anna had a keen intellect and that her father valued her opinion. She was well educated and culminated her studies at a women’s academy in Columbia, S.C. During a visit with her father in Washington, Anna met Thomas Green Clemson. They lived at Fort Hill when they were first married, and three of their children – an infant daughter who died in 1839, John Calhoun Clemson (1841-1871) and Floride Elizabeth Clemson Lee (1842-1871) – were born at Fort Hill. The Clemson’s fourth child was Cornelia Clemson (1855-1858).

The Clemson family later lived at the plantation Cane Brake (near Saluda, S.C.) before Clemson accepted a diplomatic post as charge d’ affaires to Belgium.

After the Clemsons returned to the United States, they lived in Maryland, and Anna managed their farm, the Home, during the years preceding the Civil War. In 1865, Anna and her daughter Floride lived with Mrs. Calhoun in Pendleton. Probably the most dramatic evidence of Anna Clemson’s courage and love of her children was her trek through enemy territory to visit her son Calhoun Clemson, who was in a federal prison on Johnson Island in Lake Erie. Sadly, both of Anna’s children were buried 17 days apart during the summer of 1871. Calhoun, age 30, died of injuries from a train wreck; Floride, age 28, died of a lingering illness. Anna and Thomas retired to Fort Hill in 1872 and lived there for the remainder of their lives.