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Ezekiel Noble Calhoun was born circa 1800. He lived in Decatur, Georgia, and worked as a doctor at a frontier general medical practice. During the years 1830-1832 he attempted to establish a militia, the Dekalb County Artillery, to protect the settlement from nearby Cherokee Indians. Ezekiel's younger brother, James Calhoun, came to live in Decatur from South Carolina after the death of their parents. James Calhoun was the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, during the United States Civil War.
This collection contains five letters written by early Decatur, Georgia, settler Ezekiel Noble Calhoun to Georgia Governor Wilson Lumpkin. When the first letter was written, Decatur was only seven years old and located at the intersection of two Indian trails. The letters begin in 1830, the year the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act authorizing the president to negotiate removal treaties. The letters begin with Calhoun requesting a cannon and muskets with bayonets for the establishment of a militia company, the Dekalb County Artillery. This militia was established to protect the new settlement from Indian attacks. In subsequent letters, Calhoun expresses his disappointment in not receiving the items requested. The letters end in 1832, only a few years prior to the "Trail of Tears."