When John Columbus Calvin was born on 6 November 1794, in Nelson, Kentucky, United States, his father, Luther Decker Calvin, was 23 and his mother, Susannah Samuels, was 21. He married Gilley Dorsey on 20 March 1820, in Hardin, Kentucky, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. He lived in Hardin, Kentucky, United States in 1850. He died on 27 January 1856, in Knob Noster, Johnson, Missouri, United States, at the age of 61, and was buried in Warrensburg, Johnson, Missouri, United States.