By 1862, he became sole owner of Garden Island and looked after the small community of approximately 750 people who mainly consisted of company workers, serving as reeve when it was incorporated as a village in 1866. With considerable generosity for his employees, his company subsidized a school, an excellent library for the timeframe, post office, and several fraternal societies. Calvin enforced prohibition on the island. He was also reeve of Wolfe Island and became warden for Frontenac County in 1863. In 1873, a recession followed a panic that lead Calvin to cut the wages of his beloved employees, however, in consideration of their well-being, he refused to resort to lay offs of any kind and allowed the more senior employees to purchase shares in the company.