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Reports surfaced long after Calhoun's demise that he had been the model of the cruel slaveholder, Simon Legree, in [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]]'s 1852 [[novel]] ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]].'' In 1896, William Hugh Robarts claimed that Stowe, by then deceased, had told him in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], that the Legree character was based on Calhoun. According to Robarts, Stowe never met Calhoun, but she was told of his plantation on the Red River by a [[Mississippi River]] pilot originally from [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/articles/n2ar19dtt.html|title=Model for Mrs. Stowe: Meredith Calhoun Was the Original Cruel Simon Legree, His Red River Plantation|publisher=iath.virginia.edu|date=July 19, 1896|accessdate=April 28, 2020}}</ref>​

Reports surfaced long after Calhoun's demise that he had been the model of the cruel slaveholder, Simon Legree, in [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]]'s 1852 [[novel]] ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]].'' In 1896, William Hugh Robarts claimed that Stowe, by then deceased, had told him in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], that the Legree character was based on Calhoun. According to Robarts, Stowe never met Calhoun, but she was told of his plantation on the Red River by a [[Mississippi River]] pilot originally from [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/articles/n2ar19dtt.html|title=Model for Mrs. Stowe: Meredith Calhoun Was the Original Cruel Simon Legree, His Red River Plantation|publisher=iath.virginia.edu|date=July 19, 1896|accessdate=April 28, 2020}}</ref>​

The evidence, however, is contradictory. J. E. Dunn, a Louisiana correspondent for the former ''New Orleans Times-Democrat,'' quickly repudiated Robarts' claim that Calhoun was the plantation owner that Stowe had in mind in her caricature. Calhoun was cultured, educated, and a gentleman, with looks that never seemed to age. The fictitious Legree was uncouth, brutal, and ignorant, characteristics perhaps of one or more of Calhoun's overseers. Simon Legree in the novel is a northerner, but while Calhoun was born in Pennsylvania, he lived in South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana for much of his adult life. Robarts claimed that Calhoun had been a bachelor for many years and that there was a considerable age difference between Calhoun and his wife. Yet, Calhoun was only thirty years of age when their son was born.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/articles/n2ar19dvt.html|author=J. E. Dunn|title=About Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Louisianian Says Meredith Calhoun Was Not a Model for Legree|date=August 31, 1896|publisher=utc.iath.virginia.edu|accessdate=April 28, 2020}}</ref>​

The evidence, however, is contradictory. J. E. Dunn, a Louisiana correspondent for the former ''New Orleans Times-Democrat,'' quickly repudiated Robarts' claim that Calhoun was the plantation owner that Stowe had in mind in her caricature. Calhoun was cultured, educated, and a gentleman, with looks that never seemed to age. The fictitious Legree was uncouth, brutal, and ignorant, characteristics perhaps of one or more of Calhoun's overseers. Simon Legree in the novel is a northerner, but while Calhoun was born in Pennsylvania, he lived in South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana for much of his adult life. Robarts claimed that Calhoun had been a bachelor for many years and that there was a considerable age difference between Calhoun and his wife. Yet, Calhoun was only thirty years of age when their son was born.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/articles/n2ar19dvt.html|author=J. E. Dunn|title=About Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Louisianian Says Meredith Calhoun Was Not a Model for Legree|date=August 31, 1896|publisher=utc.iath.virginia.edu (correspondence of ''The New Orleans Times-Democrat''|accessdate=April 28, 2020}}</ref>​

==References==

==References==