“L” is for Legaré, James Matthews (1823-1859). Writer, painter, inventor. A native of Charleston, Legaré graduated from the College of Charleston and then studied languages and literature in Baltimore. While there, he became interested in composing verse and painting oil landscapes. While in Baltimore he concocted an impressive-sounding but phony family genealogy and passing it off as real. When the hoax was revealed, his Charleston kin were outraged. The controversy attracted national attention and it could be the source for Harriet Beacher Stowe’s villain in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Legaré returned to Charleston where he continued to paint and began writing poetry. Eventually he and his wife moved to Aiken where he turned to experimenting with mechanical inventions. James Matthews Legaré obtained two U.S. patents, one of which was for “plastic cotton,” better known as celluloid.
Legaré, James Matthews (1823-1859)
