Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/682

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646
LEA
LEACH

Friends was forfeited by his joining a company that was raised for the defence of the United States in 1814, although the organization was never called into service. In 1815 he was elected a member of the Academy of natural sciences in Philadelphia, and soon afterward published an account of the minerals that he had observed in the vicinity of Philadelphia. This was his first paper, and ap- E eared in the "Journal of the Academy." lie ecame in 1821 a member of the publishing-firm of Mathew Carey, whose daughter he had mar- ried, and continued as such until 1851. Mean- while his leisure was devoted to science, and in 1825 he began a series of memoirs on new forms of fresh-watar and land shells, which he maintained throughout his life. The genus Unio received his special attention, and in 1827 he published his first paper on it, afterward issuing a synopsis of this genus (1836 ; 4th ed., 1870). The separate papers collected under the title of "Observations on the Genus Unio" (Philadelphia, 1827-74) form thirteen quarto volumes magnificently illustrated. His "Contributions to Geology" (1833) was the best illustrated paleontological work that had appeared in the United States. In his " Fossil Footmarks in the Red Sandstones of Pottsville" (1852) he described his discovery of the saurian footprints in the sandstone 700 feet below the conglomerate of the coal-formation. This discovery was of great interest, for the existence of an air-breath- ing animal as low as the coal-measures had not at that time been definitely accepted. Subse- quently the first bones and teeth ever found in this stratum in the United States were described by him, and he named the animal clepsysaurus Penn- sylvanicus. The number of new forms, recent and fossil, that were made known by him amount to nearly 2,000. These descriptions he communi- cated to the Academy of natural sciences in Phila- delphia. His collection of fresh-water shells, marine and land shells, minerals, fossils, and geo- logical specimens were bequeathed to the National museum in Washington, on condition that a room be devoted exclusively to them and the whole called the " Isaac Lea Collection." Mr. Lea re- ceived the'degree of LL. D. from Harvard in 1852, and was a member of many scientific societies in the United States and Europe. He was elected president of the Philadelphia academy of natural sciences in 1858, and of the American association for the advancement of science in 1860. His pa- pers include 279 titles, and a complete bibliogra- phy of them, illustrated by an etched portrait, was published as a "Bulletin of U. S. National Mu- seum, No. 23 " (Washington, 1885). — Isaac's son, Mathew Carey, chemist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 18 Aug., 1823, received his education at home, and then turned his attention to chemistry, which he studied under James C. Booth. His early re- searches were numerous, and the titles of nearly fifty papers are credited to him by the younger Silliman in his " American Contributions to Chem- istry " (Philadelphia, 1875). Mr. Lea has become best known through his large contributions to the literature of photographic chemistry. He has made a specialty of the chemical effects of light, especially on the haloid salts of silver, on which subject he has published numerous papers in the " British Journal of Photography " and in home journals. He is the author of a " Manual of Pho- tography " (Philadelphia, 1868 ; 2d ed., 1871), which is recognized ,as a work of standard authority among photographers. — Another son, Henry Charles, publisher, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 19 Sept., 1825, was educated in Philadelphia, and at the age of seventeen entered the publishing-house of his father, ultimately becoming principal of the concern. Several papers on chemistry and con- chology, notably " Description of New Species of Shells," were published by him. During the civil war he organized the system of municipal bounties to encourage volunteering, and also wrote much for the periodicals. Since 1857 he has devoted special attention to European mediaeval history, and has published "Superstition and Force : Essays on the Wager of Battle, the Wager of Law, the Ordeal and Torture " (Philadelphia, 1866) ; " Studies in Church History: the Rise of the Temporal Power, Benefit of Clergy, Excommunication, the Earlv Church and Slavery " (1869) : " An Historical Sketch of Sacerdotal Celibacy" (1867); and "A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages" (3 vols.. New York, 1888).


LEACH, De Witt Clinton, journalist, b. in Clarence, Erie co., N. Y., 22 Nov., 1822. He is a descendant of Lawrence Leach, noticed below. His great-grandfather, Samuel Leach, was killed in the French and Indian war, and his grand- father, Samuel Leach, served in the Revolution. He received his education in the public schools, and on reaching manhood began teaching. He then removed with his parents to Michigan, and in 1849 was chosen to the legislature of that state. In 1850 he was a member of the Constitutional convention, and made a speech before it urging the granting of the right of suffrage to the colored race. In 1854 he was appointed state librarian, in 1855 he became editor of a Republican pa- per at Lansing, and in the following year he was elected to congress, serving till 1861. He was commissioned by President Lincoln as Indian agent for Michigan, retaining the office four years. In 1867 he was for the second time chosen a mem- ber of a Constitutional convention of the state. About this time he purchased the " Herald," Trav- erse City, Mich., which he published and edited for nine years. He has since published the " Pa- triot Advertiser," Springfield, Mo., and the " North- west Farmer," Traverse City, Mich.


LEACH, James Madison, member of congress, b. in Lansdowne, Randolph co., N. C, in 1824 He received a college education, but was not gradu- ated, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1842. He was for ten years in the house of repre- sentatives of North Carolina, six years in the state senate, and was a presidential elector on the Fill- more ticket in 1856. He was then elected to con- gress from North Carolina as a Whig, and served from 3 Dec, 1859, till 3 March, 1861. He opposed secession till the beginning of hostilities, but was for one year a field-officer in the Confederate army and a member of the Confederate congress in 1864-'5. After the war he served twice in the state senate, and was elected to congress for two consecutive terms as a Conservative, serving from 4 March, 1871, till 3 March, 1875. He was a presi- dential elector in 1876 and 1880.


LEACH, Josiah Granville, lawyer, b. in Cape May, N. J., 27 July, 1842. His father, Rev. Joseph S. Leach, a descendant of Lawrence Leach (q. v.), became in 1855 editor of the " Ocean Wave," the first newspaper in Cape May county, N. J. The son entered journalism in 1860, and in August, 1862, enlisted in the army, and served as sergeant, sergeant-major, and lieutenant in the 25th New Jersey regiment. In 1866 he was graduated in law at the University of Pennsylvania, and admitted to the Philadelphia bar. He has been active in politics since he was nineteen years old, has served in the legislature of Pennsylvania, and in 1881-’2 was