LeConte, Joseph, 1823-1901

Joseph LeConte, born in 1823, graduated from the University of Georgia in 1841. He enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1844 and received an M.D. in 1845. He married Elizabeth Caroline Nisbet in 1847 and established a medical practice in Macon. Because his first love was geology, however, he enrolled in the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard College in 1850 to study with the famous naturalist Louis Agassiz. Upon completing his studies in 1851 he returned to Georgia and became professor of chemistry and natural history at Oglethorpe University (then located near Milledgeville). In 1852 Joseph was appointed professor of geology and natural history at the University of Georgia. Involved in a dispute with the university president, he left the university a year after his brother departed, and in 1857 he became professor of chemistry and geology at South Carolina College... Joseph joined the faculty of the University of California, departing for the West Coast in 1869... The author of about 200 publications, including nine books, Joseph LeConte won special recognition for his Elements of Geology (1877), Sight: An Exposition of the Principles of Monocular and Binocular Vision (1881), and Evolution and Its Relation to Religious Thought (1888)... Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1875, Joseph LeConte served as president of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1891) and the Geological Society of America (1896)... LeConte died in 1901 while camping in Yosemite National Park. Joseph LeConte was the father of five children: Emma Florence, Sarah Elizabeth, Josephine Eloise (died in early childhood), Caroline Eaton, and Joseph Nisbet.--"LeConte Family." New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org (Retrieved November 24, 2008)

From the description of Joseph LeConte letter, 10 September 1852. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 276368335

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