Joseph LeConte letter

Joseph LeConte letter

Descriptive Summary

Title: Joseph LeConte letter
Creator: LeConte, Joseph, 1823-1901
Inclusive Dates: 1852 September 10
Language(s): English
Extent: 1 folder(s) (1 letter)
Collection Number: ms647
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

Joseph LeConte (1823-1901), 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. After 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.

"https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/leconte-family">LeConte Family in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. (Retrieved November 24, 2008)

Scope and Content

The collection consists of one letter from Joseph LeConte to Judge Eugenius A. Nisbet, dated September 10, 1852, Milledgeville, Georgia. LeConte desired to apply for Dr. Jones' professorship at the University of Georgia, as Dr. Jones was resigning.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Joseph LeConte letter, ms647, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: 2014.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

Related Collections in this Repository

Related collections in this repository: LeConte genealogical collection, ms71; J.N. LeConte notebooks, ms853; LeConte Furman Carter family papers, ms3027; LeConte family papers, ms2085; and Emma LeConte photograph album, ms2942.


Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 
box
1Letter, 1852 September 10

Special Collections Libraries
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641