Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/386

 LEA

LEA

and was a member of many natural history societies in the United States and Europe. He re- ceived the degree of LL.D. from Harvard in 1853. His name was one of nineteen in "Class H, Scien- tists," submitted in October, 1900, as eligible for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, no names in the class se- curing a place. He is the author of : Contribu- tions to Geology (1833); New Genus of the Family 3Ielaniana (1851) ; Synopsis of the Family of Naides (1853, 4th ed., 1870) ; Fossil Footmarks in the Red Sandstones of Pottsville (1853); Observa- tions on the Genus Unio (3 vols., 1873-1873). His papers include 279 titles. He died in Phila- delphia, Pa., Dec. 8, 1886.

LEA, John flcCormick, jurist, was born in Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 25, 1818; sonof Col. Luke and Susan Wells (McCormack) Lea, and grand- son of the Rev. Luke and Mary (Wilson) Lea, He was graduated from the University of Nash- ville, A.B., 1837, A. M., 1840, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1840. He settled in practice at Nashville, Tenn., and was U.S. attorney for the dis- trict of middle Ten- nessee, 1843-44. He was married in 1845 to Elizabeth B., daughter of Judge John Ovartus, of the supreme court of Ten- nessee. He was ap- pointed judge of the circuit court of Ten- nessee by Governor Brownlow in 1865, but re- signed office in 1866, at which time he declined an appointment to the supreme court bench of Tennessee. As a representative in the state legislature, in 1875, he opposed the repudiation of the state debt. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of the University of Nashville in 1851, and succeeded Felix Roberts, July 36, 1867, as president of the board. He became president of the Tennessee Historical society on its incorporation, and was elected its president in 1879, which office he still held in 1901. He was also a director and benefactor of various schools and missions.

LEA, Luke, representative, was born in Surry county, N.C., Jan. 26, 1782 ; son of the Rev. Luke and Mary (Wilson) Lea. He removed to Tennessee with his parents in 1790. He was clerk to the state house of representatives, 1804- 06 ; and commanded a regiment under General Jackson during the Indian wars in Florida and the Creek country in 1818. He was married to

sf-ff-zCty^ .^. ^^-ay<

Susan Wells McCormack. He was a Democrati* representative from Tennessee in the 33d and 24th congresses, 1833-37 ; was cashier of the state bank for many years, and was elected by the state legislature commissioner for the sale of the Cherokee lands. He was Indian agent of the Fort Leavenworth agency from 1849. He died near Fort Leavenworth, Kan., June 17, 1851.

LEA, Luke, U.S. attorney, was born in Grain- ger county, Tenn., Nov. 19, 1810 ; son of the Rev. Major and Lavinia (Jarnagin) Lea, and gi-andson of the Rev. Luke and l\Iary (Wilson) Lea. He was educated at East Tennessee college ; studied law with Pryor Lea (q. v.), and settled in prac- tice, first at Knoxville, in 1833, and was secretary of the state of Tennessee ; and afterward in Vicks- burg and Jackson, Miss. He was the unsuccess- ful Whig candidate for governor of Mississippi in 1849. He served several terms in the Mississippi legislature and was commissioner of Indian affairs by appointment of President Fillmore, 1849-53. He was man-ied in Jackson, Miss., in 1848, to Mary, daughter of Maj. John Maysant, of South Carolina, and their son, Albert M. Lea, was U.S. attorney for the southern district of Mississippi in 1901. He was appointed U.S. district attorney by Grant in 1871, and filled the office under the administrations of Hayes, Garfield and Arthur, 1871-85. He died in Vicksburg, Miss., May 9, 1898.

LEA, Pryor, representative, was born in Knox county, Tenn., Aug. 31, 1794; son of the Rev. Major and Lavinia (Jarnagin) Lea. His father was a commissioner to lay off the town of Rut- ledge and erect the county buildings of Grainger county ; a charter trustee of Madison academy, 1806, and of East Tennessee college, 1807, and state senator, 1807-09. Pryor Lea was elected clerk of the lower house of the Tennessee leg- islature in 1809, was a volunteer in the Creek Indian war, serving as an officer under General Jackson. He resumed his studies after the war, and was graduated from Greenville college, 1816. He was clerk of the state legislature in 1816, was admitted to the bar in 1817, and settled in practice at Knoxville, Tenn. He was appoint- ed a trustee of East Tennessee college in 1831, and served as secretary of the board, 1836-37. He was appointed U.S. district attorney for Ten- nessee in 1824. He was a representative from the second district in the 20th and 31st con- gresses, 1837-31, and was defeated for the 22d congress by Thomas D. Arnold, a Whig. He removed to Jackson, Miss., in 1836, and in 1846 to Goliad, Texas. He projected a railroad from Arousas Bay to Mazatlan, and was president of the company. He was a member of the secession convention of Texas in 1861, and wrote the ad- dress to the people. After 1865 he practised law. He died at Goliad, Texas, Sept. 14, 1880.