Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/431

 LEROY

LESLEY

jUSS. OSSlPEE.

Rennes, assisted by Bishop Hailandiere, bishop of Vincennes, Ind., 1839-47, and Mgr. Nouvel, bishop of Quimper, France. He was named Bishop of Janopolis, coadjutor of New Orleans and admin- istrator of Natchitoches, Oct. 23. 1879, and was promoted to the see of New Orleans as arch- bishop, Dec. 27, 1883, receiving the pallium from Cardinal Gibbons in January, 188-4. He died at Cliateaugiron. France. Sept. 23, 1887.

LEROY, William Edgar, naval officer, was born in New York city, March 24, 1818. He en- tered the U.S. navy as a midshipman, Jan. 11, 1832; was promoted passed midsliipman in June, 1838, and lieutenant, July 13, 1843. He served on

the Ohio, Com- modore Hull's flagship, and at the outbreak of the Mexican war 'was attached to the Princeton, and in 1847 par- ticipated in the engagement with the Mexican soldiers at Rio Aribiqua. He commanded the Mijstic off the Afri- can coast in 1861; was promoted commander, July 1. 1861. and assigned to the command of the Key- stone State of the South Atlantic squadron. He aided in the capture of Fernandina. Fla., 1862, and participated in an engagement with Confederate iron-clads in January, 1863, in Charleston liarbor, S.C.. where the Chicora, Capt. J. R. Tucker, rammed the Keystone State and caused him to lower liis flag, but the Confederate vessel not taking advantage of the situation, Captain Leroy a^ain hoisted the flag and retained possession of Ids vessel. He was transferred to the West Gulf squadron in 1864, and commanded the steam sloop Oneida and the Ossipee. While in com- mand of the Ossipee at the battle of Mobile Bay, Aug. 5. 1864, the ram Tennessee, Commander James T. Johnston, surrendered to him: and lie was a member of the board of survey ajipointed by Admiral P'arragut to report on the condition of that vessel after the battle. He was promoted captain, July 25, 1866. and was fleet captain of the European squadron under Farragut. 1867-68. He was promoted commodore. July 3, 1870; rear- admiral, April 5, 1874, and commanded the South Atlantic squadron, 1876-79. He was retired, March 20, 1880, on reaching the age of sixty- two years. He died in New York, Dec. 10, 1888. LESLEY, Peter, geologist, was born in Pliila- delpliia. Pa., Sept. 17, 1819; son of Peter and Elizabeth Oswald (Allen) Lesley, and grandson of Peter Lesley, who emigrated from Aberdeen- shire, Scotland. He was graduated at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. A.B.. 1838. A.M.. 1841. He assisted Henry D. Rogers in the survey of

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Pennsylvania, 1839-41, and liad charge of the maps and illustrations for the first report issued in 1842. In 1841 lie changed his name to J. P. Lesley for business reasons. He was a student at the Princeton Theological seminary, N.J., 1841- 43, and was licensed to preacli by the pres- bytery of Pliiladel- phia, April 4, 1844. In tiiat year he trav- elled in Europe, and attended lectures at the University at Halle. In 1845 he was a colporteur in northern and middle Pennsylvania, em- ployed by the Ameri- can Tract society. His license was with- drawn, May 5, 1848, and he engaged in geological work in Boston. Mass., and was pastor of the Congregational church in Milton, 1848-51. Thereafter he devoted himself exclusively to geology, making his home in Philadelphia. He was secretary of the American Iron association, 1855-59, and secretary and librarian of the Amer- ican Philosopliical society, 1858-73, meantime surveying the Cape Breton coal fields. 1S62-63. and making exploring tours in the United States and Canada. In 1863 he was sent to Europe by the Pennsylvania railroad company to examine the methods of manufacturing steel from iron, and report upon the success of Bessemer's con- verter. He travelled through England, Belgium and the south of France wherever the flasks had been erected. He was chosen a corporate mem- ber of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1867 was a commissioner to the World's Fair in Paris. He was professor of geology and mining and dean of the scientific faculty. University of Pennsylvania, 1872-80, and was then made pro- fessor emeritus. In 1874 he was chief geologist in the second survey of Pennsylvania and pub- lished over seventy reports in connection with this work. lie was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1884. He lectured before the Lowell Institute in Boston; was made a life member of numerous important scientific societies in America and Eu- rope; and received the degree of LL.D. in l.'-!78 from Trinity college, Dublin. He was married in 1849 to Susan Inches, daughter of Judge Joseph Lyman, of Northampton, Mass. She wrote " Re- collections of My Mother," a memoir of Mrs. Anne J. Lyman (1876. 2d ed., 1886). After a severe illness in 1866, Dr. Lesley spent a portion of each alternate year in Euiope, He is the au-