Isaac Lea facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Isaac Lea
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| Born | March 4, 1792 Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
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| Died | December 8, 1886 (aged 94) |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) |
Frances Ann Carey
(m. 1821; died 1873) |
| Children | 3 (incl. Henry Charles Lea and Mathew Carey Lea) |
| Relatives | Mathew Carey (father-in-law) |
Isaac Lea (born March 4, 1792 – died December 8, 1886) was an American publisher who also loved studying nature. He was especially interested in shells (conchology) and rocks and Earth's history (geology). He was a partner in several important publishing companies, including Lea & Blanchard.
Lea wrote many books about freshwater mussels, a type of shell. He also named 1,842 different kinds of freshwater and land mollusks (animals with soft bodies, often with shells). He caused a big discussion among geologists when he found fossilized footprints in Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania. He thought they were from a reptile that lived over 360 million years ago. Scientists later found out the footprints were from an amphibian and were about 330 million years old.
He was the president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from 1858 to 1863. He also led the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 1860.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Isaac Lea was born on March 4, 1792, in Wilmington, Delaware. His family, the Leas, had moved to Pennsylvania with William Penn in 1699. His father, James J. Lea, was a merchant. Isaac first planned to become a doctor. However, at age 15, he started working at his brother John's import business in Philadelphia.
As a child, Isaac was good friends with Lardner Vanuxem. Together, they became very interested in geology. They even got to see the amazing mineral collection of Adam Seybert.
Lea was born into a Quaker family. Quakers believe in peace. But during the War of 1812, Isaac joined the Pennsylvania Militia. This unit protected the local area and did not fight in battles. Still, because he joined the military, he was no longer a member of the Religious Society of Friends. In 1820, he married Frances Ann Carey. Her father, Mathew Carey, was a famous publisher.
In 1853, Lea received an honorary law degree from Harvard University.
A Career in Publishing
Isaac Lea's father-in-law, Mathew Carey, started a publishing company. He made his son Henry Charles Carey and Isaac Lea partners. The company's name changed to Matthew Carey & Sons. When Mathew retired in 1824, the company became Carey, Lea & Carey.
Later, in 1833, William A. Blanchard joined as a partner. The company was briefly called Carey, Lea & Blanchard. When Henry Charles Carey retired in 1836, the name changed again to Lea & Blanchard. This publishing house became one of the most successful in America. They published important works like The Encyclopedia Americana.
In the early 1830s, Lea also became a partner in a coal company. This company owned a large area of land near the Susquehanna River.
Isaac Lea retired from the publishing business in 1851. His son, Henry Charles Lea, became a full partner. The company then changed its name to Lea Brothers.
Discovering Nature's Secrets
Isaac Lea worked with Lardner Vanuxem on studying the geology of New York. Understanding the history of Earth often involves studying mollusk fossils. This led Lea to also study living mollusks.
In 1815, Lea joined the Academy of Natural Sciences. In 1817, he published his first paper about minerals found near Philadelphia.
Lea spent his free time studying natural history. He collected many natural objects and wrote books about them. His son, Henry Charles Lea, sometimes drew pictures for his books. He was especially interested in freshwater and land mollusks. He studied shells sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences from the Ohio River. He also looked at shells his brother collected near Cincinnati.
In 1827, Lea wrote a paper called Description of Six New Specimens of the Genus Unio. This was the first of many papers he wrote about the Unio mussel. Over 50 years, he wrote and published 279 scientific articles, books, and essays. He named 1,842 different kinds of freshwater and land mollusks. However, many of the species he described were later found to be the same. His writings on geology covered topics like coal, earthquakes, fossils, and minerals.
The Mystery of Ancient Footprints
In 1849, Lea presented a paper about fossilized footprints he found. He discovered them in red sandstone in Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania. Lea believed the tracks were from a reptile. He also thought they were from the Devonian Period, which was between 360 and 408 million years ago. He even named this new species Sauropus primaevus.
This discovery caused a big debate among geologists. Henry Darwin Rogers, Pennsylvania's state geologist, questioned the age of the fossil. Another famous geologist, Louis Agassiz, suggested the footprints were not from a reptile but from an amphibian. Today, scientists agree the footprints are from an amphibian called Palaeosauropus primaevus. They are from the Mississippian Age, which was over 330 million years ago.
Lea was a member and vice-president of the American Philosophical Society (starting in 1828). He also served as president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from 1858 to 1863. Both of these important groups were in Philadelphia. Lea was also the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1860.
Family and Legacy
Isaac Lea had two sons who became well-known. Henry Charles Lea and Mathew Carey Lea both achieved success in scholarly fields and the family publishing business. The brothers married sisters from the Jaudon family. Their children also joined the family business, which eventually became Lea & Febiger.
Henry Charles Lea (1825–1909) was an American historian and a reformer in Philadelphia. Mathew Carey Lea (1823–1897) was a lawyer. He also founded mechanochemistry (a field of chemistry) and was an early photographer.
Isaac Lea died on December 8, 1886, in Philadelphia. He was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery. In 1829, the famous writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote a poem dedicated to Lea called "To Isaac Lea".
Three types of mollusks were named in his honor: Crenella leana Dall, Lymnea leai, and Periploma leanum.
Today, the National Museum in Washington has Lea's huge collection of freshwater mussels from the Unionidae family. They also have other collections he made.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania keeps the records of Lea & Febiger and the companies that came before it.
Two pieces of rock with the fossilized footprints Lea discovered are now at the Smithsonian Institute. They also have plaster casts of the footprints.
