Talk:LeConte

The correct form of the family name appears to be 'Le Conte', as exhibited in The Autobiography of Joseph Le Conte: Electronic Edition. The more formal and documented sources use 'Le Conte'. -- Donald Albury (Dalbury)^(Talk) 01:37, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

I've been meaning to lay out the evidence in more detail, but I've been distracted. The family name appears to go back to William Le Conte, a French Huguenot who ended up in New York by way of Martinique. His son Peter married Valerie Eatton and moved to Monmouth County, New Jersey by 1734.[1] John Eatton Le Conte, Jr., was born near Shrewsbury, New Jersey (in Monmouth County) in 1784. I have not yet found a source, but it would appear that John Eatton Le Conte, Sr. was the son of Peter Le Conte and Valerie Eatton.

Later sources use both Le Conte or LeConte. Joseph Le Conte's autobiography has Le Conte on the title page and below his full-page portrait.[2] There are Le Conte's Thrasher and Le Conte's Sparrow, the latter of which, at least, was named by Audubon for his friend, Dr. Le Conte, usually thought to be John Lawrence Le Conte, Joseph's cousin, but possibly for John Le Conte, Joseph's brother (however, Audubon seems to have written LeConte in his letters). There is the Le Conte pear, named after Joseph's uncle, John Eatton Le Conte. As for places presumably named after members of the family, the USGS GNIS lists eight with LeConte (LeConte Bay, LeConte Glacier and Stikine-LeConte Wilderness in Alaska, LeConte Glacier and LeConte Lake in Washington; LeConte Hall in California, LeConte Hall in Georgia and LeConte Lake in Utah), and twelve with Le Conte (Camp Le Conte, Le Conte Creek, Le Conte Lodge and Mount Le Conte in Tennessee, Joseph Le Conte Middle School, Le Conte Canyon, Le Conte Divide, Le Conte Falls, Le Conte School and Mount Le Conte in California; Le Conte Crater in Oregon; and Le Conte College in South Carolina). The The Darwin Online Correspondence Database lists John Eatton Le Conte, and [http://www.famousamericans.net/lewisleconte/ Virtual American Biographies] has an entry for Joseph's father as Lewis Le Count (it should be Louis). The New Georgia Encyclopedia uses LeConte.

It looks to me that Le Conte is the original form, and the one preferred by Joseph Le Conte as late as 1903, when his autobiography was published. The confusion has come about, I suspect, because editors and typesetters have dropped the space as unimportant, inconvenient, or in error. I must admit that I was irritated to see the article state that Le Conte was less correct that LeConte, but I've now seen where that came from on the Internet.

In any case, while we must maintain both names, Le Conte is the older form, and LeConte is the innovation. -- Donald Albury^(Talk) 01:40, 17 March 2006 (UTC)