510 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROCHESTER MEETING 



Magdalene Lacoe, was the daughter of Huguenot parents who emigrated 

 from Bordeaux and Nantes to Saint Domingo, whence her father, Jean 

 Francois Dupuy, gentleman, escaped to the United States in 1791 with 

 the loss of his estate, heing exiled by the success of the negro insurrec- 

 tion. 



Ralph, the youngest son of the Lacoe family, having no other educa- 

 tional advantages than the country schools, learned his father's trade, 

 that of carpenter ; but the slender advantages of his station were sup- 

 plemented by his excellent mother, and in his early years of work he 

 taught school for a short period, having among his pupils Bridget Clary, 

 who afterward became his wife. He began the foundation of his modest 

 wealth about 1850 by cutting railway ties on his grandfather's land and 

 investing the proceeds more or less fortunately in coal lands not far from 

 his home in the then largely undeveloped Lackawanna anthracite coal- 

 field. Pending the improvement of the property he continued his work 

 as carpenter. By honesty and intelligent industry he gradually became 

 real estate dealer, manufacturer, banker, financier, and public officer, 

 though never a politician as that term is commonly employed. 



About 1865 Lacoe's health gave way from long-continued overwork, 

 and he was obliged carefully to restrict the activity of his business career. 

 However unhappy this may have been to himself and friends, and what- 

 ever loss it may have occasioned to the world of commerce, this enforced 

 change in life was the beginning of his broadest and fullest living and 

 increased usefulness to the world ; for, although his health was never 

 fully restored and his hearing became seriously impaired, the efforts for 

 its recovery led insensibly to the development of new employments and 

 purposes, including the desire to increase the sum of human knowledge. 



It was while finding refuge in the mild winter climate of the Florida 

 coast that Lacoe began first to amuse himself by collecting shells along 

 the beach, and later by studying the marine life of the coast. On return- 

 ing to Pennsylvania he took back with him a growing interest in natural 

 history study, and before long he had entered upon the task of collect- 

 ing the fossils from the Coal Measures of the Pittston region. This work 

 he carried on with the greatest enthusiasm and enjoyment, finding in it 

 a most recuperative and healthful relaxation from the cares and respon- 

 sibilities of business. Lacoe often remarked that he owed added years 

 to the out-of-door life and pleasure of collecting. At first his work was 

 that of a collector and amateur ; later it became systematic and definite 

 in its scope. 



It was not long before he came into communication with Lesley, the 

 state geologist, and Leo Lesquereux, who was then preparing his great 

 work on the Coal Flora of the United States for the Second Geological 



