LENTE, Frederick Divoux, physician, b. in New Berne, N. C, 23 Dec, 1823 ; d. in Cold Spring, N. Y., 17 Sept., 1883. He was of mixed Dutch and Huguenot descent. He was graduated at the Uni- versity of North Carolina and subsequently at the medical department of the University of the city of New York in 1849. Prom 1848 till 1851 he was house surgeon at the New York hospital, and from 1851 till 1870 surgeon at the West Point foundry. Cold Spring, N. Y. In the latter year he removed to New York on being appointed to the chair of gynecology and diseases of children at the Uni- versity of the city of New York. He was also assistant surgeon to the Woman's hospital of the state of New York, surgeon to St. Mary's hospital for sick children, New York city, and consulting surgeon to the New York free dispensary for sick children. After a year's arduous service he re- turned to Cold Spring, where he practised until failing health compelled him to reside during the remainder of his life at Palatka, Fla., in the win- ter, and in the summer at Saratoga Springs. Dr. Lente was an unusually prolific writer on medical subjects, but his contributions to the press have never been collected and published in book-form. He was a member of various professional societies, many of which elected him to office, a founder of the American academy of medicine, a manager of the Hudson River state hospital, and a member of the American public health association, before which he often read papers.
LEON, Alonso de (lay-one), Spanish explorer,
b. in Mexico about 1640 ; d. in Cadereita early in
the 18th century. He was governor of Coahuila,
and in several expeditions explored the interior of
New Leon. Toward the end of 1688 the Count of
Galve, on assuming the government of New Spain,
was informed that some French adventurers had
formed establishments on the coast of Texas, and
he ordered Leon to go with an expedition, accom-
panied by a geographer and interpreter, to that
coast. Accordingly the latter set out in the begin-
ning of 1689, and after a long march through the
desert arrived at the Bay of San Bernardo, or Espi-
ritu Santo, where he found a partly constructed
fort, but no signs of the French settlers. Hearing
from friendly Indians that five of them were with
a neighboring tribe in search of workmen, Leon
sent a detachment to capture them, and after
several days the force returned with two of the
French adventurers, Jacques Grollet and Jean
L'Archeveque, the others having fled. He estab-
lished a garrison, or presidio, and returned to
Monctova, the capital of Coahuila, despatching the
two Frenchmen to Mexico, whence the viceroy
sent them to Spain, recommending measures to
secure the coast against the French. A royal order
came to establish more presidios and missions in
Texas, and Leon was sent in 1691 for this purpose ;
but he so oppressed the Indians that there was a
general rising in 1693, and nearly all the missions
were destroyed. Leon was now recalled and retired
to New Leon, where he founded the town of Cade-
reita, and died there. His report " Relacion de mi
viaje a, la bahia de San Bernardo, dirigida al Exmo.
Br. virey de N. E., Conde de Galve" (1689), is kept
in manuscript in the archives of the council of the
Indies. Besides this there are in manuscript in the
library of the University of Mexico "Diarios de
Alonso de Leon " (1689) and " Relacion y Discursos
del descubrimiento, poblacion y pacificacion del
Nuevo Reino de Leon, temperamento y calidad de
la tierra, dirigidos por Alonso de Leon al lllmo. Sr.
Dn. Juan de Mafiosca, Inquisidor del Santo Oficio
de la N. E. afto de 1690."
LEON, Antonio, Mexican soldier, b. in Huaju-
apam, 4 June, 1794; d. in Molino del Rey, 8 Sept.,
1847. In May, 1811, he became an ensign in the
militia of his native place, and in the struggle for
independence he fought at first on the royalist side,
rising to the rank of captain in April, 1817; but
after the proclamation of Iguala by Iturbide. Leon,
in March, 1821, went over to the popular side. With
twenty-six badly armed men he attacked a Spanish
detachment of sixty men at Tixtla, forcing them
to surrender on 20 June, and with the arms that
were thus obtained, and some re-enforcements, he
attacked with 180 men his native town, which was
strongly fortified by the Spanish forces, and obliged
them to surrender on the 22d, capturing three can-
non and a large quantity of guns and ammunition.
He was rewarded by Iturbide with the command
of the Misteca, and immediately marched to besiege
the fort of Yanhuitlan, which surrendered after
fifteen days. He now turned against the Spanish
commander of the province, who had established
himself in the church and convent of Tehuantepec,
and after he had captured that place on 29 July,
the capital of Oajaca surrendered, and the whole
province recognized the plan of Iguala. He was-
promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 7 Aug., and
gathered a large force to assist Herrera in the siege
of Puebla, and Santa-Anna in Vera Cruz. After
the final establishment of independence, Leon was
commissioned in October, 1821, to conquer the
Pacific coast of the state of Oajaca, which had pro-
nounced for the king of Spain, and after obtaining
his object in a short time without bloodshed was
promoted colonel. When Iturbide proclaimed the
empire, Leon, with Gen. Bravo and Gen. Guerrero,
proclaimed the republic on 14 Jan., 1823, in II ua-
juapam, and, after the abdication of the emperor,
Leon was appointed military commander of the
province of Oajaca, which elected him deputy to
the constituent congress of 1824. In 1827 he re-
tired to private life on account of feeble health,
but in 1830 he was called into service again to sup-
press bands of robbers under Narvaez and Me-
dina. From 1834 till 1837 he was on three differ-
ent occasions appointed military commander to
quell disturbances, and in 1838, during the French
invasion, made second chief of the army of the
centre, where he had sometimes to supply the gar-
rison from his private means. In 1842, as military
and civil governor, he was the means of the sepa-
ration of Soconusco from Guatemala and its an-
nexation to Mexico, and, although desiring to re-
tire into private life, continued as governor till
August, 1846. During the American invasion in
1847 he organized the military forces of his native
state, and, after Santa- Anna's defeat at Cerro Gor-
do, Leon's brigade formed a nucleus for the re-
organization of the army. He took part in the
battle of Padierna, 19 Aug., where his brigade re-
sisted the American advance with the main army,
and he fell while fighting at the head of his troop
in the battle of Molino del Rey, 8 Sept., 1847.
LEON, Juan Yelazquez de, Spanish soldier, b. in Cuellar, Spain, in the latter part of the 15th century; d. in Mexico, 1 July, 1520. He was a nephew of Diego Velazquez, the conqueror and governor of Cuba. When this chief came with Ovando to Santo Domingo in 1502, Leon, then a boy, accompanied him, and took an active part in the conquest of the province of Salvatierra in that island and in that of Cuba in 1511. In the massacre by the Spaniards under Narvaez in the Indian town of Counao he was the first to listen to the voice of Las Casas, and tried to prevent the total destruction of the Indians. He afterward settled
