Annie Elisabeth Law (1842–12 January 1889) was a British-American conchologist, who discovered 11 species and one genus of

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s, but did not publish formal descriptions of them. She was also a dispatch rider for the Confederate army during the American Civil War and was tried in Knoxville as a confederate informer.

Personal life

Annie Law was born in 1842 in Carlisle, England, the first of three children of John Law. The family migrated to the United States in around 1850, settling in Maryville, Blount County,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. After her parents had died, Law spent time in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, including four years in Hollister, San Benito County. While residing in Hollister Law visited Blount County and collected ethnological artefacts from a native American burial mound. These she donated to the Smithsonian Institution. She later resided at

Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self- ...

, Santa Cruz County, where she died on 12 January 1889.

Conchology

Law collected specimens in the mountainous regions of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and Tennessee. She corresponded with James Lewis, who published a paper describing her finds in the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

, and other papers formally describing the species she discovered. Species she discovered include the following, two of which were named in her honor: * '' Appalachina chilhoweensis'', previously known as '' Helix chilhoweensis'' (Lewis, 1874) * ''Helix lawii'' now known as '' Praticolella lawae'' (Lewis, 1874) * ''

Pleurobema oviforme ''Pleurobema oviforme'', the Tennessee clubshell, is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virgin ...

'' (Conrad, 1834), previously known as '' Unio lawi''

Lea Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

, 1871 * '' Vitrizonites latissima'', previously known as '' Vitrina latissima'' (J. Lewis, 1874) on Tusquita Bald Mountain, at an altitude of . * '' Zonites acerra'' (Lewis, 1874) * '' Zonites cerinoidea'' var. cuspidata (Lewis, 1875) *'' Zonites lawii''

Personal life

Conchology

References

Further reading