All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories
Tales for taphophiles of permanent residents of Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining.
Tue, April 15, 2025
Timothee Adamowski: The Idol of the Boston Pops
Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #043 Polish born violinist Timothee Adamowski was soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for many years and served as one of the first conductors of the Boston Pops Orchestra. For many years his name was romantically linked with that of famed Australian soprano Nellie Melba, but he surprised everyone when he married Gertrude Pancoast of a famed Philadelphia medical family. Timothee is interred in the Pancoast family plot at LHW.
Sun, April 06, 2025
ADM George W. Melville: The Doomed Jeannette Expedition
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #073, part 5 George W. Melville was the MacGyver of his day, seemingly creating something out of nothing when the situation called for it. As an engineer he was unsurpassed. He was one of only a few survivors of the ill-fated attempt to reach the North Pole by the ship Jeannette, captained by George DeLong. He then went back to recover the bodies of those who had been left behind. He has a statue at the Naval Yard and was twice painted by Thomas Eakins.
Sat, April 05, 2025
ADM Sylvanus Godon: Hanging "Lucky Nat" Gordon
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #073, part 5 Admiral Sylvanus William Godon spent his life in the Navy. The high point was probably the capture of the USS Erie with its cargo of 897 enslaved Africans. The captain of that ship, Nathaniel "Lucky Nat" Gordon, went to the gallows for his crime.
Fri, April 04, 2025
COM David Conner: Amphibious Landing at Vera Cruz
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #073, part 4 Commodore David Conner was responsible for the successful amphibious landing of 12,000 men at Vera Cruz during the Mexican American War. His presentation sword and two medals are on display in the Cincinnati Room of the Hill - Physick - Keith House, along with a fine portrait.
Thu, April 03, 2025
COM Isaac Hull and Old Ironsides
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #073, part 2 Isaac Hull was a lifelong sailor from a family of sailors. He is best remembered today for being commander of the USS Constitution when it captured HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812. Fellow tour guise Russell Dodge wrote this script and the life of this great seaman.
Wed, April 02, 2025
Introduction to the 19th Century US Navy
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #073, part 1 The United States tried very hard to not have a Navy. It wasn't until the early 19th century that congress realized the need for a fighting force on the water. Capture of American merchant ships by the Barbary pirates and corsairs with letters of marque forced congress to release funds to fortify the Navy. Eventually the United States Navy was second only to the Royal Navy of England. Commodore Isaac Hull was captain of the USS Constitution when it defeated RMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. Commodore David Conner worked with Army General Winfield Scott to arrange the massive successful amphibious landing at Veracruz during the Mexican American War, which led directly to the taking of Mexico City a few months later. Rear Admiral Sylvanus William Godon spent his life in the Navy and while a member of the African Squadron captured the slave ship Erie which led to the hanging of its skipper Nathaniel Gordon, the only man executed by the government for being in the slave trade. Admiral George Melville was another Navy lifer. After he led a group back to civilization in the aftermath of the wreck of the SS Jeanette , he stayed in long enough to reach the rank of admiral. All four of these men are buried at Laurel Hill East.
Tue, April 01, 2025
Four Naval Heroes: Isaac Hull, David Conner, Sylvanus Godon, and George W. Melville
Isaac Hull led USS Constitution to victory against HMS Guerriere in the early days of the War of 1812. Fellow tour guide Russ Dodge wrote this script but declined the opportunity to narrate it. David Conner worked with Winfield Scott to arrange the largest amphibious assault of the 19th century at Vera Cruz during the Mexican American War. While serving in the African Squadron, Sylvanus Godon captured the slave ship Erie , which led to the return of nearly 900 Africans to their home continent, and the hanging of “Lucky Nat” Gordon, the only man to be executed by the Government for buying and selling human beings. George W. Melville was a genius engineer and Arctic explorer who was among the survivors of the doomed USS Jeannette Polar mission in 1879-1881. Four men who spent their lives on the ocean and had startling tales to tell of their adventures in this month’s episode of All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #073 for April 2025 – Four Naval Heroes: Isaac Hull, David Conner, Sylvanus Godon, and George Melville.
Thu, March 20, 2025
Dorothy Burr Thompson & Pamela Burr: Prides of Bryn Mawr College
Biographical Bytes from Bala #042, section 5 Dorothy Burr Thompson ("DBT") was acknowledged as one of the best archeologists of her day. Her work of Hellenistic terra cottas has never been surpassed. Her younger sister Pamela Burr wrote a play while at Bryn Mawr that featured her classmate, Katharine Hepburn.
Wed, March 19, 2025
Anna Robeson Brown Burr: Prodigious Author
Biographical Bytes from Bala #042, section 4 Anna Robeson Burr Brown was an American writer of novels, poetry, stories, essays, and biographies. Her The Autobiography: A Critical and Comparative Study (1909), was the first book on the subject.
Tue, March 18, 2025
Henry Armitt Brown: The Finest Orator of His Generation
Biographical Bytes from Bala #042, section 3 Henry Armitt Brown became the finest orator of his generation, frequently compared to Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. His life was cut short only weeks after his greatest triumph.
Mon, March 17, 2025
Frederick Brown: Druggist and Cemetery Co-Founder
Biographical Bytes from Bala #042, section 2 Frederick Brown was a very successful druggist and a founder of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. When his friend John Jay Smith invited him to be a founder at Laurel Hill Cemetery, he accepted the offer.
Sun, March 16, 2025
Charles Brockden Brown: America's First Major Novelist
Biographical Bytes from Bala #042, section 1 Charles Brockden Brown is regarded by scholars as the most important American novelist before James Fenimore Cooper. His best-known works include Wieland and Edgar Huntly, both of which display his characteristic interest in Gothic themes. His works heavily influenced both Mary Bysshe Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe.
Sat, March 15, 2025
Five Generations at Laurel Hill
Charles Brockden Brown was American’s first successful novelist. his influence on Edgar Allen Poe was immeasurable. He has a cenotaph in the South section of Laurel Hill East. Charles' nephew Frederick Brown was a successful druggist because of his ginger root-based nostrums. He was also one of four co-founders of Laurel Hill Cemetery. Frederick's son Henry Armitt Brown was considered the best orator of his generation and often compared to Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Henry's daughter Anna Robeson Brown Burr was a highly successful author with more than two dozen books to her name, both fiction and nonfiction. Anna's daughter Dorothy Burr Thompson got her PhD from Bryn Mawr and was one of the best-known archeologists in the country. Pamela Burr, younger by 5 years, wrote a play which featured her Bryn Mawr classmate Katharine Hepburn. Frederick and Henry are buried at Laurel Hill East, while Anna, Dorothy, and Pamela are at Laurel Hill West.
Thu, March 06, 2025
Katherine Rotan Drinker and The Radium Girls (encore)
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #072, segment 5 A slight reworking of an earlier podcast about Cecil Kent Drinker, MD, (All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #041) now features his wife Katherine Rotan Drinker, MD, as they take on the investigation of "jaw rot" among young women who had worked as painters of luminescent watch dials.
Wed, March 05, 2025
Sarah Logan Wister Starr: The Iron Fist Who Saved the School
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #072, segment 4 By 1921, Women's Medical College was on the verge of failure. The new president Sarah Logan Wister Starr was a master fundraiser who treated Women's Medical School and its hospital as her private philanthropic project. She did save the school, but she infuriated both faculty and student body when she fired the popular professor of obstetrics and gynecology Alice Weld Tallant.
Tue, March 04, 2025
Charlotte Yhlen & Marie K. Formad: Strangers in a Strange Land
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #072 - Segment 3 In the mid-19th century, women from around the world flocked to Philadelphia in order to become physicians. Everyone has seen the Frederick Gutekunst photo of three medical students from India, Japan, and Syria. Charlotte Yhlen came from Sweden and became the first Scandinavian-born woman physician but couldn't get work in her home country so returned to the United States. Marie K. Formad was from Russia. She became one of the premiere gynecologic surgeons in the country. Drs. Yhlen and Formad are buried at Laurel Hill West.
Mon, March 03, 2025
William J. Mullen: The Prisoner's Friend and Female Medical College
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #072, segment 2 William J. Mullen was the first President of Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. He is remembered for his tireless philanthropic work among inmates at Moyamensing Prison and for his over-the-top grave marker in the south section of Laurel Hill East.
Sun, March 02, 2025
Founding the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania
From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #072, segment 1 With the help of several Quaker philanthropists, a medical school for women was chartered in 1850. Through the courage and strength of the founders and early graduates, it slowly grew into a respected medical school whose memory lives today through the Drexel University School of Medicine.
Sat, March 01, 2025
ABC072 Women's Medical College: Some Selected Stories
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #072 gives you a condensed history of Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. The entire podcast is available on March 1st. Each segment will be released as an individual recording in the days that follow. First, I will tell you about the founding of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850. Second, I will talk about William J. Mullen, the school’s first President and a major contributor. He is remembered today for his over-the-top grave marker at Laurel Hill East. Third, I will discuss the notable photograph of three women doctors in their traditional attire, followed by a discussion about Swedish immigrant Charlotte Yhlen and Russian immigrant Marie Formad. Fourth, I will tell you about the near-mortal wound suffered by Women’s Medical when their new president Sarah Logan Wister Starr butted heads with one of the top surgeons at the hospital, which led to the resignation of the entire surgical staff. And for dessert, if you missed it, is a slightly modified version of a podcast I did on Dr. Cecil Kent Drinker a few years ago, but now with the emphasis on his wife WMC graduate Dr. Katherine Rotan Drinker.
Sat, February 15, 2025
John W. Forney: Gadfly, Chameleon, Provocateur
Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #041 John W. Forney was a publisher, a politician, a railroad agent, and the only person to serve as both Clerk of the US House and Secretary of the US Senate. Abraham Lincoln befriended the man, but political enemies called Forney "Lincoln's dog." Andrew Johnson drank to excess at Forney’s Stag party the night before he was sworn in as Vice President and the two men later became bitter enemies. John W. Forney, political gadfly, chameleon, and provocateur is interred in the River Section of Laurel Hill West along with several members of his fascinating family. You will hear about all of them in the February 2025 episode of Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories.
Wed, February 05, 2025
Jack Jones: Pioneering TV Anchor
ABC#071, segment 4 John Claver "Jack" Jones was a Philadelphian through-and-through - West Catholic High School, La Salle University. He was befriended by TV announcer John Facenda who got him hired at a local TV station. Jack rose to be evening anchor but died far too young.
Tue, February 04, 2025
Judge Doris May Harris: Pioneer in Children's Court
All Bones Considered #071, segment 3 Doris May Harris was a summa cum laude graduate of Howard University who was the third Black woman to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She went on to a long and distinguished career on the bench and introduced novel approaches to the punishment and rehabilitation of teen offenders.
Mon, February 03, 2025
Florence DaVida Johnson-Reid: Reaching a Pinnacle in Black Education
ABC#071, segment 2 Florence daVida "Videe" Howard Johnson-Reid steadily worked her way up the ladder of education until she was Dean of Graduate Studies at Cheyney University, whose history dates back to 1837 and the Institute for Colored Youth. Learn about the evolution of education for Philadelphia's African American citizens and more.
Sun, February 02, 2025
Lynwood Blount: Bootstraps Judge, Hospital Director
ABC#071, part 1 Lynwood Blount was a municipal judge who worked his way to the top, including night law school at Temple. He was elected judge after a successful 20-year law career. He was also President of Mercy-Douglass Hospital during its waning years. He did not suffer fools lightly. Along the way he picked up the nickname "Count Blount." He also served as President of Mercy-Douglass Hospital in its final days, so you can learn about medical education for African American Philadelphia residents.
Sat, February 01, 2025
ABC#071 Black History Month for 2025: Four More Stories
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #071 for February 2025 - complete Judge Lynwood Blount became a lawyer by going to night school and rose to be a judge in the Philadelphia criminal justice system. His manner and authoritative presence earned him the nickname “Count Blount.” Florence DeVida Johnson-Reid came through the ranks to become Dean of Graduate Education and Continuing Education at Cheyney University, but her life was tragically cut short by cancer. Judge Doris May Harris was only the third Black woman to graduate from Penn Law and became one of the most popular – and controversial – juvenile court judges in the city. Jack Jones was a devout Roman Catholic from West Philadelphia who wanted to grow up to be famed announcer John Facenda. With Facenda’s help, Jones got an early start in a career in broadcast news that ended with him being the first Black anchorperson on local news. He too died tragically young from cancer. These four, plus information about the legal system in Philadelphia, the education of African American children in Philadelphia since the 1830s, the evolution of Black lawyers in Philadelphia, and the city's Black Roman Catholic population.
Sat, January 18, 2025
Herb Lusk: The Praying Tailback
BBB040, part 3 Herb Lusk was a running back who developed the habit of dropping to a knee and uttering a brief prayer after he scored a touchdown. He brought this habit with him to the pros and then quit after three seasons to become a very successful Baptist preacher. He was awarded a Super Bowl ring 39 years after he retired.
Fri, January 17, 2025
Nate Ramsey: #24 for the Eagles
BBB070, part 2 Nate Ramsey played nine years with some pretty mediocre Eagle teams but was voted by fans as the best Eagle to ever wear uniform #24. The problem was his legal difficulties, which plagued him before, after, and during his career.
Thu, January 16, 2025
M. Roy "Slab" Jackson: Football, Dogs, Horses, and a Rockefeller
BBB070-part 1 Mac Roy "Slab" Jackson played college ball on one of the best Penn teams ever, then joined a professional league in Western Pennsylvania where he led a local team to a national championship. He is best remembered today for his skills in dog breeding and horsemanship.
Wed, January 15, 2025
Hut!Hut! Hut!: Three Professional Football Players
Biographical Bytes from Bala #040 Mac Roy Jackson played college ball on one of the best Penn teams ever, then joined a professional league in Western Pennsylvania where he led a local team to a national championship. He may be better remembered as a master of the hounds and a judge of horse flesh. Nate Ramsey played nine years with some pretty mediocre Eagle teams but was voted by fans as their favorite Eagle to ever wear uniform #24. The problem was his legal difficulties, which plagued him before, after, and during his career. Herb Lusk was a running back who developed the habit of dropping to a knee and uttering a brief prayer after he scored a touchdown. He brought this habit with him to the pros and then quit after three seasons to become a very successful Baptist preacher. He was given a Super Bowl ring 39 years after his retirement. All three of these men are interred at Laurel Hill West.
Tue, January 14, 2025
COL Richard Henry Rush: From West Point to Lancers
ABC 2025 bonus episode Happy 200th birthday Richard H. Rush, born February 12, 1825. Richard’s grandfathers Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton both signed the Declaration of Independence. Richard’s father served as a cabinet member under three presidents and unsuccessfully ran for Vice President in 1828. Richard attended the US Military Academy at West Point. When the Civil War started, Richard mustered and led from his Germantown neighbors the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, better known as “Rush’s Lancers.” Military historian and fellow tour guide Russ Dodge did the research and writing on this, but declined a chance to record it himself, so you'll hear me.
Mon, January 06, 2025
Henry Charles Lea: He Expected the Spanish Inquisition
ABC#070, part Henry Charles Lea was a publisher, researcher, and author, who wrote the definitive history of the Spanish Inquisition. His grave marker was sculpted by Alexander Stirling Calder and is one of the most photographed monuments on the property. This is a partial rerun of #ABC018 - The Calder Connection
Sun, January 05, 2025
John Roh: Death by Inferno
ABC070, part 5 John Roh was an inpatient at the Blockley Almshouse in 1885 when a fire raced through his wing and killed more than a score of male psychiatric patients who were locked in their cells. John Roh was one of the victims of that tragedy, and we’re pretty sure he is interred in the family plot at Laurel Hill East.
Sat, January 04, 2025
Laura Matilda Towne: Teaching the Least Fortunate
ABC070, part 3 Laura Matilda Towne was an abolitionist who studied homeopathic medicine and became an instructor for recently freed enslaved Africans on the islands off South Carolina. It turned into her life’s work for the next 30+ years.
Fri, January 03, 2025
Edwin Fitler: The Emperor of Rope
ABC070, part 2 Edwin Henry Fitler made his fortune in rope at a time when Philadelphia had one of the busiest shipyards in the country. He was the first Philadelphia mayor to establish his office at City Hall in the years it was being completed. Fitler is namesake for Fitler Square and his obelisk is the tallest at Laurel Hill East.
Thu, January 02, 2025
Thomas Craycroft: For Love of His Fellow Man
ABC070, part 1 Thomas Craycroft was a medical student who volunteered to help in the 1855 Yellow Fever epidemic in Norfolk, Virginia. He was one of 15 Philadelphians who died during that mission of mercy but whose remains are now interred under the Yellow Fever monument at Laurel Hill East.
Wed, January 01, 2025
Happy 200th Birthdays!
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #070 - Happy 200th Birthdays! Thomas Craycroft was a medical student who volunteered to help in the1855 Yellow Fever epidemic in Norfolk, Virginia. He was one of 15 Philadelphians who died during that mission of mercy but whose remains are now interred under the Yellow Fever monument at Laurel Hill East. Edwin Henry Fitler made his fortune in rope at a time when Philadelphia had one of the busiest shipyards in the country. He was the first Philadelphia mayor to establish his office at City Hall in the years it was being completed. Fitler is namesake for Fitler Square and his obelisk is the tallest at Laurel Hill East. Laura Matilda Towne was an abolitionist who studied homeopathic medicine and became an instructor for recently freed enslaved Africans on the islands off South Carolina. It turned into her life’s work for the next 30+ years. John Roh was an inpatient at the Blockley Almshouse in 1885 when a fire raced through his wing, killing more than a score of male psychiatric patients who were locked in their cells. John Roh was one of the victims of that tragedy, and we’re pretty sure he is interred in the family lot at Laurel Hill East. Henry Charles Lea was a publisher, researcher, and author, who wrote the definitive history of the Spanish Inquisition. His grave marker was sculpted by Alexander Stirling Calder and is one of the most photographed monuments on the property.
Sun, December 15, 2024
Rev. Henry Winter Syle: Deaf Scholar, Preacher, Episcopal Saint
Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #039 for mid-December 2024 Henry Winter Syle went deaf as a child and soon abandoned speech. He used American Sign Language and the written word to share his ideas with the deaf world, many of whom had been excluded from religious ceremonies for centuries because it was thought they could not enter heaven. Although Syle's career was cut short by an early death, he is recognized as a saint of the Episcopal Church, with a feast day on August 26th shared with another pioneer of teaching the deaf Thomas Gallaudet. Syle is interred in the shadow of the Betz mausoleum in the Summit Section of Laurel Hill West.
Fri, December 06, 2024
Charlotte Drake Cardeza: The Best Suite on the Ship (by Lora Lewis)
ABC #069, segment 5 (by Lora Lewis) Charlotte Cardeza may be the model for every privileged, self-indulgent rich woman on the Titanic , what with her steamer trunks full of designer gowns, exotic furs, and precious jewelry. She hired the biggest suite on the ship and made certain that her son and maid were in the lifeboat with her. Her inventory of lost items ran to 20 pages. Her mausoleum at Laurel Hill West is unforgettable.
Thu, December 05, 2024
Gretchen Longley: The Prettiest Girl on the Ship
ABC #069, segment 4 Gretchen Longley was orphaned while young and raised by two aunts, who accompanied her to Europe in the Spring of 1912 to help her choose her bridal trousseau. Their return trip on the RMS Titanic gave Gretchen stories she would tell for the rest of her life.
Wed, December 04, 2024
Lily & Olive Potter: Mother-Daughter Survivors (by Savanna Fisher)
ABC #069, segment 3 (by Savanna Fisher ) Lily Potter was trying to forget her grief since the death of her husband. Her daughter Olive was in a troubled marriage and soon to be divorced. They decided to relax and forget their cares while taking an ocean voyage on the RMS Titanic . Their plans did not turn out as they anticipated.
Tue, December 03, 2024
Eleanor Widener Rice: She Lost Her Husband and Son (by Lora Lewis)
ABC #069, segment 2 Eleanor Elkins Widener was one of the wealthiest people on the Titanic. She watched helplessly from a lifeboat as the mighty ocean liner went down, taking her husband George and son Harry with it. Her second marriage was to an Amazonian explorer whom she met at the dedication of a Harvard library named for her son.
Mon, December 02, 2024
Introduction to The Deep Blue
ABC #069, segment 1 The great tragedies of the sea are innumerable - literally millions of wrecks litter the floors of oceans, lakes, seas, and rivers, and innumerable victims have ended up in Davey Jones' Locker. Laurel Hill East has a cenotaph for three victims - a mother and two daughters - from the Austria disaster in 1858, which saw a loss of 448 passengers and crew. Laurel Hill West has a cenotaph for a brother and sister lost on the SS La Bourgogne in 1898, amid-Atlantic collision that saw 562 people die. The RMS Titanic proved not as unsinkable as people thought. This introductory section gives you some specifics about the ship and the people involved. After learning about the boat in this segment, you will learn about the individual women who survived and their triumphs and tragedies along the way.
Sun, December 01, 2024
Six Women of the R.M.S. Titanic
When the R.M.S. Titanic struck an iceberg in April of 1912, about 250 of the 1300 passengers were from the United States. While people with well-known names like Strauss, Guggenheim, Astor, and Widener were aboard the ship, it was primarily the women and children who were saved. Six men and six women of Laurel Hill were among the passengers. All of the women survived. It is their stories we tell of in this episode of All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories. I will tell of other oceanic disasters and give you the basic information about the Titanic. Fellow Laurel Hill Guide Lora Lewis will tell you about Eleanor Elkins Widener Rice and Charlotte Cardeza, two rich and powerful women who became legendary. Lora will also briefly cover Charlotte's maid Annie Ward, also interred at Laurel Hill West. Young taphophile Savanna Fisher wanted to tell you about her favorite women onboard, Lily Potter and her daughter Olive. I will tell you about Gretchen Longley, who had gone to Europe with two aunts in order to select her wedding wardrobe. The sinking delayed her marriage by a year.
Fri, November 15, 2024
Waldo E. "Bill" Nelson & The Green Bible of Pediatrics
Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #038 Waldo E. Nelson preferred to be called Bill. After he studied under pediatrics pioneer Graeme Mitchell at Cincinnati, he was recruited to Temple University School of Medicine in 1940 to begin a pediatrics department. The next year, he took over editorship of Mitchell’s textbook, which became the ubiquitous Nelson’s Pediatrics, now in its 21st edition. You will learn more about Dr. Nelson and the development and growth of Pediatric medicine in the United States in this episode of Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #038 – Waldo E. “Bill” Nelson and the “green bible” of pediatrics.
Mon, November 04, 2024
Thomas Leiper: Entrepreneur, Soldier, Inventor, Statesman
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #068, Part 2, Section 3 Thomas Leiper was a Scottish immigrant who built the first permanent railroad in the United States and made his fortune in snuff. As a founding member of First City Troop, he served as personal bodyguard for General George Washington, and led his troops to rescue Congressman James Wilson during the so-called "Crisis at Fort Wilson". Thomas Jefferson rented a room from Leiper while he was serving as Secretary of State, and the two men exchanged letters for the rest of their lives.
Sun, November 03, 2024
Thomas McKean: Last to Sign the Declaration
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #068 - Friends of Thomas Jefferson, Part 2, Section 1 - Thomas McKean Thomas McKean served multiple roles in colonial days – president of Delaware, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, President of the United States Congress, and Governor of Pennsylvania, among others. Although his efforts in 1776 were what made the Declaration unanimous, he was the last man to sign that historic document.
Sat, November 02, 2024
Charles Thomson: Wegh-wu-law-mo-end - The Man Who Tells the Truth
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #068 - Friends of Thomas Jefferson, Part 2, Section 1 - Charles Thomson Charles Thomson was the man who knew where all the bodies were buried. During his 15 years as Secretary of the Continental Congress, he quietly ran the colonies and the country efficiently and effectively, and kept meticulous notes, which he later destroyed. He designed the Great Seal of the United States and personally notified George Washington that he had been elected President. His late-life dementia horrified Jefferson and others who had seen him function at his peak.
Fri, November 01, 2024
Friends of Thomas Jefferson, Part 2: Charles Thomson, Thomas McKean, Thomas Leiper
Charles Thomson was the Founding Father who served as secretary of the Continental Congress during its 15 years. Along with John Hancock, his signature graced the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Thomson also designed the Great Seal of the United States. After his initial burial at the family homestead Harriton in Bryn Mawr, his remains were transferred to Laurel Hill. Thomas McKean served multiple roles in colonial days – president of Delaware, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, President of the United States Congress, and Governor of Pennsylvania, among others. Although his efforts in 1776 were what made the Declaration unanimous, he was the last man to sign that historic document. Thomas Leiper was a successful tobacco importer who built the first railroad in Pennsylvania on his property at Nether Township. As a founding member of the First City Troop, he fought with the Patriots at the Battles of Princeton, Trenton, Germantown, and Brandywine. His personal wealth helped to subsidize the siege of Yorktown. He and Thomas Jefferson exchanged hundreds of letters. All three of these men died before Laurel Hill opened in 1836, but they were all friends of Thomas Jefferson who eventually ended up at Laurel Hill Cemetery. I did the research on Thomson & McKean, while the script for Thomas Leiper was written by fellow tour guide Peter Howell.
Tue, October 15, 2024
John T. Greble: First of Thousands to Die
Biographical Bytes from Bala #037 John Trout Greble was a Philadelphian descended from colonial pioneers on both sides of his family. He graduated with honors from Central High School and to the shock of many, this delicate young man chose a career in the military. After he graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854, he spent time in Florida during the Seminole displacement of Trail of Tears, before he taught ethics at West Point and married the chaplain’s daughter. His first taste of war was as leader of artillery at the Battle of Big Bethel in Southern Virginia in June 1861 where he was killed in action – the first West Point graduate to fall in the American Civil War. Lt Greble is interred in the Merion Section of Laurel Hill West.
Thu, October 03, 2024
H.H. Furness, the Seybert Commission, and Grilling Mediums
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #067, Part 2 Spiritualism was a belief system that involved communication with the dead. Philadelphia gentleman Adam Seybert was a true believer and wanted others to believe. He left money in his will to establish a department at Penn to prove his point. The committee was headed by Shakespearean scholar Horace Howard Furness and featured many Philadelphia notables. The real fun started when they interviewed Maggie Fox, one of the founders of spiritualism. Researched and read by Patricia Rose
Tue, October 01, 2024
Walter Hubbell & The Great Amherst Mystery
ABC#067, part 1 Walter Hubbell was a Philadelphia-born actor who would probably be forgotten today were it not for the Great Amherst Mystery , a book he wrote about Esther Cox, a young woman seemingly possessed by evil spirits which started after she suffered a failed sexual assault at gunpoint by a young man she trusted. Esther's nightmarish experiences affected not only her, but the people with whom she lived: she was even temporarily jailed as an arsonist when a neighbor's barn burned to the ground. Walter Hubbell learned about Esther when his traveling troop ventured into the Maritimes. He thought that he could debunk the stories. Instead, he became a convert and wrote about it. Years later, much of what he wrote was debunked by a psychic skeptic. The whole story is mesmerizing.
Sun, September 15, 2024
William, Edward, & George Vare: The Dukes of South Philadelphia
Biographical Bytes from Bala #036: William, Edward & George Vare: The Dukes of South Philadelphia The Vare brothers grew up unschooled, slopping hogs and hawking vegetables in "The Neck", the poorest section of Philadelphia. They got into trash collection and within a few years were scooping up city contracts by the armful. They grew rich and powerful along the way and eventually even collected a kickback from the mayor. All three Vare brothers are interred at Laurel Hill West. Historian, author, and fellow Laurel Hill Tour Guide Thomas Keels tells you their story.
Sat, September 07, 2024
Emory R. Johnson and the Panama Canal
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 4 Emory Richard Johnson was the only Professor of Transportation and Commerce in the United States when he was asked to come up with a payment schedule for people using the Panama Canal. His methods were used for more than half a century.
Fri, September 06, 2024
Charles Day and the Panama Canal
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 3 Charles Day was a master builder. His Philadelphia firm Day & Zimmerman was first to pour concrete at the massive Culebra locks, which worked perfectly from day one.
Thu, September 05, 2024
Lewis M Haupt and the Panama Canal
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 2 Lewis Haupt was son of famed railroad Engineer Herman Haupt (see Biographical Bytes from Bala #10: Lincoln's Railroad Man ). Lewis became a civil engineer who was skeptical about a canal across Panama but joined the working committee when he was invited.
Wed, September 04, 2024
John Cresson Trautwine and the Panama Canal
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 1 John Cresson Trautwine was a civil engineer who wrote what became the definitive Engineer's Handbook which was standard text for decades; he also predicted that it would be impossible to build a canal through Panama.
Tue, September 03, 2024
Rudolph Hering & Reversing the Chicago River
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066, Pushing Water, Section 2 Rudolph Hering was son of the famed homeopath Constantine Hering. He became such as expert on hydraulic engineering that he was invited to Chicago to assist with their drinking water problem, and he helped them reverse the river.
Mon, September 02, 2024
Frederick Graff and Watering Philadelphia
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066, Pushing Water, Section 1 Frederick Graff was a civil engineer / architect who quickly learned the principles of hydraulics when he was tagged to set up the water supply for Philadelphia. He became a master of his craft.
Sun, September 01, 2024
ABC066 Frederick Graff, Rudolph Hering, John C. Trautwine, Lewis Haupt, Charles Day, Emory R. Johnson: Pushing Water, Part 1
All Bones Considered #066: Pushing Water Frederick Graff took over from Benjamin Latrobe to develop the Philadelphia Water Works Rudolph Hering was summoned to Chicago to help them with their drinking water problem and helped them reverse the flow of the Chicago River John C. Trautwine is remembered for his book, called "The Engineer's Bible," and for predicting a canal could never be built across Panama Lewis Haupt was another doubter, although he served on the Panama Committee Charles Day Philadelphia company of Day & Zimmerman laid the first concrete at the famed Culebra Locks Emory Richard Johnson was the only man in the world with the training to figure out an appropriate fee schedule for the Canal; his formulas were used for more than half a century
Sun, August 25, 2024
WALKING TOUR OF LAUREL HILL WEST from Barmouth to Pencoyd
If you have walked or ridden your bike through West Laurel Hill Cemetery from the entrance just off the Cynwyd Trail all the way to the Pencoyd exit on Righter’s Ferry Road, you have probably passed dozens of mausoleums and gravesites that you had questions about. Now there’s an audio narration to help you quench your curiosity. It is done by Joe Lex, the same person who researches and narrates Laurel Hill’s twice-monthly podcasts “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories” and “Biographical Bytes from Bala: West Laurel Hill Stories.” Find out about William Luden, inventor of the mentholated cough drop; Charles Harrah, who made his fortune in Brazil; Eldridge Reeves Johnson, inventor of the Victrola, and many more. And at long last, you can discover the mystery of “Cocktails at Six.” The tour covers only people interred on the right-hand side of the road and takes about 40 minutes. Look for its companion audio covering the other side from Pencoyd back to Barmouth in a few months.
Sun, August 25, 2024
WALKING TOUR OF LAUREL HILL WEST from Pencoyd to Barmouth
Your walk or ride from the Righters Ferry entrance to the Barmouth entrance at the Cynwyd Heritage Trail is less than a mile, but you pass scores of grave markers and dozens of mausoleums, most with stained glass. This 47-minute narration gives you mini-biographies of more than 50 people who have resting places you pass along the route. They are captains of industry, philanthropists, teachers, physicians, artists, and others who helped shaped the history of Philadelphia. This narrative is a complement to another recording that guides you from the Barmouth Entrance back to the Righters Ferry entrance, also available wherever you find your podcasts.
Thu, August 15, 2024
William M. Meredith: U.S. Poet Laureate
Biographical Bytes from Bala #035 William Morris Meredith, Jr., described himself as a "B+ poet who has written a few A+ poems". Despite his modesty, his poetry was recognized as some of the best in post-WWII America. He served for two years as US Poet Laureate and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He is interred at Laurel Hill West.
Mon, August 05, 2024
Richard Burr: Poster Child for Wartime Embalmers
All Bones Considered #065 - Part 4 Richard Burr was a Civil War surgeon who found there was more money in "treating" the dead and became an embalmer. Photographer Matthew Brady immortalized him with a battlefield photo. This is section 4 of All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #065 - Fathers and Mothers of American Medicine, Part 4. You can find plenty of other stories about American medical pioneers in earlier episodes.
Sun, August 04, 2024
Anna Lukens and the She Doctor Panic of 1869
All Bones Considered #065 - Part 3 In 1869, Anna Lukens was one of the 30+ medical students from Women's Medical College who inadvertently caused an uproar when they showed up at the weekly clinics. Despite having permission to be there and purchasing tickets, their mere presence caused a riot among the "gentlemen". I am experimenting with short form. I will continue to post the monthly long-form podcast on the 1st and 15th, but I will also start making available the individual people as separate recordings.
Sat, August 03, 2024
Thomas Story Kirkbride: An Architect for Madness
All Bones Considered #065 - Part 2 Thomas Kirkbride trained as a surgeon but developed an interest in madness during his training. His blueprint for asylums became the standard for nearly a century. This is one of four people I talk about in All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #65 - Fathers and Mothers of American Medicine, Part 4. You will find many other stories about Philadelphia medical pioneers in Parts 1, 2, and 3.
Fri, August 02, 2024
John Rhea Barton and Surgical Innovation
All Bones Considered #065 - Part 1 John Rhea Barton was a student of Philip Syng Physick who carried on his reputation as an innovative and bold surgeon in the early 19th century. An excerpt from the podcast "Fathers (and Mothers) of American Medicine, Part 4.
Thu, August 01, 2024
ABC065 John Rhea Barton, Thomas Storey Kirkbride, Anna Lukens, Richard Burr: Fathers and Mothers of American Medicine, Part 4
John Rhea Barton was a master surgeon who has both a fracture and a professorship named for him. Thomas Story Kirkbride wanted to take Barton’s role, but instead got interested in caring for the mentally ill at a time when a new philosophy was being introduced. Kirkbride asylums became the standard of care for many decades. Anna Lukens was among the students from Women’s Medical College who were verbally and physically assaulted after an attempt at coeducational clinical teaching at Pennsylvania Hospital ended up in the “She Doctor Panic of 1869”. Richard Burr inadvertently became the poster child for Civil War embalmers when Matthew Brady captured his likeness while he was doing a battlefield procedure. If you like what you hear, please leave a review and check out Fathers and Mothers of American Medicine, parts 1, 2, and 3
Thu, July 18, 2024
Katherine "Kitty" Hershey: Temporary Residency
Biographical Bytes from Bala #034, Part 3 Milton Hershey's beloved wife Kitty died in a Philadelphia hotel room and spent nearly three years in a receiving vault at Laurel Hill West until a new cemetery was built in Hershey as her final resting place.
Wed, July 17, 2024
Franklin Baker: Sublime with the Coconut
Biographical Bytes from Bala, #034, part 2 Grain merchant Franklin Baker once received a load of coconut as payment for a boatload of grain. Baker turned this serendipitous occurrence into a lifetime of working with coconut, such that the name “Baker’s” is almost synonymous with coconuts.
Tue, July 16, 2024
Henry Oscar Wilbur: Buds vs. Kisses
Biographical Bytes from Bala #034, Part 1 Henry Oscar Wilbur was a Philadelphia chocolatier who was probably most famous for his small chocolate pieces with his name on the bottom. He called them Wilbur Buds and offered a spirited competition to Milton Hershey’s Kisses.
Mon, July 15, 2024
Henry Oscar Wilbur, Franklin Baker, Katherine "Kitty" Hershey: Sweet Tooth, part 1
Biographical Bytes from Bala #034 - COMPLETE Almost everybody loves chocolate. Henry Oscar Wilbur was a Philadelphia chocolatier who was probably most famous for his small chocolate pieces with his name on the bottom. He called them Wilbur Buds and offered a spirited competition to Milton Hershey’s Kisses. Although Hershey is not buried locally, his beloved wife Kitty spent nearly three years in a receiving vault until a new cemetery was built in Hershey as her final resting place. Grain merchant Franklin Baker once received a load of coconut as payment for a boatload of grain. Baker turned this serendipitous occurrence into a lifetime of working with coconut, such that the name “Baker’s” is almost synonymous with coconuts. You’ll hear about these three Laurel Hill West residents - two permanent, one temporary - in this episode of Biographical Bytes from Bala #034 – Sweet Tooth: Wilbur, Baker, Hershey.
Fri, July 05, 2024
Donald Fithian Lippincott: Surprising Medalist at Stockholm
All Bones Considered #064, Part 4 The Olympics are here. If you missed it the first time, here’s an opportunity to learn about some Olympiads interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Donald Fithian Lippincott surprised everyone, including himself, when he took both a bronze and a silver in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. And don’t forget All Bones Considered #029: The Zany Games about Laurel Hill residents at 1900’s Olympiad II in Paris. https://jrlexjr.podbean.com/e/olympiad-ii-paris-1900/ or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thu, July 04, 2024
Ted Meredith: The Fastest Schoolboy in the Country
All Bones Considered #064, Part 3 The Olympics are here. If you missed it the first time, here’s an opportunity to learn about some Olympiads interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery. James Edwin “Ted” Meredith was the fastest schoolboy in the country and broke every distance running record from 100 meters to 1 mile; his Gold in the 1912 Olympics was for the 4 x 400-meter relay. And don’t forget All Bones Considered #029: The Zany Games about Laurel Hill residents in 1900’s Olympiad II in Paris. https://jrlexjr.podbean.com/e/olympiad-ii-paris-1900/ or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Wed, July 03, 2024
Jervis Watson Burdick and the Stockholm Games
All Bones Considered #064, Part 2 The Olympics are here. If you missed it the first time, here’s an opportunity to learn about some Olympiads interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Jervis Watson Burdick was a UPenn student member of the Sphinx Club and the Canteen Club who competed in the1912 Olympics but did not medal. You will learn about four athletes along with the jumbled letters of the AC4A, the AAU, the NCAA, and the IAAF on this month’s edition of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Four More Olympians from 1904 to 1912.”
Tue, July 02, 2024
Lawson "Robbie" Robertson: Coach Extraordinaire
All Bones Considered #064, Part 1 The Olympics are here. If you missed it the first time, here’s an opportunity to learn about some Olympiads interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Lawson “Robbie” Robertson won medals in the Intercalated Games of 1906 in Athens and went on to become head coach of the University of Pennsylvania track and field team. He took them back to the Olympics several more times. You will learn about four athletes along with the jumbled letters of the AC4A, the AAU, the NCAA, and the IAAF on this month’s edition of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Four More Olympians from 1904 to 1912.”
Mon, July 01, 2024
ABC#064 Four More Olympians from 1904 to 1912
An earlier episode of All Bones Considered covered the 1900 Paris Olympiad and some Laurel Hill residents who participated. This month features four more Olympians from the early 20th century. Lawson “Robbie” Robertson won medals in the Intercalated Games of 1906 in Athens and went on to become head coach of the University of Pennsylvania track and field team. He took them back to the Olympics several more times. Jervis Watson Burdick was a UPenn student member of the Sphinx Club and the Canteen Club who competed in the1912 Olympics but did not medal. James Edwin “Ted” Meredith was the fastest schoolboy in the country and broke every distance running record from 100 meters to 1 mile; his Gold in the 1912 Olympics was for the 4 x 400-meter relay. And Donald Fithian Lippincott surprised everyone, including himself, when he won a silver and a bronze in 1912. You will learn about these four athletes along with the jumbled letters of the AC4A, the AAU, the NCAA, and the IAAF on this month’s edition of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Four More Olympians from 1904 to 1912.”
Sat, June 15, 2024
Abram Winegardner Harris: A Forgotten Educator
Biographical Bytes from Bala #033 Abram Winegardner Harris was one of the top educators in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After he was schooled in Philadelphia and spent time with the Department of Agriculture, he served as president of the land grant school in Orono when it became the University of Maine. While there he helped establish the first general studies academic fraternity Phi Kappa Phi. Then he spent a few years at a private secondary boarding school in Maryland where he established the Cum Laude Society for secondary school scholars. Next stop: Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he was responsible for a massive expansion of the entire campus – gymnasium, stadium, science center, and much more. A tradition he began in 1916 continues more than a century later. Harris is interred under a simple, tasteful stone next to the road in the River section of Laurel Hill West. It identifies him simply as “SCHOLAR / TEACHER / LEADER / FRIEND".
Wed, June 05, 2024
George Henry Boker: The Playwright Who Fixed Everything
ABC #063 - Part 4 George Henry Boker was one of Philadelphia’s most accomplished men – poet, playwright, politician, and co-founder of the Union League. He also solidified copyright laws in the United States so creators could be fairly paid. Oh – he was also minister to Turkey and Russia.
Tue, June 04, 2024
Robert Taylor Conrad: Mayor and Playwright
ABC #063 - Part 3 Robert Taylor Conrad was a polymath whose writing was praised by Edgar Allen Poe and whose play Aylmere , or Jack Cade became another favorite of Edwin Forrest’s. He also served as Mayor of Philadelphia at the time of consolidation.
Mon, June 03, 2024
Robert Montgomery Bird: Edwin Forrest & The Gladiator
ABC #063 - Part 2 Robert Montgomery Bird was a physician who wrote a play for Edwin Forrest that became the basis for plays and movies into the 21st century. Forrest became rich, while Bird became an embittered man.
Sun, June 02, 2024
Richard Penn Smith: Inventing Davy Crockett
ABC #063 - Part 1 Richard Penn Smith wrote more than 20 plays but is best remembered today for inventing much of what we know as the legend of Davy Crockett.
Sat, June 01, 2024
ABC#063 Richard Penn Smith, Robert Montgomery Bird, Robert Taylor Conrad, George Henry Boker: Curtain Up! Four Early Philadelphia Playwrights
Americans struggled to establish their own identity as they separated from the British in the early 19th century. It was a time of blossoming for American theater and its playwrights, despite their receiving little honor and even less compensation. Richard Penn Smith wrote more than 20 plays but is best remembered today for inventing much of what we know as the legend of Davy Crockett. Robert Montgomery Bird, MD, was a physician who wrote a play for Edwin Forrest that became the basis for plays and movies into the 21st century; Forrest became rich, while Bird became an embittered man. Robert Taylor Conrad was a polymath whose writing was praised by Edgar Allen Poe and whose play Aylmere, or Jack Cade became another favorite of Edwin Forrest’s. He also served as Mayor of Philadelphia at the time of consolidation. George Henry Boker was one of Philadelphia’s most accomplished men – poet, playwright, politician, and co-founder of the Union League. He also solidified copyright laws in the United States so creators could be fairly paid. Oh – he was also minister to Turkey and Russia. All four of these men are interred at Laurel Hill East and are little remembered today except by admirers and historians. I tell their stories in this episode of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Curtain Up! Four Philadelphia Playwrights”.
Wed, May 15, 2024
Philadelphia's Jazz Lodestar: Dennis Sandole
Biographical Bytes from Bala #032 Dennis Sandole was one of the best kept secrets in jazz. Born Dionigi Sandoli in South-Philadelphia-born, his teaching techniques were sought by Art Farmer, James Moody, Benny Golson, Jim Hall, and especially John Coltrane, who became his most famous student. Coltrane spent hours practicing daily to master the material that The Maestro gave him and turn it into his own sound, which eventually became “Sheets of Sound” and then “Coltrane Changes”. Sandole rarely recorded or performed live but he was revered by those who studied under him. He is interred in the Mausoleum of Peace just a few feet from Disc Jockey Jocko Henderson on the other side of Righters Ferry Road.
Sat, May 04, 2024
J.B. Lippincott: Lippincott's Magazine
ABC #062 - Part 3 Joshua Ballinger Lippincott was a late comer with his Lippincott’s magazine, but it lasted longer than the others and served as the bedrock for the famed Lippincott Publishing Company which went through several generations of family leadership.
Fri, May 03, 2024
Charles Jacob Peterson and Peterson's Magazine
ABC #062 - Part 2 Charles Peterson was a lifelong friend of Graham who started his own magazine and was ready to hand it off to his son, Howard, who mysteriously disappeared during a weekend trip down the shore. What his wife did at the time of her death 31 years later will touch your heart.
Thu, May 02, 2024
George Rex Graham and Graham's Magazine
ABC #062 - Part 1 Of the 19th century magazines out of Philadelphia, Graham’s was the best, even though it only lasted a few years. George Rex Graham would wheedle articles out of Longfellow and Thoreau and published many stories by his co-editor Edgar Allan Poe.
Wed, May 01, 2024
ABC#062 Three More Philadelphia Magazines: Graham's, Peterson's, and Lippincott's
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #062 (complete) Philadelphia has always been the magazine-publishing capital of the United States. It reached its pinnacle in the 1840s, 50s, and 60s when three popular magazines – Graham’s, Peterson's, and Lippincott's - all came into existence. Graham’s was the best, even though it only lasted a few years. George Rex Graham would wheedle articles out of Longfellow and Thoreau and published many stories by his co-editor Edgar Allan Poe. Peterson’s magazine followed shortly and lasted a few years longer. Charles Peterson was a lifelong friend of Graham who started his own magazine and was ready to hand it off to his son, Howard, who mysteriously disappeared during a weekend trip down the shore. What his wife did at the time of her death 31 years later will touch your heart. Joshua Ballinger Lippincott was a late comer with his Lippincott’s magazine, but it lasted longer than the others and served as the bedrock for the famed Lippincott Publishing Company which went through several generations of family leadership.
Mon, April 15, 2024
Gladys Hall & Russell Ball: Glamourizing Early Hollywood
Biographical Bytes from Bala #031 It wasn’t long after movies became ubiquitous in America that movie fan magazine appeared. Eventually there would be more than 20 of them. Gladys Hall had a stellar reputation as a “safe” interviewer who could be depended on to tell a good story without any scandal. Her interview with Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi is one of the strangest things you could imagine. She was married to glamour photographer Russell Ball, remembered today for his classic portraits of Louise Brooks, Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, and Gloria Swanson, who used Ball as her private photographer. Gladys Hall and Russell Ball are interred in an unmarked grave in the Lansdowne Section of Laurel Hill East.
Fri, April 05, 2024
Pete Childs: No, Not That One
ABC #061 - Part 4 Pete Childs (not "Cupid" and definitely not "Pierce") was a fine 2nd baseman who served in that role for the 1902 Phillies. It was while serving as player-manager for an Ohio League team that he pulled the unfathomable feat of throwing one pitch as a reliever and getting three out.
Thu, April 04, 2024
Jack McFetridge: Super Amateur, So-So Pro
ABC #061 - Part 3 Jack McFetridge was the best amateur pitcher in Philadelphia for years before he went pro. He wasn’t that good.
Wed, April 03, 2024
Cub Stricker: A Hot-Tempered Infielder
ABC #061 - Part 2 Cub Stricker was a good fielding 2nd baseman with a hot temper who was arrested on the field to avoid fan rioting when he struck a heckler with a thrown ball.
Tue, April 02, 2024
Walter "Slick" Schlichter: Pioneer in Black Baseball
ABC #061 - Part 1 Henry Walter “Slick” Schlichter started as a bantamweight and a boxing promoter who became a sportswriter and then partnered with Black baseball pioneer Sol White to organize the best Negro league team in the country at the turn of the 20th century.
Mon, April 01, 2024
ABC#061 Play Ball! Part 3: Four More Baseball Pioneers at Laurel Hill
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #061 - Play Ball! Part 3: Four More Baseball Pioneers at Laurel Hill Henry Walter “Slick” Schlichter started as a bantamweight and a boxing promoter who became a sportswriter and then partnered with Black baseball pioneer Sol White to organize the best Negro league team in the country at the turn of the 20th century. Cub Stricker was a "good field - no hit" 2nd baseman with a hot temper who was arrested on the field to avoid fan rioting when he struck a heckler with a thrown ball. Jack McFetridge was the best amateur pitcher in Philadelphia for years; when he finally went pro, he wasn’t that good. Pete Childs was a fine 2nd baseman and served in the role for the 1902 Phillies. It was while serving as player-manager for an Ohio League team that he pulled the unfathomable feat of throwing one pitch as a reliever and getting three out. These four men were born in a ten-year span, three are interred at LHW and one at LHE.
Fri, March 15, 2024
Grayce Nottage Nicholas: Black Is Beautiful
Biographical Bytes from Bala #030 Grayce Nottage-Nicholas was an older sister of Civil Rights activist C. Delores Tucker, but she made a name for herself as a teacher, parole officer, police detective, and beauty queen at a time when women of color were not welcomed to traditional beauty pageants. In this episode I tell you about the evolution of beauty pageants, how pigmentocracy and straight hair defined beauty from a white perspective, how African American women created their own standards of beauty and started their own beauty pageants, and much more on this Women’s History Month Broadcast of Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories – Black Is Beautiful.
Mon, March 04, 2024
Anna J Magee: Enabling the Disabled
ABC #060 - Part 3 Anna Justina Magee was the last of seven siblings who lived together their entire lives. Her legacy for the family was a hospital designed for people who were convalescing from injury – The Magee Rehabilitation Hospital.
Sun, March 03, 2024
Elizabeth Duane Gillespie: The Woman Who Saved the Centennial
ABC #060 - Part 2 Elizabeth Duane Gillespie came from a politically active family; she was the chief fundraiser and organizer for the Sanitary Fair of 1864, which put her in the position to lead the way for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. She ended up rescuing it from disaster.
Sat, March 02, 2024
Esther DeBerdt Reed: From Tory to American Patriot
ABC #060 - Part 1 London-born Esther DeBerdt Reed married a man who became George Washington’s right-hand man and switched her Tory allegiance to become a radial patriot; the organization she founded to provide some relief to the soldiers fighting for her freedom didn’t quite go the way that she had planned.
Fri, March 01, 2024
ABC#060: Three More Women Who Changed Philadelphia
Woman have played a major but underrecognized role in our Nation’s history since its inception. *London-born Esther DeBerdt Reed married a man who became George Washington’s right-hand man and switched her Tory allegiance to become a radial patriot; the organization she founded to provide some relief to the soldiers fighting for her freedom didn’t quite go the way that she had planned. *Elizabeth Duane Gillespie came from a politically active family; she was the chief fundraiser and organizer for the Sanitary Fair of 1864, which put her in the position to lead the way for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. *Anna Justina Magee was the last of seven siblings who lived together their entire lives. Her legacy for the family was a hospital designed for people who were convalescing from injury – The Magee Rehabilitation Hospital. These three women are featured in this month’s episode of All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #060 for March 2024 – Three More Women Who Changed Philadelphia.
Fri, February 16, 2024
MOVE and Laurel Hill
Biographical Bytes from Bala #029 In 1985, the City of Philadelphia did something unheard of in the United States – it dropped a bomb on one of its neighborhoods. The resulting fire killed 6 adult and 5 child members of a radical primitivist environmental anarchic group called MOVE. The fire spread along Osage Avenue, destroyed more than 60 homes, and left 250 men, women, and children homeless. Former MOVE members are interred in Nature’s Sanctuary, the green natural burial section at Laurel Hill West. Louise Leaphart James and LaVerne Leaphart Sims were sisters to the acknowledged group leader John Africa but left the organization before the conflagration. To tell their story, I must tell the story of John Africa, the formation of MOVE, and its frequent confrontations with neighbors and city officials.
Sun, February 04, 2024
Winifred "Winnie" Harris: A Perfect Next-Door Neighbor
ABC #059 - Part 2 Winifred Harris was the woman you wanted as your next-door neighbor. She rescued abandoned properties in West Philadelphia and converted them into vegetable gardens for the neighborhood, while planting more than 1000 trees for the city. Her shocking death at the hands of a home intruder was mourned by all who knew her.
Sat, February 03, 2024
Samuel L Evans: The Godfather of Black Philadelphia Politics
ABC #059 - Part 3 Samuel L. Evans saw five lynchings before he was 10 years old. Through machinations that people are still pondering, he managed to make himself the “Godfather of Black Philadelphia” despite never being elected to public office. His wake was in City Hall.
Fri, February 02, 2024
Sarah A. Anderson: Quietly Making Changes
ABC #059 - Part 1 Sarah A. Anderson served 17 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and quietly changed life for the better for thousands of Pennsylvanians, Black and white.
Thu, February 01, 2024
ABC#059 Three More Black Pioneers
The Black population of Philadelphia dates to Colonial times but expanded tremendously during the so-called Great Migration that started around 1910. Sarah A. Anderson came from an educated family – her father was the first Black dentist in Florida and her husband was a politically active podiatrist. Sarah served 17 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and quietly changed life for the better for thousands of Pennsylvanians, Black and white. Samuel L. Evans was also from Florida and saw five lynchings before he was 10 years old. Through machinations that people are still pondering, he managed to make himself the “Godfather of Black Philadelphia” despite never being elected to public office. His wake was in City Hall. Winifred Harris was the woman you wanted as your next-door neighbor. She rescued abandoned properties in West Philadelphia and converted them into vegetable gardens for the neighborhood, while planting more than 1000 trees for the city. Her shocking death at the hands of a home intruder was mourned by all who knew her. For Black history month, learn about these three lesser-known heroes of Black Philadelphia in the February 2024 episode of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Three More Black Pioneers”.
Mon, January 15, 2024
The Philadelphia Orchestra & Laurel Hill West
Biographical Bytes from Bala #028 The Philadelphia Orchestra has been one of America’s “Big Five” philharmonics for more than a century. As it was being assembled in the late 1890s, it looked like the job of “first conductor” would go to local concertmaster and second generation Irish American Harry Gordon Thunder, but instead the position went to Johann Friedrich Ludwig “Fritz” Scheel, a German immigrant with seemingly unlimited energies and innovations, but the job probably shortened his life. In contemporary times, the first violinist chair was held for decades by Germantown-born William Joseph de Pasquale, a calm, dependable right-hand man to the conductor, and one of four brothers who played together in a string quartet. These three men – Thunder, Scheel, and de Pasquale – are part of the reason that the Philadelphia Orchestra has its universal reputation.
Fri, January 05, 2024
Robert McNeil: Making Tylenol a Household Name
ABC #058 - Part 5 McNeil Laboratories introduced Tylenol Elixir for Children in 1955, then watched it become one of the best-selling over-the-counter meds of all time.
Thu, January 04, 2024
William Warner: Partnering with Lambert
ABC #058 - Part 4 William Warner learned how to sugarcoat pills, making theem far more palatable. Warner’s pharmacopeia was distributed internationally and served as the standard reference for doctors and pharmacists for years.
Wed, January 03, 2024
John & Frank Wyeth: Compressing Pills
ABC #058 - Part 3 The Wyeth Brothers invented a machine that standardized the size of pills and tablets. It changed the pharmaceutical industry.
Wed, January 03, 2024
Powers & Weightman: Making Millions in Quinine
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #058: Laurel Hill & Big Pharma, Part 2 William Weightman, with his partner Thomas Powers made millions by selling quinine to the US government. He spent it wisely.
Tue, January 02, 2024
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy: In the Beginning
ABC #058 - Part 1 Philadelphia became the pharmaceutical capital of the country primarily because of the College of Pharmacy, which has trained thousands of pharmacists over the past two centuries.
Mon, January 01, 2024
ABC#058 Big Pharma & Laurel Hill: The Beginnings
Several multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies got their starts in Philadelphia as neighborhood drug stores. Weightman, Powers, and Rosengarten made their money by selling quinine to the US government. James Smith and Clayton French did not know each and both started as neighborhood druggists; but family and business partners kept their businesses going and their names prominent long after their deaths. The Wyeth Brothers invented a machine that standardized the size of pills and tablets, and William Warner learned how to sugarcoat them. Warner’s pharmacopeia was distributed internationally and served as the standard reference for doctors and pharmacists for years. And McNeil Laboratories introduced Tylenol Elixir for Children in 1955, then watched it become one of the best-selling over-the-counter meds of all time. Robert McNeil is interred at Laurel Hill West, while all the others are at Laurel Hill East.
Mon, December 25, 2023
BONUS: Anna Weightman Penfield and the Fioretta Follies
Anna Weightman Penfield, the only daughter of quinine king William Weightman, became the richest woman in the world when her father died. In 1929 when she was in her 80s, she decided that she wanted to produce a Broadway musical featuring songs by two young friends. She even managed to convince impresario Earl Carroll, the so-called “troubadour of the nude”, to write the book and produce it. He called it “Fioretta”. Carroll used it as a vehicle for his current girlfriend Dorothy Knapp, a chorus girl who could not sing, act, or dance. Despite the casting of vaudeville legends Leon Erroll and Fanny Brice, the show flopped and closed after just a few months, and Mrs. Penfield lost a bundle of money. Then, the talentless Knapp sued Penfield, Carroll, and the composers for lost wages. To tell this story, I read you a newspaper article from 1947 and part of a chapter from Carroll’s biography. It's a story not to be missed.
Fri, December 15, 2023
Jack Rose: An Old Soul Guitarist
Biographical Bytes from Bala #027 Jack Rose was an old soul guitarist who took John Fahey and other fingerpickers as role models. Born in Virginia in 1971, Rose moved to Philadelphia in 1998, where he became part of the alternative music scene. As he taught himself the primitive styles of Blind Blake, Charlie Patton, and others, he took on the name “Dr. Ragtime”. His album “Raag Manifesto” was named one of the top 50 records of the year by British music magazine “The Wire”. Davendra Banhart included one of his songs in the compilation “Golden Apples of the Sun”. His fourth recording, “Kensington Blues”, was his breakthrough and he toured extensively. Rose’s career was tragically cut short in 2009 when he died before his 39th birthday and just before the release of his 5th album “Luck in the Valley”. He is interred in the Nature’s Sanctuary section of Laurel Hill West, one of our green burial spaces. But his music lives on.
Tue, December 05, 2023
C Morgan Knight: Death of a Good Samaritan
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #057 - Murder Most Foul, Part 5 C Morgan Knight was a very successful Chestnut Hill businessman who stopped at Wanamaker's for a quick shopping trip before he headed home after work. He tried to stop a robbery and was shot; his murderer got the chair.
Mon, December 04, 2023
Archibald McCurdy: Death of a Night Watchman
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #057 - Murder Most Foul, Part 4 Archibald McCurdy was the least gregarious of the McCurdy brothers, he found his niche in the family's store as night watchman. A botched robbery attempt took his life.
Sun, December 03, 2023
George Haas: Shot by a Disgruntled Employee
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #057 - Murder Most Foul, Part 3 Almost everyone thought that George Haas was an excellent boss, but one employee felt otherwise and shot him as he left work.
Sat, December 02, 2023
Mahlon Hutchinson Heberton, Singleton Mercer, and The Monks of Monk's Hall (by Thomas Keels)
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #057 - Murder Most Foul, Part 2 Historian and fellow volunteer tour guide Thomas Keels reads from his book Wicked Philadelphia about an honor killing of Mahlon Hutchinson Heberton by Singleton Mercer that author George Lippard turned into a best-selling novel.
Sat, December 02, 2023
George K Smith & The Molly Maguires
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #057 - Murder Most Foul, Part 1 George K. Smith was a mine supervisor at a time when secret societies were rampant. His death at the hand of home invaders was blamed on the Molly Maguires, but the details aren't as specific.
Fri, December 01, 2023
ABC#057: Murder Most Foul, Part 1
There are hundreds of people buried at Laurel Hill East and Laurel Hill West who were the victims of personal violence – accidental, intentional, and self-inflicted. This month’s episode tells you of nine people who were killed by others. Author / historian Thomas Keels will read you a chapter from his book Wicked Philadelphia that tells the amazing story of Singleton Mercer and Mahlon Hutchinson Heberton. I will tell you of Mine supervisor George K. Smith who was purportedly killed by the Irish terrorist group the Molly Maguires Businessman George Haas, shot and killed on his lunch break by a disgruntled former employee Archibald McCurdy, night watchman in his brothers’ store who was killed when he discovered a burglary in process Ida Chadwick, a 9-year-old girl whose depressed father killed them both with illuminating gas C. Morgan Knight, Chestnut Hill financier and amateur yachtsman who died while attempting to capture a robber at Wanamaker’s. There is also a new voice for you. Volunteer guide Sarah Hamill gives a sketch of a young mother and her two daughters who were shot to death by their disgruntled butler. Murder Most Foul, Part 1 is the topic of the December 2023 episode of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories.
Wed, November 15, 2023
BG Isidor S. Ravdin, MD: The Surgeon Is a General -
Biographical Bytes from Bala #026 Isidor Schwaner Ravdin was a second-generation American and a fourth-generation physician who combined research with surgery and completely changed the fields of both. During his 40+ years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Ravdin rose to become Chief of Surgery and Director of Research. During World War II, he ran what Vinegar Joe Stillwell called “the best g**d*** hospital in the Army” during the China Burma India (CBI) campaign. When President Eisenhower was struck with a bowel obstruction in 1956, Ravdin was summoned to Washington to perform the surgery. He even appeared as a heroic character in a popular cartoon strip of his time. If you have visited the HUP campus, you have almost certainly walked through the Ravdin pavilion.
Fri, November 03, 2023
The Pew Family & Sun Oil
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #056, Philadelphia and Oil, Part 2 Joseph Newton Pew grew up in a large, impoverished family in upstate Pennsylvania, but he was able to start a petroleum firm. His sons J. Howard Pew and Joseph N. Pew Jr. eventually took over and grew Sun Oil into the international juggernaut it is today. But the Pew family has always been involved in giving back and supporting the community.
Thu, November 02, 2023
Pennsylvania and Oil
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #056, Philadelphia and Oil, Part 1 While we tend to think of "oil" and "Texas" as synonymous, it was Pennsylvania where the first big oil strikes were made, and major refineries greeted visitors as they came from the airport. Only recently has the Point Breeze section of the city been reclaimed and is undergoing a total makeover.
Wed, November 01, 2023
ABC#056: J. Newton Pew and Sun Oil - Philadelphia and Oil
We don’t normally think of Philadelphia as being an oil town, but the Point Breeze refinery in South Philadelphia, easily visible from the Pratt Bridge on your ride to the airport, dominated the skyline for many decades with its storage tanks and distilling towers. Born in the middle of Pennsylvania’s Titusville oil boom in the northwest corner of the state, J. Newton Pew established Sun Oil in 1890. After its move to Philadelphia, Newton’s sons Howard and Joe Jr. ran the company for decades and established a refinery at Marcus Hook and the Sun Shipbuilding Company in Chester. The Pews are known today for their charitable contributions throughout the city. The Pew Mausoleum at Laurel Hill West holds several generations of this prosperous philanthropic family. Learn about oil, crude and refined, shipbuilding, philanthropy, and even some political intrigue in this month’s episode of “All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Philadelphia and Oil” from wherever you listen to podcasts.
Sun, October 15, 2023
William Wagner: Free Science for All
Biographical Bytes from Bala #025 William Wagner was a self-taught naturalist and a very rich man who believed in giving free education to anyone who wanted it. He opened his Wagner Free Institute of Science in 1855 and used his own collection as teaching aids – flora and fauna from around the world, fossils, rocks, bones – tens of thousands of items. When Wagner died in 1885, his museum was improved by Joseph Leidy, “the last man who knew everything,” and further expanded. Now a visit to the Wagner in North Philadelphia is a trip back in time more than 130 years while it continues to give free classes on a variety of topics and to offer its archives and library as a resource to anyone interested in the natural sciences.
Thu, October 05, 2023
William Schaffer: A Five O'Clock Club Stalwart
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #055, The Supremes, Part 4 William Schaffer wrote the majority opinion in the 1927 case which decided that Sunday baseball was in violation of the state's 1794 "blue laws." He spent 20 years on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Wed, October 04, 2023
James Tyndale Mitchell: An Ideal Judge
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #055, The Supremes, Part 3 James T. Mitchell served as Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1903 to 1910 and was considered an ideal judge. He also amassed a world-class collection of historical engraved portraits.
Tue, October 03, 2023
George Sharswood: Blocking Women's Suffrage
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #055, The Supremes, Part 2 George Sharswood served as Dean of the Law School at Penn from 1852 to 1868. He served on the State Supreme Court for many years and as Chief Justice; in 1871 he and a majority ruled against suffragette Carrie Burnham, which denied the vote to women for an additional 48 years.
Mon, October 02, 2023
Robert C. Grier & Dred Scott: "I concur"
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #055, The Supremes, Part 1 Robert C. Grier spent 24 years on the US Supreme Court at a critical time (1846-1870) in the country's history. Today we cringe at some of his decisions.
Sun, October 01, 2023
ABC#055: Robert Cooper Grier, George Sharswood, James Tyndale Mitchell, & William Irwin Schaffer - The Supremes - Justices at Laurel Hill
Robert Cooper Grier was selected for the United States Supreme Court in 1846 to replace another justice who had died 841 days before – the longest gap in the history of the court. He served for nearly a quarter century and voted in many key decisions, including Dred Scott v. Sandford. George Sharswood was the first dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. While serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he made a decision which probably delayed women’s rights to vote in Pennsylvania by more than 40 years. James Tyndale Mitchell was also a Chief Justice. He was a superb lawyer and judge but may be remembered more for his giant collections of autographs and portraits of famous people, considered the finest of his day. William Irwin Schaffer spent two years as state attorney general before he became an Associate Judge on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. One of his decisions delayed Sunday baseball in Philadelphia by several years. Grier and Schaffer are buried at Laurel Hill West, Sharswood and Mitchell at Laurel Hill East. They are the topics for All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #055 for October 2023 – The Supremes.
Fri, September 15, 2023
Glenna Collett Vare: The Female Bobby Jones
Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #024 Glenna Collett-Vare was one of the giants of women’s golf and the top American player in the 1920s and 30s. She won 49 amateur tournaments between 1921 and 1935. She could hit a ball straight down the fairway nearly 300 yards. She was the first woman to break 80 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, which she won six times. She is in the golf hall of fame, and the Vare Trophy is awarded annually to the woman professional with the best scoring average. She played into her 80s but never turned professional. In her day, she was "The Female Bobby Jones". She is buried at Laurel Hill West in a crypt that does not even acknowledge her presence – an unmarked grave.
Wed, September 06, 2023
Richie Barrett...and "Some Other Guy"
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #054: "Hey, I Know That Song", Part 5 Singer / songwriter / A&R man Richard "Richie" Barrett was cremated at Laurel Hill West, but even the Beatles were early admirers of his work.
Tue, September 05, 2023
Phebe Blessington: Covering Some of Your Favorites
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #054: "Hey, I Know That Song", Part 4 Leonard "Hub" Hubbard was founding member of The Roots whom I will cover in full in a later podcast. Phebe Blessington was an extremely popular local singer who was tragically killed while heading to a gig shortly after her 30th birthday.
Sun, September 03, 2023
Brenda Payton & The Tabulations
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #054: "Hey, I Know That Song", Part 3 After Brenda Payton was discovered while singing on a street corner, she was soon high on the R&B charts with songs like "Dry Your Eyes" and "Right on the Tip of My Tongue"
Sun, September 03, 2023
William Kirkpatrick & Away in a Manger
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #054: "Hey, I Know That Song", Part 2 William Kirkpatrick was an Irish-born hymn writer whose Christmas carol you have been singing all your life. It is highly likely you have sung other hymns written by him without knowing the composer.
Sat, September 02, 2023
Septimus Winner: Of Mockingbirds, Indians, and Little Dogs
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #054: "Hey, I Know That Song", Part 1 Septimus Winner composed several ear worms you sang as a child or with your children, including "Listen to the Mockingbird" and "Ten Little Indians".
Fri, September 01, 2023
ABC#054 Hey! I Know That Song! - Composers and Interpreters
Septimus Winner was the composer of several catchy songs you sang as a child or have sung with your children William Kirkpatrick was a hymn writer whose Christmas carol you have been singing all your life Brenda Payton was lead singer for the R&B group Brenda and the Tabulations Phebe Blessington was an up-and-coming singer-songwriter who was killed in an auto accident shortly after her 30th birthday Singer / songwriter / A&R man Richie Barrett’s final services and cremation were at Laurel Hill West, although he is not buried there. And yes, I will play you samples of their work, and a lot more. Get ready for ear worms galore on this month's episode of "All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories
Tue, August 15, 2023
Henry Plumer McIlhenny: Philadelphia’s First Gentleman
Biographical Bytes from Bala #023 Andy Warhol considered him "the only person in town with glamour." The Philadelphia Art Alliance deemed him "the first gentleman of Philadelphia." Connoisseur Magazine named him one of the top ten art collectors of all time. When Henry Plumer McIlhenny died in 1986, he left everything - an estimated $100M worth - to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he had served for 50 years as curator, trustee and chairman of the board. His collections were housed in both his magnificent Rittenhouse Square townhouse and at Glenveagh in Ireland, the largest privately-owned plot of land in the country. His parties were legendary. His friends were society's giants. At his death, someone commented "I had always thought that no one was irreplaceable, but Henry is irreplaceable." Fellow volunteer tour guide and historian Thomas Keels tells you of this remarkable man in the mid-August edition of “Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories.”
Sat, August 05, 2023
Charles Baily's Last Round
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #053 - Suited to a Tee, part 4 Charles Baily met his final fate on the 4th green of Merion East Cricket Club in 1933
Fri, August 04, 2023
George Thomas & Whitemarsh Country Club
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #053 - Suited to a Tee, part 3 George Clifford Thomas Jr. designed the original course at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, outside Philadelphia, and more than twenty courses in California, including Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades and Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.
Thu, August 03, 2023
Hugh Wilson & Merion Golf Club
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #053 - Suited to a Tee, part 2 Hugh Wilson was one of six golf architects called "The Philadelphia School". He designed the classic Merion East Course, as well as the final four holes at Pine Valley.
Wed, August 02, 2023
Ida Dixon: The First Woman Golf Architect
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #053 - Suited to a Tee, part 1 Ida Dixon was the first woman golf course architect in the country. Among her work is the Springhaven Club which is still in use.
Tue, August 01, 2023
ABC#053: Ida Dixon, Hugh Wilson, Charles Thomas, & Charles Baily - Suited to a Tee - Golf Course Pioneers
Philadelphia has been an epicenter for golf since the 1890s. There are dozens of golf courses within an easy drive of the city, and a few in the city itself. Ida Dixon is today recognized as the first woman golf course architect in the United States. Hugh Wilson and Charles Thomas were two of the six architects who made up what is called The Philadelphia School. The two of them helped build 4 of the top ranked courses in the country. Charles Baily met his final destiny on the 4th green of Merion East Cricket Club. Plus, you’ll learn about cleeks and condors, heroic holes and featheries, Randolph Scott, Mary Queen of Scots, and a golf hole called the “Mae West.” Even if you’re not a golfer, there are things for you to enjoy on today’s All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories – Suited to a Tee: Golf Course Pioneers.
Sat, July 15, 2023
Shop Until Thou Droppest - Strawbridge & Clothier: The Early Years
Biographical Bytes from Bala #022 As transportation in and around Philadelphia improved in the mid 19th century and the population exploded, merchants found more people clamoring for their wares. Two Quakers – Justus Clayton Strawbridge and Isaac Hallowell Clothier – joined forces and opened a small fabric store on the corner of 8th and Market in 1868. By the end of the century, there were thousands of employees and they had expanded severalfold and became the biggest dry goods store in the country. Here is how it happened.
Wed, July 05, 2023
Sarah Lee Lippincott & 20th Century Star-Gazing
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #052 - Reach for the Stars, part 4 Sarah Lee Lippincott, whose first husband was television pioneer Dave Garroway (See All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #013, On the Tube), became a beloved professor of astronomy and astrometry at Swarthmore University.
Tue, July 04, 2023
William Rau & Capturing the Transit of Venus
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #052 - Reach for the Stars, part 3 Photography pioneer William Rau was tapped to be a photographer for the 1874 worldwide evaluation of the Transit of Venus, but most people involved in that venture would admit that photography was useless in capturing new information.
Mon, July 03, 2023
Hannah Bouvier Peterson & Teaching the Stars
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #052 - Reach for the Stars, part 2 Hannah Mary Bouvier Peterson was a popular author whose work “Familiar Astronomy” was the best-selling astronomy textbook in the 19th century.
Sun, July 02, 2023
David Rittenhouse
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #052 - Reach for the Stars, part 1 One of America’s Founding Fathers David Rittenhouse was recognized in the colonies as being not only the finest astronomer in the land, but the finest builder of delicate, accurate astronomical equipment.
Sat, July 01, 2023
ABC#052: Reach for the Sky - Astronomers of Laurel Hill
Man has been fascinated by the sky for as long as he has walked on earth. Star gazing has been the hobby – and the profession – of millions of people from around the world. One of America’s Founding Fathers David Rittenhouse was recognized in the colonies as being not only the finest astronomer in the land, but the finest builder of delicate, accurate astronomical equipment. Hannah Mary Bouvier Peterson was a popular author whose work “Familiar Astronomy” was the best-selling astronomy textbook in the 19th century. Photography pioneer William Rau was tapped to be a photographer for the 1874 worldwide evaluation of the Transit of Venus, but most people involved in that venture would admit that photography was useless in capturing new information. Sarah Lee Lippincott, whose first husband was television pioneer Dave Garroway, became a beloved professor of astronomy and astrometry at Swarthmore University.
Thu, June 15, 2023
Duffy’s Cut: Blood on the Tracks at Mile 59
Biographical Bytes from Bala #021 The first American railroads were built with the blood, tears and sweat of Irish immigrants. An estimated 50,000 died in the process. In the 3-mph world of 1832, 57 fresh-off-the-boat Irishmen were hired by their countryman Philip Duffy. They were taken to live in a shantytown and work at mile 59 of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, which is now part of SEPTA’s R5 Main Line. Cholera arrived a short time later and within a few weeks all of Duffy’s workers were dead and secretly buried near the Main Line, although ghostly sightings were reported by locals. 180 years later, through the tenacity of two brothers, some of their remains were recovered and identified and relocated to a plot near the gate at Laurel Hill West. Some of the recovered skulls showed evidence of severe trauma. What happened to the Duffy’s Cut 57?
Sun, June 04, 2023
LT James Hansell French and Victorio's Apache
ABC #051 - Part 4 LT James Hansell French was killed in the San Mateo Mountains of New Mexico territory in 1880 as the Buffalo Soldier troops under his command pursued the great Apache chief Victorio and his warriors.
Sun, June 04, 2023
LT Jonathan Biddle Battles Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
ABC #051 - Part 5 Jonathan Williams Biddle, whose father Henry Biddle had been killed in the Civil War, lost his life in the Battle of Bear Paw, also in Montana, in 1877 against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce.
Sat, June 03, 2023
Lt Benjamin Hodgson at Little Big Horn (by Thomas Keels)
ABC #051 - Part 3 Benjamin Hubert Hodgson was killed during the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana against Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors – historian and fellow Laurel Hill tour guide Thomas Keels tells his story.
Fri, June 02, 2023
LT George M Harris and Battling the Modocs in the Lava Beds
ABC #051 - Part 2 George Montgomery Harris died of wounds that he received in the Lava Beds of northern California while battling Captain Jack and the Modoc tribe in 1873.
Thu, June 01, 2023
Philadelphia Meets the Indigenous Owners of the City
ABC #051 - Part 1 Indigenous peoples had been part of the Philadelphia landscape since the pre-Colonial days. Their dealings with William Penn and his family left them wondering.
Thu, June 01, 2023
ABC#051: ”Killed by Indians” - Four Philadelphians Who Died in Battles with Indigenous People
Interred at Laurel Hill East are four young Philadelphians who died before they reached the age of 30 while battling indigenous people on the frontier. George Montgomery Harris died of wounds received in the Lava Beds of northern California while battling Captain Jack and the Modoc tribe in 1873. Benjamin Hubert Hodgson was killed during the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana against Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors – fellow Laurel Hill tour guide Tom Keels tells his story. Jonathan Williams Biddle, whose father Henry Biddle had been killed in the Civil War, lost his life in the Battle of Bear Paw, also in Montana, in 1877 against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. James Hansell French was killed in the San Mateo Mountains of New Mexico territory in 1880 as his Buffalo Soldier troops pursued the great Apache chief Victorio and his warriors. Note: I acknowledge that many indigenous peoples reject the name "Indian", but most of what I tell you in this podcast occurred at least 140 years ago when the term was used universally and even respectfully. All four of these men have the word "Indian" carved on their gravestones. The podcast title "Killed by Indians" is in quotation marks for this reason.
Mon, May 15, 2023
Charles Benjamin Dudley: Helping Standardize the World
Biographical Bytes from Bala #020 Charles Benjamin Dudley changed the world we live in when he helped establish the American Society for Testing and Materials. Prior to his work as a chemist with the Pennsylvania Railroad, there was no standardization for the composition of railroad tracks, which led to derailments, deaths, and loss of cargo. Dudley convinced the world that science combined with ingenuity is what all industries needed. Since its founding, ASTM has established more than 13,000 standards across hundreds of companies in dozens of countries. Fellow Laurel Hill Tour Guide Rich Wilhelm tells Dudley’s story and explain why he is the right man to tell it.
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