All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.  
 

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.  

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.  

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.  

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. 

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. 

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. 

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

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. 

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. 

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.  

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.  

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.  
 
 

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.  
 
 

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. 
 
 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 
 

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.”

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.”

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.”
 

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". 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.
 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  
 

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 
 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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”. 

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.  

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.

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.

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. 

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.  

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.  

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. 
 

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.  

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.  

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.  

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.  

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. 

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. 

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.

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.