All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

Jack Merriam & Dream Garden

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #044 for mid-May, 2025
 
John W. “Jack” Merriam made his fortune in real estate development – Oxford Valley Mall, Cedarbrook Apartment Complex, and many others. Among his acquisitions was the Curtis Publishing Building on Washington Square, with its magnificent Maxfield Parrish / Louis Comfort Tiffany glass mosaic in the lobby. Another was Maybrook Castle next to the Wynnewood Train Station on the Main Line. He was namesake for the Merriam Theater on South Broad Street, and he left tens of millions of dollars in support of local art institutions. Yet despite his massive wealth Jack Merriam and his wives are interred under a simple flat bronze marker at Laurel Hill West.

2LT Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill: Gassed!

From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #074, part 5
2LT Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill was a PAFA-trained artist who specialized in landscapes and beach scenes. He joined the Army in 1915 and served during the Battles of Ypres and the Somme. While he survived a gas attack, his lungs were apparently damaged, which led to his premature death in 1929. 

MAJ Alfred Reginald Allen, MD: The Choices a Man Makes

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #074, segment 4
Alfred Reginald Allen, MD, was a UPenn med school grad, a clever researcher in neurologic injuries, a brilliant composer of operas and hymns, founder of the Savoy Company, and one of the finest photomicrographers in the world. But when he joined the Army, it was as a combat officer. He was killed, ironically, by shrapnel to his brain at Meuse Argonne. He has a cenotaph at Laurel Hill East. 

CPT Alan Wood Lukens: Lost in the Fog of War

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #074, segment 3
CPT Alan Wood Lukens was variously reported as killed in action, missing in action, hospitalized at an unknown site in France, and possible prisoner of war. He had been killed in action in September, but it took the Lukens family until January to determine what had really happened to Allen. He was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Medal

1LT Dillwyn Parrish Starr: From Groton to Gallipoli and The Somme

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #074, section 2
1LT Dillwyn Parrish Starr joined the military long before the United States entered the war. He had been a football star at Groton and at Harvard. He ended up with the Coldstream Guard where he was killed in action during the Battle of Somme. He is buried in France, but his family has added his name to their stone at Laurel Hill East. 
 

Philadelphia and the Great War

Excerpt from All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #074, part 1
The United States tried to stay out of the European conflict that started in 1914 but eventually joined the fray. Philadelphia, "The Workshop of the World," provided doughboys with blankets, footwear, and head gear. By the time the US Congress declared war in April, 1917, hundreds of Americans had already been fighting, and many had died, the first of more than 125,000 Americans to die, including 1400 Philadelphians, in what many thought would be the "war to end all wars."
 

The Killing Fields of France, Part 1: Dillwyn Parrish Starr; Alan Wood Lukens; Alfred Reginald Allen; Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #074
 
The United States was dragged into a war that it seemed nobody wanted, but that was inevitable anyway. Philadelphia produced massive amounts of materials for the American doughboys.
 
1LT Dillwyn Parrish Starr was impatient for action. He joined Britain’s esteemed Coldstream Guard and was readily accepted by them. He was killed at the Battle of the Somme before the United States even got officially involved.
CPT Alan Wood Lukens came from two families of steel mongers. Although he was killed in late September of 1918 at Meuse Argonne, his family did not discover the truth until several months later. Lukens was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
MAJ Alfred Reginald Allen trained as a research neurologist and became one of the best photomicrographers in the country. He wrote operas, overtures, and hymns, and he founded the Savoy Company to perform the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan. Yet when he volunteered for war service, it was as an officer in the Army.
2LT Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill trained at PAFA and in Paris with James Whistler. He was apparently wounded by poison gas and spent the last few years of his life suffering from its effects.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 
 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.