All Episodes

ABC:LHS #068-3   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."  Jefferson rented a room from Leiper while he served as Secretary of State, and the two men exchanged letters for the rest of their lives. 

ABC:LHS #068-2   Thomas McKean...
...served many roles in the British colonies: 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.

ABC:LHS #068-1   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 was the only Founding Father whom the Natives trusted. 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.

ABC:LHS #068   More of Jefferson's Friends include...
Charles Thomson, 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. 
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. 
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. 
I did the research on Thomson & McKean, while the script for Thomas Leiper was written by fellow tour guide Peter Howell.  

BBB:LHWS #037   John Trout Greble...
...had descended from colonial pioneers on both sides of his family. He graduated with honors from Central High School and chose a career in the military.  He taught ethics the Military Academy and married the chaplain’s daughter.  He was KIA at the Battle of Big Bethel in Southern Virginia in June 1861 – the first West Point graduate to fall in the American Civil War.

ABC:LHS #067-2   Horace Howard Furness... (by Patricia Rose)
...is best remembered today as a Shakespeare scholar. For a while he was in charge of a commission that investigated whether spiritualism as a belief system that involved communication with the dead was real. Furness's Seybert Commission proved the opposite. The real fun started when they interviewed Maggie Fox, one of the founders of spiritualism.
Researched and read by fellow guide and cemetery historian Patricia Rose

ABC:LHS #067-1   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. Her woes started after she was assaulted at gunpoint by a young man she trusted. Walter Hubbell learned about Esther when his traveling troop ventured into the Maritimes and thought 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.

BBB:LHWS #036 William, Edward & George Vare...
...grew up unschooled while 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.
Historian, author, and fellow Laurel Hill Tour Guide Thomas Keels tells you their story. 

ABC:LHS #066-6   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.  

ABC:LHS #066-5   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.  

ABC:LHS #066-4    Lewis Haupt...
...was son of famed railroad Engineer Herman Haupt (see BBB #010: 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.  

ABC:LHS #066-3   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. 

ABC:LHS #066-2   Rudolph Hering...
...was son of the famed homeopathic pioneer 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. 

ABC:LHS #066-1   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. 

ABC:LHS #066   Pushing Water
Frederick Graff took over from Benjamin Latrobe to develop the Philadelphia Water Works
Rudolph Hering was summoned to the Midwest to help them with their drinking water problem and helped to 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