All Episodes

ABC:LHS #056   Philadelphia and oil...
...are not usually mentioned in the same sentence, 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. 

BBB:LHWS #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.  When Wagner died in 1885, his museum was improved by Joseph Leidy, “the last man who knew everything,” and further expanded.

ABC:LHS #055-4   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.

ABC:LHS #055-3   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. 

ABC:LHS #055-2   George Sharswood...
...served on the State Supreme Court for many years. In 1871 he and a majority ruled against suffragette Carrie Burnham, which denied the vote to women for an additional 48 years.

ABC:LHS #055-1   Robert C. Grier...
...spent 24 years on the US Supreme Court at a critical time (1846-1870) in the country's history.  Today we cringe at some of the decisions he made.

ABC:LHS #055   Supreme Court justices...
...at Laurel Hill include
Robert Cooper Grier, who was selected for the United States Supreme Court in 1846 after the longest vacancy gap in the history of the court.  He served for nearly a quarter century and voted in many key decisions, including Dred Scott v. Sandford.
George Sharswood was the first dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.  While serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he made a decision which probably delayed women’s rights to vote in Pennsylvania by more than 40 years.
James Tyndale Mitchell was also a Chief Justice.  He was a superb lawyer and judge but may be remembered more for his giant collections of autographs and portraits of famous people, considered the finest of his day.
William Irwin Schaffer spent two years as state attorney general before he became an Associate Judge on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  One of his decisions delayed Sunday baseball in Philadelphia by several years.

BBB:LHWS #024   Glenna Collett-Vare...
...was a giant of women’s golf and the top American player in the 1920s and 30s, when she won 49 amateur tournaments.  She could hit a ball straight down the fairway nearly 300 yards.  She was the first woman to break 80 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, which she won six times.  She is in the golf hall of fame, and the Vare Trophy is awarded annually to the woman professional with the best scoring average.

ABC:LHS #054-5   Richard "Richie" Barrett...
...was successful as a singer / songwriter / A&R man. Even the Beatles were early admirers of his work. He was cremated at Laurel Hill West.

ABC:LHS #054-4   Phebe Blessington...
...was an extremely popular local singer who was tragically killed while heading to a gig shortly after her 30th birthday. Her fans remember. 

ABC:LHS #054-3   Brenda Payton...
...was literally discovered while singing on a street corner. Soon she reached to top of the R&B charts with songs like "Dry Your Eyes" and "Right on the Tip of My Tongue"

ABC:LHS #054-2   William Kirkpatrick...
...was an Irish-born hymn writer whose most famous Christmas carol you have sung all your life.  It is likely you have sung other hymns written by him without knowing he was the composer.

ABC:LHS #054-1   Septimus Winner...
...composed several ear worms you sang as a child or with your children, including "Listen to the Mockingbird" and "Ten Little Indians." You may not forgive me for the alphabet song. 

ABC:LHS #054   Many Composers...
...chose Laurel Hill as a final resting place.
Septimus Winner was the composer of several catchy songs you sang as a child or have sung with your children
William Kirkpatrick was a hymn writer whose Christmas carol you have been singing all your life
Brenda Payton was lead singer for the R&B group Brenda and the Tabulations
Phebe Blessington was an up-and-coming singer-songwriter who was killed in an auto accident shortly after her 30th birthday
Singer / songwriter / A&R man Richie Barrett’s final services and cremation were at Laurel Hill West, although he is not buried there. 

BBB:LHWS #023   Andy Warhol considered Henry McIlhenny...
...as "the only person in town with glamour."  The Philadelphia Art Alliance deemed him "the first gentleman of Philadelphia."  Connoisseur Magazine named him one of the top ten art collectors of all time. When McIlhenny died in 1986, he left everything - an estimated $100M worth - to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His parties were legendary.  His friends were society's giants. 
Fellow volunteer tour guide and historian Thomas Keels tells you of this remarkable man.