Biographical Bytes from Bala #045 for mid-June 2025 The card games whist and bridge arrived in Victorian Philadelphia and captivated its upper-class population. Bridge clubs formed all over town, but people soon realized the man in the know was Milton C. Work, a Philadelphia lawyer. A scoring system that Work popularized for contract bridge remains the one that most players use today. Learn about the history of playing cards, the development of bid games, and a lot more on this month's episode....
Jun 15, 2025•50 min•Ep. 404
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #075, part 4 Baron von Munchausen was a German military man who traveled the country spreading his tales of wonder, which always featured himself in the role of a hero. Clarence Wiener came from a wealthy Philadelphia family. He started to burnish his reputation during his brief stay at Harvard. Eventually, truth and fiction blended together. His widowed mother married an American-born violin teacher who was also a Baron. When Clarence died, he ended up ...
Jun 06, 2025•31 min•Ep. 399
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #75, part 5 Princess Olga Demidoff was from one royal family and married into another, the house of Trubetskoy. She eventually married Philadelphia archeologist Edward Stoever, but supported herself as both an escort and as madame in a high-end New York brothel. Her name is on the tombstone, but she is located on an island off of Spain.
Jun 05, 2025•13 min•Ep. 400
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #075, part 3 In Paris before the Great War, he was known as Roberto Carles Eskens, but acquired the title of “The Marquis D’Eskens de Frenoys.” Baron James Ivan Michael von Suttka was born in Canton, Ohio, and claimed to be an Olympic caliber pistol shot. Both men married rich American women. It is difficult to prove whether their titles were authentic.
Jun 04, 2025•22 min•Ep. 401
From all Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #075, part 2 Elizabeth "Libby" Shindler was an Indiana farm girl / schoolteacher who caught the eye of philanthropist / hatmaker John B. Stetson and became his third wife. When left a widow with several million dollars, she was pursued and captured by a Portuguese nobleman who was not quite what he claimed.
Jun 03, 2025•33 min•Ep. 398
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #075, Part 1 In the last quarter of the 19th century, there was a surge in marriages between European nobility and American heiresses as families exchanged money for titles. These women became known as "dollar princesses," and soon your east coast soiree was not complete without a contessa or marchioness to add to the flavor.
Jun 02, 2025•23 min•Ep. 397
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #075 In the late 19th and early 20th century, more than 450 American heiresses traded their fortunes for a European title; they were called "dollar princesses." Elizabeth Shindler Stetson was the hatmaker's third wife who married into a Portuguese title. Roberto Carles Eskens claimed Belgian nobility as Marquis d'Eskens de Frenoys; or was he a German valet with a good story and a vivid imagination? James Ivan Michael von Suttka has "Baron" on his headsto...
Jun 01, 2025•2 hr 24 min•Ep. 403
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 The...
May 14, 2025•47 min•Ep. 396
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.
May 06, 2025•27 min•Ep. 393
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.
May 05, 2025•19 min•Ep. 392
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
May 04, 2025•22 min•Ep. 391
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.
May 03, 2025•19 min•Ep. 390
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 man...
May 02, 2025•11 min•Ep. 395
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...
May 01, 2025•2 hr•Ep. 394
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....
Apr 15, 2025•39 min•Ep. 388
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 Eak...
Apr 06, 2025•41 min•Ep. 386
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.
Apr 05, 2025•27 min•Ep. 384
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.
Apr 04, 2025•25 min•Ep. 383
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.
Apr 03, 2025•30 min•Ep. 385
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 Constitu...
Apr 02, 2025•17 min•Ep. 382
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, an...
Apr 01, 2025•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 387
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.
Mar 20, 2025•10 min•Ep. 381
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.
Mar 19, 2025•10 min•Ep. 380
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.
Mar 18, 2025•11 min•Ep. 379
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.
Mar 17, 2025•16 min•Ep. 378
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.
Mar 16, 2025•4 min•Ep. 377
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 Rob...
Mar 15, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 376
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.
Mar 06, 2025•17 min•Ep. 373
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.
Mar 05, 2025•21 min•Ep. 372
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 g...
Mar 04, 2025•21 min•Ep. 374
