All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories
Brief biographies of permanent residents of Laurel Hill East in Philadelphia and Laurel Hill West in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining.
Episodes
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #076, part 4
Rat Catcher Lou Bossle was proud of his profession - it is even carved onto his Laurel Hill West tombstone. Twice in the 1890s, Philadelphia newspapers sent a reporter to keep him company in rat-infested basements while he was on the job.
I'll tell you about the long relationship between humans and rats, and share some of the methods used by ratcatchers of yore.
If you're a li...
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 d...
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 vio...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 im...
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 ...
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.
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 La...
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
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.
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...
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...
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...
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 h...
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.
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.
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.
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