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. 

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.