Biographical Bytes from Bala #037

John Trout Greble was a Philadelphian descended from colonial pioneers on both sides of his family.  He graduated with honors from Central High School and to the shock of many, this delicate young man chose a career in the military.  After he graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854, he spent time in Florida during the Seminole displacement of Trail of Tears, before he taught ethics at West Point and married the chaplain’s daughter.  His first taste of war was as leader of artillery at the Battle of Big Bethel in Southern Virginia in June 1861 where he was killed in action – the first West Point graduate to fall in the American Civil War.  Lt Greble is interred in the Merion Section of Laurel Hill West.

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #067, Part 2

Spiritualism was a belief system that involved communication with the dead.  Philadelphia gentleman Adam Seybert was a true believer and wanted others to believe.  He left money in his will to establish a department at Penn to prove his point.  The committee was headed by Shakespearean scholar Horace Howard Furness and featured many Philadelphia notables.  The real fun started when they interviewed Maggie Fox, one of the founders of spiritualism.  

Researched and read by Patricia Rose

ABC#067, part 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 which started after she suffered a failed sexual assault at gunpoint by a young man she trusted.   Esther's nightmarish experiences affected not only her, but the people with whom she lived: she was even temporarily jailed as an arsonist when a neighbor's barn burned to the ground.

Walter Hubbell learned about Esther when his traveling troop ventured into the Maritimes.  He thought that 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.

Biographical Bytes from Bala #036: William, Edward & George Vare: The Dukes of South Philadelphia

The Vare brothers grew up unschooled, 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.  All three Vare brothers are interred at Laurel Hill West.

Historian, author, and fellow Laurel Hill Tour Guide Thomas Keels tells you their story. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 4

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.  

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 3

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.  

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 2

Lewis Haupt was son of famed railroad Engineer Herman Haupt (see Biographical Bytes from Bala #10: 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.  

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066 - Laurel Hill and the Panama Canal, Part 1

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. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066, Pushing Water, Section 2

Rudolph Hering was son of the famed homeopath 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. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #066, Pushing Water, Section 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.