All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

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Countess Santa Eulalia, aka Libbie Shindler Stetson Jun 03, 2025

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ABC:LHS #075-2 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.

The United States and Peerage Titles Jun 02, 2025

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ABC:LHS #075-1 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.

Laurel Hill Nobility (part 1) Jun 01, 2025

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ABC:LHS #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 headstone and "Olympic medalist" in his obituary; neither was true.
Clarence Wiener was a peripatetic military gadfly who claimed innumerable medals and honors for himself; he was especially upset when his wealthy widowed mother married Baron von Graetner. Wiener was in a category of story tellers as enthralling as the Baron von Munchausen.
Princess Olga Demidoff Troubetzskoy Stoever was from a royal Russian family and married into another. She was married to Philadelphia archeologist Stoever and her name is carved on his stone. Fate had other plans for the princess.

Jack Merriam & Dream Garden May 14, 2025

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BBB:LHWS #044 John W. “Jack” Merriam...

...made his fortune in real estate development – Oxford Valley Mall, Cedarbrook Apartment Complex, and 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. He was namesake for the Merriam Theater on South Broad Street, and he left tens of millions of dollars in support of local art institutions.

2LT Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill: Gassed! May 06, 2025

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ABC:LHS #074-5 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.

MAJ Alfred Reginald Allen, MD: The Choices a Man Makes May 05, 2025

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ABC:LHS #074-4 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.

CPT Alan Wood Lukens: Lost in the Fog of War May 04, 2025

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ABC:LHS #074-3 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

1LT Dillwyn Parrish Starr: Groton to The Somme May 03, 2025

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ABC:LHS #074-2 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.

Philadelphia and the Great War May 02, 2025

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ABC:LHS #074-1 "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 many thought would be the "war to end all wars."

Killing Fields of France (part 1) May 01, 2025

Show notes

ABC:LHS #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 of steel mongers. Although he was killed in late September of 1918 at Meuse Argonne, his family did not discover the truth until several months later. Lukens was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
MAJ Alfred Reginald Allen trained as a research neurologist and became one of the best photomicrographers in the country. He wrote operas, overtures, and hymns, and he founded the Savoy Company to perform the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan. Yet when he volunteered for war service, it was as an officer in the Army.
2LT Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill trained at PAFA and in Paris with James Whistler. He was apparently wounded by poison gas and spent the last few years of his life suffering from its effects.

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