Robert William Rutherford, Jr.
Of all the thousands of burials in this cemetery, this must be the only one of a well-to-do Philadelphian who dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania to buy a…
Read MoreBenjamin Britton
The phrase, “a lot” has a lot of applications. In this story the first use of the term is about a parcel of land which had previously been a parking…
Read MoreAlexander Purves
Conditions in Scotland brought the Purves family to America sometime around the War of 1812. Alexander preferred to say in his later years that he was born in Andover, Massachusetts,…
Read MoreJames Henry Askin
Everybody knows “you can’t take it with you” and that no hearse has ever pulled a U-Haul trailer. Henry learned that material things are only temporary and a good life…
Read MoreJames Connelly
Whether it’s linen or tweed or cotton and silks, Philadelphia and Ireland share a “common thread,” and that is textile manufacturing. James Connelly left his homeland and did his part…
Read MoreJohn Simmons
Some people are suspicious of paper money. John found that paper brought him money, and lots of it. Some people think recycling was the invention of the environmental activism of…
Read MoreJohn Henry Eagle
Of the five children born to Conrad and Mary Ann Eagle, the first was a girl, as was the last. The youngest daughter died of typhoid fever at age 4.…
Read MoreGeorge Mackenzie Dunlap
This is the story of a lad born in Ireland who, with his friends, came to Philadelphia to be grocers. Ironically, he was born the same year as the Great…
Read MoreWilliam Watson Bache
Sometimes it’s not just one thing that makes a person’s life particularly notable, but a number of unrelated but interesting facts. One is that, before this man turned 46 years…
Read MoreJohn Wesley Rose
His preferred formal name was J. Wesley Rose but informally it was just Wesley. Being named for the famous preacher, John Wesley, is an obvious clue that the family supported…
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