David Eric Harmon
Chicago was where David was born but Philadelphia was where he grew up with three younger brothers. Friends and family called him Rick. As a student at Overbrook High School…
Read MoreJacob Nathan Hoeflich
Some of the most interesting moments in Jacob’s life were in his first and his last days, although his life turned out to be anything but dull. The last years…
Read MoreWilliam Edward Harpur
William’s family came from England and settled on the Maryland coast south of Delaware. As a teenager he came to Philadelphia to learn the craft of watchmaking. Completing his apprenticeship…
Read MoreThompson Carson
Thompson stepped off a ship onto American soil in New York in the summer of 1857. Less than four years later, while still a citizen of Ireland, he joined the…
Read MoreJonathan Prichard
A mausoleum is erected because someone had the means to afford one, and that was the case with Jonathan Prichard. Although his name is over the entrance, he had it…
Read MoreJohn H. Jones
Well known in West Philadelphia as a butcher, John was more diverse than his plain name would suggest. Fortunately, he regularly used his middle initial; attempts to research such a…
Read MoreJoseph Richards Connell
The Connell family did well with the buying and selling of land, starting with Joseph’s grandfather, George C. Connell. He began purchasing tracts of land in the 1840s on which…
Read MoreAdam Gaul
Adam Gaul’s father and grandfather were victims of human trafficking. The story of their experience has been preserved through the generations of that family. It is repeated here because slavery…
Read MoreRobert Paschall
His was the oldest family in West Philadelphia, according to a newspaper account of the late 1800s. An ancestor received a grant from England’s King Charles II in the late…
Read MoreDaniel C. Barry
Daniel Barry’s father was a Civil War veteran, Marine Corps Sergeant David Barry who, with wife Lucy, had four girls and three boys. The oldest one was called Dan. Sometimes…
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