Walter Ramsey Connison

The Connison family was from Ireland, living in the Sharswood section of Philadelphia, just north of Girard College. Walter had a younger brother and sister, and his father was an…

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John Black Rodgers

John’s mother was his father’s second wife. Charles’ first wife died while delivering the last of seven children during their ten years of marriage. On top of that tragedy, five…

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John James Morrow

The most fundamentally important thing to someone is their name. John received his middle name in honor of his father, James, but while most documents used his formal name, everyone…

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Ole Lauritz Jespersen

Denmark was Ole’s home and Danish was his language until he came to New York City in 1889 at age 21. He remained single the rest of his life but…

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David Hindman Cochran

David grew up in the Mill Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia, the son of a salesman and his wife, with an older brother and sister. By age 18 he was…

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Joseph Edward Mahaney

In the years just before and after the dawn of the 20th century a letter carrier and his wife had eleven children while living in the East Germantown section of…

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Thomas W. Dougherty

The Doughertys had nine children and the five who were living with them in 1900 were all boys. The only girl had just married and moved out. Because Tom was…

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Daniel Webster Zeising

Daniel’s ancestral roots were in Germany and his family had strong ties to books. His father was a printer and publisher most of his life, and two of his three…

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