All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

Lon Jourdet was an All-American footballer who also excelled at basketball. He spent 23 non-consecutive years as coach at Penn and captured more than 200 victories, but he left in 1943 with a bitter taste in his mouth for the University, which has come close to forgetting him. He ended his own life in 1959. 

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #050 The sport basket ball started on the day James Naismith nailed 13 rules to a gymnasium door in Springfield Massachusetts. The game spread quickly, especially among college men (and women). University of Pennsylvania was an early adapter, and four Penn grads made their names in basketball.   Ellwood Rutschman was a decent player but found his niche as the first professional basketball referee. He set the standards for fairness and ethics in the sport.   "Kid" Keinath was the Quakers' second coach after serving as captain. He was followed by his good friend "Artie" Kiefaber, namesake of the MVP award.   Lon Jourdet won more games in the 20th century than any other Penn basketball coach and was an inventor of the zone defense. But the game passed him by, and his firing in 1943 left him an embittered man. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #080, Part 5   Hugh Craig, Jr., was a successful businessman whose life became the Troop, where he served both as treasurer and as quartermaster. The men loved him, and they still hold a "Hughie's Breakfast" at the conclusion of every deployment. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #080, Part 4   Joseph Lapsley Wilson is better remembered today for his arboretum than his troop membership. It still exists today as the Barnes Arboretum at St. Joseph's University. He introduced several species of Asian trees to the United States. His portrait by Thomas Eakins hangs in the Armory Museum. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #080, part 3   Archibald Loudon Snowden was a polymath who served as Captain of the Troop, as well as postmaster for the city, supervisor of the Philadelphia mint, ambassador to Spain, along with numerous other roles. His portrait is in the armory dining room, and his descendants entertain millions of people. 

All Bones Considered #080, Laurel Hill Stories, part 2   Fairman Rogers lived a life of elegant wealth, but made himself useful as an expert in many aspects of science, especially civil engineering. He was elected briefly as captain of the Troop. He also excelled was as a coachman, especially when he took his magnificent black and red four-in-hand through Fairmount Park. Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins captured Rogers in a painting that is the first to accurately demonstrate motion in animals. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #080, part 1   The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, or "First City Troop", was organized in 1774 as the Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia, often referred to as the Philadelphia Light Horse, one of the first patriotic military organizations established in the American Revolution. Although part of the National Guard system, it is a free-standing unit with its own uniforms and armory. It has served in virtually every war and skirmish ever entered by the United States. After a quarter century of service, it still proudly serves the American populace and the people of Philadelphia. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #080 November 1, 2025 First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, better known as First City Troop is in the midst of celebrating its semiquincentennial before the country does. Each segment will also be released separately.   Part 1 for November 2: a brief history of the First City Troop's First 150 years   Part 2 for November 3: Fairman Rogers was the finest coach driver in the land, especially the four-in-hand variety. His portrait by Thomas Eakins is a classic.   Part 3 for November 4: Archibald Loudon Snowden was a perfect example of a late-19th century polymath, becoming an expert in coin minting, the postal service, fire insurance, and Fairmount Park in addition to his years as a captain of the troop.   Part 4 for November 5: Joseph Lapsley Wilson quietly developed one of the finest arboretums in the country which continued under the care of Dr. Albert C. Barnes, who bought his property for a building in which to display his collection of artwork. It is now party of St. Joseph University.    Part 5 for November 6: Hugh Craig, Jr., was the grease that kept the troop moving and the glue that kept it together for more than 30 years, yet he lay in an unmarked grave at Laurel Hill East for more than a century. 

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #049, part 4   Oscar Rosier had married the prettiest salesgirl in town, who soon bore him a child. But Oscar had a roving eye which was apparently set on his secretary, another beauty and purported friend of his wife. It did not end well for anyone. 

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #049, part 3 Captain Clayton Erb decided to marry and produce an heir at age 50 and selected a young divorcee to serve as mistress of his Red Gables estate in Delaware County. When the woman's sister got involved, things went bad in a hurry. The court case revealed the mansion had been a house of horrors. 

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #049, part 2   John Hobbs knew he was being stalked and told his brother that if he didn't leave town soon, he would be a dead man. He was proved right when the woman he was avoiding caught up with him at the train station. 

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #049, part 1   Intimate Partner Violence dates to pre-biblical times and violence against women was sanctioned by laws until only recently. Up to 40% of all homicides involve a domestic partner. Men tend not to report abuse when it happens, although attitudes are changing. The adage that “Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them" is sometimes reversed. Here are three women who killed their intimate partner; their stories are anything but simple and straightforward. 

Biographical Bytes from Bala #049 John Hobbs was stalked and shot at a railway station in 1891 by a spurned lover. CPT Clayton Erb was shot and killed, either by his wife or his sister-in-law, during one of many knockdown drag-out battles that had occurred in the brief marriage at the Red Gables mansion in Delaware County. In 1922, businessman Oscar Rosier and his secretary Jerry were mortally wounded by Rosier’s wife, who was thought to be the prettiest salesgirl in Philadelphia. Oscar lived long enough to write a will, which completely blocked his soon-to-be widow from his modest estate.   These three men were victims of mariticide. Their stories follow. 

ABC079, Part 5   The tale of the arsenic widows of Philadelphia will never be told fully, and hundreds of men may have died at their hands. Two of the women who looked the guiltiest were saved from a life in prison by brilliant African American defense attorney Raymond Pace Alexander. 

ABC #079, part 4   Victor "Babe" Andreoli was raised in East Falls in a large, hardworking family, but fell in with bad company and was sentenced to life in prison. It didn't go well.

ABC-079, part 3   Willie was one of six brothers in the crime business. They never bothered to affiliate with the Mafia, but three of the six brothers were picked off during gang wars. Willie was one of the victims. 

ABC079 - part 2   Potito "Little Petey" Bisciotti was on the lower rungs of the mob but wanted to move up in the numbers racket. A rendezvous with fellow gangsters led to his untimely death by sawed-off shotgun. 

ABC079, Part 1: How and Why Crime Emerged   In neighborhoods across the city, ethnic groups clashed over control of gambling operations, protection, the numbers racket, prostitution, and eventually bootlegging. These criminal enterprises weren’t just about making money, but were also about gaining power and influence, sometimes even forging ties with local politicians and the police.

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #079 This episode tells of Laurel Hill residents remembered today for their involvement with organized crime in the 1930s and 1940s. After the full podcast today, each segment will be released individually.   Petito "Little Petey" Bisciotti was a wannabe numbers man killed in what has become known as the Flag Day Massacre. Willie Lanzetti was one of six notorious brothers in constant legal troubles; he met his end in a gangland slaying before his body was cremated and the ashes scattered at Laurel Hill West. East Falls resident Victor “Babe” Andreoli was a cop-killer and Eastern State Penitentiary escapee who was gunned down at a breakfast café in Chester. Finally, you’ll hear part of the long sordid tale of the arsenic poisoning for insurance ring that took dozens of lives in the late 1930s. Two of the accused with the most circumstantial evidence against them were found “not guilty” in their trials where they were represented by Raymond Pace Alexander. Let’s get started.  

Biographical Bytes from Bala #048 Today, I shine a spotlight on an all-but-forgotten Philadelphia politician John Henry Fow, known as “Foghorn” for his stentorian voice and “Ducky” for his quirky walk. Fow was a tough lawyer with an uncanny knack for finding what was unconstitutional. He wasn’t afraid to challenge accepted knowledge, and debunked the story behind the famous “Washington Crosses the Delaware” painting and seriously challenged the Betsy Ross flag anecdote. Fow’s love for practical jokes kept his colleagues constantly on their toes, while his razor-sharp tongue silenced many rivals in court. Despite his outsized personality and invaluable contributions, his name has faded from public memory. Join me as we rediscover John Henry Fow—Foghorn for the Talk, Ducky for the Walk—and celebrate his impact on Pennsylvania history.