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Anna Justina Magee was the last of seven siblings who lived together their entire lives. Her legacy for the family was a hospital designed for people who were convalescing from injury – The Magee Rehabilitation Hospital.

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Elizabeth Duane Gillespie came from a politically active family; she was the chief fundraiser and organizer for the Sanitary Fair of 1864, which put her in the position to lead the way for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. She ended up rescuing it from disaster.

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London-born Esther DeBerdt Reed married a man who became George Washington’s right-hand man and switched her Tory allegiance to become a radial patriot; the organization she founded to provide some relief to the soldiers fighting for her freedom didn’t quite go the way that she had planned.

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George Gordon Meade Easby, a wealthy and eccentric character named after his great grandfather, lived in a Chestnut Hill mansion called Baleroy for most of his 87 years. He didn’t mind sharing the space with phantom apparitions, which included his younger brother, his mother, Thomas Jefferson, and a malevolent spirit named “Amanda”, along with several others.

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William Welsh Harrison was a moneyed man due to America’s sweet tooth – he made a fortune as a sugar manufacturer. Part of his wealth went to build the family home, Grey Towers Castle in Glenside. His former home now serves as administrative offices for Arcadia University, but his presence is still felt on the property. Apparently, the castle and other campus buildings are haunted.

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William Morris Meredith, Jr., described himself as a "B+ poet who has written a few A+ poems". Despite his modesty, his poetry was recognized as some of the best in post-WWII America. He served for two years as US Poet Laureate and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He is interred at Laurel Hill West.

ABC #065 - Part 4

Richard Burr was a Civil War surgeon who found there was more money in "treating" the dead and became an embalmer. Photographer Matthew Brady immortalized him with a battlefield photo.

This is section 4 of All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #065 - Fathers and Mothers of American Medicine, Part 4. You can find plenty of other stories about American medical pioneers in earlier episodes.

ABC #065 - Part 2

Thomas Kirkbride trained as a surgeon but developed an interest in madness during his training. His blueprint for asylums became the standard for nearly a century.

This is one of four people I talk about in All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #65 - Fathers and Mothers of American Medicine, Part 4. You will find many other stories about Philadelphia medical pioneers in Parts 1, 2, and 3.