A Few Loose Ends: Cleaning Out Some Old Files

A Few Loose Ends: Cleaning Out Some Old Files

From All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories by Joe Lex

May 1, 2026 · 1h 43m · Episode 487

About this episode

The episode explores various historical figures and stories related to Laurel Hill Cemetery.

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #086 for May 1, 2026 I was tied up with preparing some new tours and could not finish the podcast on the Bible Riots of 1844. I scrounged around and found a few scripts I had written and never used. And then I remembered a segment that Thomas Keels recorded for me for an abandoned project. Francis Lilly Sully Darley was the grandson of a great portrait painter who married the daughter of Matthias Baldwin and became the most sought-after organist and choir director in the city. The Kindred Brothers went west to Minnesota and North Dakota and became fabulously wealthy with their shady railroad real estate deals. One served as mayor of Fargo. William Potter and Louis Clark Vanuxem were best friends and brothers in law. Through years of dedication, Potter's name is inextricably tied with Thomas Jefferson University, while Louis's name is preserved at Princeton. Fellow guide and amateur historian Thomas Keels tells the story of how the Great Profile Shakespearean actor John Barrymore ended up without a marker in a nearly abandoned cemetery decades after his demise.

People in this episode

Host: Joe Lex

Guest: Thomas Keels

Topics covered

  • historical figures
  • cemetery stories
  • local history
  • organists
  • railroad real estate
  • theater history

Keywords

  • Laurel Hill Cemetery
  • Bible Riots
  • John Barrymore
  • historical tours
  • organist
  • railroad deals
  • Fargo

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Thomas Jefferson University, Princeton

Places: Minnesota, North Dakota

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