Queer Places:
Hillside Cemetery
Roslyn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA
Harry Zebley aka Harry Lansing (1854 - February 10, 1887)
was an
old-time female impersonator. He was with Simmons and Slocum's Minstrels in
Philadelphia in 1874. In 1879 he was with Haverly's Minstrels. About the
middle 1880's he had as a partner, Harry Constantine; together they played the
variety theatres.
Harry Lansing was murdered in Philadelphia, on February 10, 1887. He was shot in John J. Daly's saloon's saloon, on Vine Street, near Eighth, Philadelphia, by Special Officer George H. Stock (1840-1900). A dozen witnesses declared that the shooting was accidental. Stock, who was greatly affected, gave his version of the affair. "I had just been appointed a private watchman," he said, "and had bought a new Smith & Wesson revolver. I pulled it out of my pocket to show to Harry and he told me to put it away. I don't know how it exploded, but I heard the report and saw Harry fall. We were like brothers, and I would rather had it happen to me than to him."
Zebley's ante-mortem statement, declaring that the shooting was an accident and that he and Stock were the best of friends, was presented to the Coroner's jury. The verdict was to the effect that the shooting was accidental.
Both Zebley and Stock are buried at Hillside Cemetery, Roslyn.
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