Mr. Easby was a descendant of seven signers of the Declaration of Independence. Many of his ancestors had the taste and money to satisfy the good life. The 18th-century masterpieces they purchased and that reside in Baleroy belonged to Mr. Easby's family for more than two centuries. It was once called the most important private collection of American antiques.
The stone mansion high above Mermaid Lane was built in 1911 as a showcase for the treasures. Mr. Easby believed the ghosts came with the more than 100,000 pieces in his personal collection. Mr. Easby said in a 1976 Inquirer story that the spirits began to appear regularly after his mother died in 1961.
During one of the many seances Mr. Easby hosted in 1973 at Baleroy, the medium, the late Judith Richardson of New Castle, Del., said she had seen four ghosts at Baleroy. She believed the spirits of John Milton and Napoleon's field marshal, Michel Ney, wanted to be close to their possessions. Baleroy's riches include Napoleon's watch, snuff box, china, and a chair.
Mr. Easby loaned some items to the State Department, where he served 26 years on the Commission of Fine Arts. Many other pieces can be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Other treasures in the house include silver flatware used by signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a collection of watches and clocks, one of them made for Marie Antoinette. While a student at Chestnut Hill Academy, Mr. Easby did his homework at Gen. Meade's desk.
Mr. Easby did not choose to follow in the family military tradition, but was drafted into the Army during World War II. He patrolled the Atlantic Coast in planes, but "I couldn't call myself an Army man," said Mr. Easby in a 1972 Inquirer article.
Beginning in 1936, Mr. Easby studied illustration at the Philadelphia College of Art for four years.
