The subject of cremation was first agitated at Baltimore, Md., in the winter of 1884, by Dr. G. W. Lehmann and Mr. J. R. Rennous, who were also the originators of the cremation company in that city. In 1884, two public meetings were held; but they were poorly attended, and the prospects gloomy in the extreme. But the two advocates of incineration worked steadily on until their efforts were crowned with success. The Cremation Cemetery Company of Baltimore City was incorporated on the 30th of March, 1885, with a capital stock of $15,000, divided into 600 shares of the par value of $25 per share. At a meeting of the stockholders the following officers were elected: B. F. Horwitz, president; J. R. Rennous, secretary; J. W. Middendorf, treasurer. The founders of the organization were obliged to call it “Cremation Cemetery Co.,” to comply with the general laws of Maryland in obtaining the charter. $9000 worth of stock has already been taken up, and the company expects to make such headway that it will be able to build soon.
When the La Crosse (Wisconsin) Cremation Society was founded in the middle of October, 1885, with Mr. John Pamperin as president, it resolved upon a full investigation of the subject of incineration and appointed a committee to get reports from other societies. This committee having performed its work, a meeting of the committee was held at the residence of Mr. Gustav Carl, and these reports read, arranged, and discussed. The report from Detroit was particularly exhaustive. Davenport also furnished a report. The cremation society there had sent a representative to Lancaster, Pa., who had examined the cremation furnace there and had prepared a report, of which La Crosse was given the benefit. The result of the conference was that a resolution was adopted calling for a meeting of stockholders at an early date for permanent organization. The La Crosse Cremation Association filed articles of incorporation with the secretary of state on the 26th of November, 1885. The purpose of the association is to dispose of human bodies after death, by cremation, and it shall continue its business for 20 years, unless the holders of two-thirds of the stock consent to the dissolution of the association. Mr. J. Pamperin is the president, Mr. G. Carl, secretary, and Mr. J. Ulrich the treasurer of the association. A person wishing to become a member of this association may subscribe for one or more shares of $25 each (not exceeding 50 shares) of the capital stock of the association, which is limited to $8000. The shares so subscribed shall be paid in instalments. The first instalment must be paid at the time of subscription, and the balance in instalments, as called for by the directors, within one year thereafter; but none shall be called for until three months after the other. If any of the subscribers should die before the projected crematorium has been erected, and the deceased should have expressed a wish to have his body cremated, and provision is made by him or his family for the expenses incident thereto, the officers of the society shall see that his will in this respect be carried out at the nearest convenient crematory.
The Kentucky Cremation Society, at Louisville, which was organized in the fall of 1886, has been steadily growing, and now counts about 70 members. The subscribed capital is sufficient to buy a lot and commence building, and the society therefore hopes to have a crematory ready during next year.
A license was issued on Jan. 2, 1886, to William Christian, of the Chicago Tribune, Elmer Atkinson, a lawyer, and David Hamilton, a real estate dealer, to build a crematory for the incineration of human bodies, near Chicago, Illinois. The capital of the company which they have organized, and which is called the “Chicago and Cook County Cremation Company,” is $40,000.
On April 6, 1886, Dr. O. W. Carlson read a paper advocating cremation, before the Academy of Medicine, at Milwaukee, Wis. At the close of the address the subject was discussed at some length by those present, and some very interesting facts were brought out. A proposition was made that the Academy of Medicine found a cremation society at Milwaukee, and, though no action in the matter was taken at the time, it is probable that steps will be taken by the members with that object in view.
Lately a cremation society was organized at Milwaukee, that has already secured a desirable site upon a local cemetery, and intends to erect a crematorium as soon as the necessary funds are obtained.
It is proposed to build a crematory at Toronto, Canada. The pastors of the leading churches, upon being interviewed, almost unanimously expressed their opposition to cremation.
The newspapers state that a crematory will be erected at Atlanta, Ga.
This volume would not be complete without the mention of the Modern Crematist, a monthly journal devoted to the interests of incineration, and published by Dr. M. L. Davis of Lancaster, Pa. The Neue Flamme, a worthy German contemporary, is published at Berlin.
My native country was always eager to embrace deserving reforms; there is no reason why it should not adopt the superior system of incineration. Nay, I think it will become the standard-bearer of this sanitary reformation, and march in the avant-guard of this signal progress. The subject of incineration is already awakening much interest among us, as is evinced by a recent sermon of that eminent New York divine, Rev. Heber Newton, who spoke strongly in favor of the substitution of cremation for sepulture. He said the mode of disposing of the dead human body was only a form, and that mode was best which was best for the living. In England, only a few years ago, a dignitary of the national church dared to assert that cremation endangered the belief in the life to come. He knew, or ought to have known, that the same process of combustion is surely carried on, whether in the ground or in the crematory, and that if dissolution of the body imperiled the true doctrine of resurrection, then that doctrine was long ago hopelessly lost. These words from the lips of a famous American preacher are certainly proof that the antagonism of the clergy to cremation is waning.