The cremation of the dead / considered from an aesthetic, sanitary, religious, historical, medico-legal, and economical standpoint

by Hugo Erichsen

In the spring or winter of 1855, Count Pfeil, a German aristocrat, then proprietor of a farm in the neighborhood of Milwaukee, attempted to incinerate the corpse of his wife in accordance with her own request. He accordingly erected a funeral pile in his own yard, on the soil that he owned. When his intention to burn his wife became known among the farmers in the vicinity, there was a great uproar; they finally went so far as to march in a body to the residence of the count, and to declare that they would mob him if he would dare to execute the cremation. He then proposed, since the matter was creating a disturbance in the neighborhood, to transfer the incineration to the lake shore. But the prejudice of the farmers was so great that they would accept no compromise. They finally petitioned the governor, and were successful in obtaining a decree prohibiting the cremation. The count, disgusted at the lack of our boasted liberty, interred his wife, sold his estate, and departed for Europe.

The third reduced to ashes in the United States was the Baron de Palm, prince of the Holy Roman Empire, a native of Augsburg, Bavaria, who was incinerated in the Le Moyne crematory at Washington, Pa., on the 6th of December, 1876. The baron had died at the age of sixty-seven at New York, in May, 1875, and his body had been immediately embalmed and placed in the receiving vault of the Lutheran cemetery, where it was kept until the Le Moyne crematorium was finished.

On this day mentioned, many members of the secular press, and delegations from various scientific and sanitary societies, assembled at the crematory to witness the cineration of the defunct nobleman; many of the leading newspapers of this country, and also of France, Germany, and England, were represented. About 30 invitations had been issued, and many members of the prominent boards of health were present. The fires had been started at two o’clock in the morning. On opening the casket it was found that the weight of the body had been reduced from 175 to 92 pounds. At 27 minutes past eight o’clock, everything being pronounced ready, the body, lying in the iron cradle and covered with a shroud (which had previously been soaked in an alum solution, to prevent its too rapid ignition), and decorated with flowers and evergreen, was consigned to the retort, which was instantly shut. The actual temperature of the retort could not be ascertained, as no pyrometer was at hand; it was, no doubt, a little over 2000° Fahrenheit. Through a small opening in the cast-iron door, which closed the retort, an occasional glimpse of the interior was obtained, and the effect of the heat upon the body observed. In about 15 minutes the aqueous vapor had all been expelled, leaving the shroud completely charred, but still retaining its form sufficiently to completely conceal the outlines of the body. In an hour the outlines of the prominent bones were plainly visible, and an hour later the incineration was complete, but it was deemed advisable to continue the heat for four hours from the time the body had been first placed in the furnace. When last seen, much of the form of the body had remained, owing to the exclusion of the atmospheric air. During the burning, the ordinary draft of the furnace was increased by means of a fan-blower. The body was not removed from the furnace until some 24 hours had elapsed, to allow the retort to cool. During the entire process there was no offensive odor, either at the top of the chimney or elsewhere. The cremation was entirely satisfactory, and nothing of an unpleasant nature occurred. The residue left, after the incineration was completed, was three pints of ashes, which were carefully collected, and, after being sprinkled with perfume, were deposited in an antique vase, which was delivered to the officers of the Theosophical Society in attendance, of which the baron was a member.

CREMATORY AT WASHINGTON, PA.

Forty bushels of coke were consumed in burning Baron Palm, the whole cost of the operation being $7.04.

In the afternoon a meeting was held at Washington, presided over by J. Lawson Judson, Esq., at which addresses were made by Colonel Olcott on the history of cremation; Rev. George P. Hayes (president of the Washington and Jefferson College) on the bearing of the Bible and Christianity upon the subject of cremation; Dr. James King on incineration from a sanitary point of view; Dr. Le Moyne on the general advantages of cremation; Boyd Crumine, Esq., who spoke of the popular prejudices against this method of disposing of the dead; and Mr. Nicholas K. Wade, who alluded to the mechanical necessities of a perfect cremation.

It is to be regretted that so many of the persons who attended this incineration had a preconceived notion of the practice, which rendered them totally unfit to judge of it. Being prejudiced from the beginning, it is not at all surprising that they should have given unsatisfactory, highly sensational, and misrepresenting accounts of the affair to the world; but as Mr. W. Eassie pertinently remarks, the same thing has occurred in every case of modern cremation up to the present time, and will, no doubt, continue until the reform is more commonly practiced.

The fourth body that was cremated in the United States was Mrs. Jane Pitman, from Cincinnati, who was destroyed in the Le Moyne crematorium, Feb. 6, 1877. The fifth disposed of by fire in America was Dr. Winslow, of California, who was burned at Salt Lake City on the 31st of July, 1877, in a primitive furnace temporarily erected through his request by the administrators of his estate. The sixth was a child of Mr. Julius Kircher, who cremated it in his oven at New York City, in the fall of 1877.

The Le Moyne crematory was closed to the general public Aug. 1, 1884. After that date no bodies were received by the trustees of the crematorium, outside of Washington County, for cremation. Bodies were admitted to the Le Moyne furnace for incineration from all parts of the country, only in order to carry out Dr. Le Moyne’s view of reform—keeping the subject before the public. Since the interest manifested by the people of the United States in the subject of cremation is speedily growing, other crematories are building where the public will be accommodated; and as the business increased to such an extent that it occupied more time than the trustees could possibly devote to it, they were compelled to limit the use of the crematory. Hereafter, therefore, no body will be cremated in this furnace, who has not lived within the county in which Dr. Le Moyne lived and died. And whereas not one of the persons consumed in this crematorium (except the owner himself) hailed from Washington County, we may presume that this pioneer furnace of cremation in America has been closed forever.