CREMATION OF AN OCTOGENARIAN PLANTER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 190, 17 November 1876, Page 15

CREMATION OF AN OCTOGENARIAN PLANTER.

The body of Mr. Henry Thomas Berry, caged eighty-two years, one j of the lprgest and naos*; respected planters in Marion County, South. ■ Carolina, has been subjected to a process of cremation, in accordance with a request contained in his will. The reasons assigned i by the deceased planter for this strange desire are very peculiar. I About twenty-four years ago two relatives of his died. After . having been buried for several years the surviving relatives desired to have the remains disinterred to be removed to a spot located in an adjacent section. In accordance with this desire the bodies were disinterred, and during the removal the coffin lids became detached, and the bodies were exposed to public gaze. Having , .been buried a long time they were of course in a fearful state of ' decomposition. Mr. Berry was present on the occasion, and his nervous system received such a severe shcck he there and then i made a solemn declaration that his remains should not be subject to a similar fate. His two sons frequently tried to dissuade him from his intention, but argument was useless, and the old gentleman made a provision in his will that his sons should be disin- i herited in the event of their not carrying out his wishes. Some ' months before his death he entered into a contract with two of;his ' employees, allowing them two mules and each for superintending the cremation proceedings, and he selected two fir trees on his estate which were to be used for tlie purpose of firewood. The ! trees designated by the deceased were cut down, and all the neces- ' sary arrangements having been perfected, 'the body was laid on the platform surrounded by an enclosure about twenty feet in height. After appropriate services, held by a Baptist divine, the combustibles were ignited, and in about two hours all that remained of the deceased was ashes. The people of the district say that the process was an outrage on their sensibilities, and should have been prevented by the authorities.—' New York Herald.'