Palm, Joseph Henry Louis Charles De
(1809- 1876). An Austrian nobleman who joined TS in December 1875. Palm became a member of the Council in 1876 and died shortly afterward on May 19. It is believed that his was the first corpse cremated in the USA, the TS advocating this reform in funeral practice. The cremation caused a media uproar in the US and the event was reported in over 7,000 journals. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states that the first cremation in the US was of F. J. Le Moyne of Washington and Moyne did in fact build America’s first crematorium in 1876 and was himself cremated there some time later, but the actual date is not recorded. De Palm willed all his possessions to the TS, but he was actually destitute and the TS paid for his funeral.
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