Baron de Palm: Difference between revisions

From Theosophy Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Joseph Henry Louis Charles, Baron de Palm''', Grand Cross Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and Knight of various other orders, was born at Augsburg, [[May 10]], 1809, in an ancient baronial family of Bavaria. Late in life he emigrated to America, lived a number of years in the Western States.
'''Joseph Henry Louis Charles, Baron de Palm''', Grand Cross Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and Knight of various other orders, was born at Augsburg, [[May 10]], 1809, in an ancient baronial family of Bavaria. Late in life he emigrated to America, lived a number of years in the Western States.


He met [[Henry Steel Olcott]] in New York in December, 1875, bringing an introductory letter from the late Col. Bundy, editor of the [[Religio-Philosophical Journal (periodical)|Religio-Philosophical Journal]].
He met [[Henry Steel Olcott]] in New York in December, 1875, bringing an introductory letter from the late Col. Bundy, editor of the [[Religio-Philosophical Journal (periodical)|''Religio-Philosophical Journal'']].


On [[March 29]], 1876, he was elected on the Council of the T.S. after the resignation of [[J. H. Wiggin|Rev. J. H. Wiggin]].
On [[March 29]], 1876, he was elected on the Council of the T.S. after the resignation of [[J. H. Wiggin|Rev. J. H. Wiggin]].
Line 25: Line 25:
<references/>
<references/>


[[Category:Associates of HPB|Baron de Palm]]
[[Category:Associates of HPB|de Palm, Baron]]
[[Category:Nationality German|Baron de Palm]]
[[Category:Nationality German|de Palm, Baron]]
[[Category:People|Baron de Palm]]
[[Category:People|de Palm, Baron]]

Revision as of 02:10, 10 October 2017

Joseph Henry Louis Charles, Baron de Palm, Grand Cross Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and Knight of various other orders, was born at Augsburg, May 10, 1809, in an ancient baronial family of Bavaria. Late in life he emigrated to America, lived a number of years in the Western States.

He met Henry Steel Olcott in New York in December, 1875, bringing an introductory letter from the late Col. Bundy, editor of the Religio-Philosophical Journal.

On March 29, 1876, he was elected on the Council of the T.S. after the resignation of Rev. J. H. Wiggin.

On May 20, 1876, Baron de Palm died at the Roosevelt Hospital, New York of nephritis, as a result of years of suffering from a complication of diseases of the lungs, kidneys, and other organs. A symbolic memorial service was held in the Masonic Temple, corner of 23rd St., and 6th Ave.

First Cremation in America

The Baron had asked that no clergyman or priest should officiate at his funeral, but that Col. Olcott should perform the last offices in a fashion that would illustrate the Eastern notions of death and immortality. Col. Olcott wrote in his diary:

The recent agitation of the subject of cremation in Great Britain and America, caused by the incineration of the body of the first Lady Dilke, the scientific experiments of Sir Henry Thompson (vide his published essay The Treatment of the Body of the Death, London, 1874), and the sensational article and pamphlets of Rev. H. R. Haweis upon the unspeakable horrors of the burial-grounds of London, led me to ask him how he would wish me to dispose of his remains. He asked for my opinion upon the relative superiority of the two modes of sepulture, concurred in my preference for cremation, expressed a horror of burial, some lady he had once known having been buried alive, and bade me do as I found most advisable.[1]

The actual cremation did not take place until six months after his death, and the body was preserved by using potter’s clay and Phenol. Finally, on December 6, 1876, the body of the Baron was consigned to the flames, in what constituted the first cremation in America, in the small town of Washington, Wash. Co., Penna.

Online resources

Articles

Notes

  1. Henry Steel Olcott, Old Diary Leaves First Series (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 150-151.