Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-26
BURIED In FLOWERS.
Strange Religious Rites Of a Singular
and Mystical Sect,
ECONOMITES DECORATION DAY.
Their Peculiar Notions as to the Remem
brance of the Dead.
THE GREAT VIRTUE OF OBEDIENCE
rwRrrrIrN FOR THE DISPATCH.

ECONOMY, May 25, 1SS9.-0f all the
many peculiar customs of that most singular
sect of German communists, celibates and
pietist mystics, the Harmonists or Econo-
mites, none is fraught with deeper interest
than their annual ceremonies, performed at
this time of the year, in honor of the dead
and eliminating in the complete covering
of tn cir graves with flowers. Often as the
Economics. or more properly, the Harmon
lists, have been written up" in newspapers
and magazines, none of those numerous
sketches have given anv account of their
quaint ideas and customs in connection
with death, nor have they told anything of
their religious creed beyond the fact that its
two most distinctive features are the hold
ing of all property in common and the prae-
tice of celibacy.
To fully understand the singular cere-
monies and observances of to-day it is neces-
sary for the reader to know something of
these things. The Harmonists have no fear
of death. They believe that for all who
have been good and faithful members of the
Harmony Society eternal happiness is GER
tain. They reject the doctrine of everlast-
ing punishment. On the contrary, they
hold that as the purpose of nearly all the
punishment inflicted by man is largely the
reformation of the offenders, so Gods pun
ishment of the wicked is designed to make
them good and fit them for heaven, where
thev will ultimately be received.
ONE CHRISTIAN DUTY.
Complete submission to the will of their
temporal governor and spiritual leader
they regard as one of the highest and most
imperative forms of Christian duty. One
good old Economic sister told me only yes
terday that a blessing could not fail to fol-
low implicit obedience to the commands OF
Father Henriei, who for more than 20
years past has been the absolute head of the
societY-its prophet, priest and king, and
the dictator of all its rules and regulations.
There is a well equipped doctors Office
in Economy, supplied with drugs and med
icines of all kinds. 1t is visited daily by a
physician from the town of Baden, who is
engaged by the year to attend the entire
community. If Harmonist falls sick, simple
home remedies, in the composition of which
many OF the ola women possess rare skill,
are first tried. Should these fail, the doc
tor is summoned. His efforts are assisted
by the united prayers of the whole society,
for, though the Harmonists are not faith
curers, yet they believe the efficacy of prayer
to be absolutely without limit.
When death ensues word is quickly
passed from house to house, that all who de-
sire to do so may look once more upon the
features of the deceased. The last farewell
is taken, the corpse is wrapped in a winding
sheet and placed in plain pine coffin. In
this, as in everything else pertaining to
their social usages, the Harmonists simply
follow the customs that prevailed in the
little town of Iptingen, in the kingdom of
Wurtemberg, Germany, when the founders
of this society emigrated from it to this
country in 1905. The style of dress they
wear to-day is identical with that worn in
provincial towns of the 'Faderland" 81
fears ago.
NO DISPLAY MADE.
Women are not permitted to attend the fu-
neral services. Only the nine elders, of
whom Jacob Henrici and Jonathan Lenz
are the leaders, and "a few of the more init
mate friends of the deceased assemble at the |
house where the body lies. No hearse with |
nodding plumes and snowy trappings con-
veys dead Harmonists to their last resting |
place. Opposed as they are to display and |
ostentatiOn in everything, they deem it most |
reprehensible of all in connection with |
death. After few brief remarks BY Father |
Henriei, the coffin is borne out upon the |
shoulders of three or four Stalwart men and |
placed in an ordinary wagon.
Ever since the Harmonists settled in
their present location they have been aecus-
toned to bury their dead in their orchard, a
large incloSure of many acres, made beau
tiful by exquisitely kept velvety lawns and
graceful peach and pear trees. Almost in
the center of this place there is large ter
raced mound some 20 feet in height, which
was there long before the recollection of the
Oldest inhabitant of Beaver county It is
believed to be an Indian burial mound, and
the HarmoniStE have been often urged to ex-
cavate its contents, but have always refused,
saying that since they would not wish the
last resting place of their loved ones to be
desecrated they cannot so violate the golden
rule as to disturb even that of a savage
Within the orchard, short distance from
this Indian burial place, neat, plain fence
of white palings incloses a space of about
an acre and half now almost filled with
graves There, beneath the \umbrageous
shadows of the countless varieties of apple.
pear and peach trees, which stand in length
ening rows throughout the orchard, Father
Rapp, the founder Of this strange sect of
Harmonists, and his peaceful German fol-
lowers calmly sleep their last sleep within
few feet of the Indian braves and warriors
who rest beneath the terraced mound.
Truly death is wonderful leveler and
equalizer.
UNMARKED GRAVES.
The graves of the Harmonists are wholly
by mark of any kind, and
there is no means of distinguishing that of
the great Father Rapp from those of the
humble brethren who sleep around him. A
register and ground plan of this primitive
cemetery are strictly kept however and the
aged Harmonist who has charge of it can
give, from memory, the name and point out
the grave of every individual buried there !
To this quaint place of interment the few
attendants at a Rarmonist funeral follow on
loot the wagon that contains the corpse. At
the newly-made grave PRAYER is offered by
Father Henrlcl and hymn is sung, the
after being selected from strange old
1ymE-uook which Father Rapp compiled in
1900 expressly for the society's use. It con-
tains some hymns from the old WurtembeTy
collection, while the others are of Father
Rapp's own composition.
After the hymn the coffin is lowered into
she grave, each person present advances and
sasts down flowers upon it until it is COM
Dletely covered. Then the earth is shoyeIed j
IN and the simple ceremonies are ended i
Much that seems strange in the faith and :
practice of the Harmonists is readily ac- s
counted for when it is taken into considera- (
ion that ever since the formation of their !;
Iociety in 1906 they have daily expected the i
Visible, personal second coming of the Re- /
leemer. The sun never rises upon a new T
lay that they do not expect to see in the
heavens the signs of His glorious advent il
md to read therein the-to them-joyful I
Jews that the end of the world is at hand. r
They hold all flowers In great veneration I I
Ind invest them with a special mystic mean q