Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-02
.HARMAN'S ODD
WILL OPPOSED
DAUGHTER DECLINES TO FOL-
LOW INSTRUCTIONS
ORDERS THAT BODY OF FATHER
BE EM5ALMED
Aqed Eccentric, Who Feared Burial
Alive, Asked That His Heart
Be Pierced by
Dagger

Among the effects of Moses A. Har-
man. the eccentric advocate of the
abolition of institutional marriage,
whose fidelity for what he regarded
as the sacred right of free expression
resulted in two terms of Incarceration
in federal prisons, was found request
that his heart be pierced with a dag
ger three days after his death. he
died Sunday at the home of Or. Helen
Hunter, 1873 Kellam street. He was
50 years of age.
He Was 80 Years of Age
Fearing that he might be buried
alive Harman requested that his body
be kept for three days after DEATH
and that a dagger should then pc
driven through his heart
After the body had been dissected
for the advancement of medical sci
ence Harman's request was that 1t be
cremated, or if this method was too
expensive, to place his body in a sheet
and bury it in an ordinary grave.
A telegraphic message was forward
ed to Harman's daughter, Miss Lillian
Harman of Chicago yesterday, ana
she telegraphed to have the body en-
balmed, and intimated that her faith
ers strange request would not be car
ried out. She stated that she was on
her way to Los Angeles and would
arrive Thursday.
The request for the disposition of
his body was found in a magazine,
together with WILL and was as fol-
lows:
II give and bequeath my physical
body to and for the use and advance
ment of medical science, and hereby
direct that as soon as life is extinct
in the heart and brain centers, my
body be taken in charge by DR.. e. B.
Foote, New York, and DR.. Joseph H.
Greer Chicago, or by some other com
petent physicians of similar medical
faith and practice, and that it be used
for the instruction of classes in anat-
omy, or in any other way that may
be desired by the physicians in charge.
After thus utilized, / direct and re-
quest that whatever remains of the
dissected body be cremated in the
least expensive manner possible, and
that the ashes be scattered over
lawns, flower beds, gardens, meadows
or fields of growing grain, so that
Mother Earth may again utilize in
new organism the elements stored in
what will then be my castoff physical
body"
Alternative, Simple Burial
In case these directions were not
carried out or would cause unneces-
sary expense, Hartman stipulated that
his body be placed in a cheap sheet
and buried in an ordinary grave
The will was written in August, 1906
while Harman was serving a sentence
in the federal prison at Leavenworth.
Kas., having been convicted of send
ing improper literature through the
mails.
In her message from Chicago Miss
Harman stated that she would do all
in her power to prevent the DISPOSE
tion of her fathers body as he re-
quested.
In an interview at her Chicago resi-
dence Miss Harnan said yesterday:
'If father made any such request in
his will L know nothing of it," In
response to the question as to whether
the body would be buried without a
coffin Miss Harman said she thought
the body would be cremated, as her
fathers desire to be buried otherwise
was that his body might return as
soon as possible to it's original ele-
ments.
She stated her father was an advo-
cate of cremation long before crena-
tion became common, but she did not
believe that his request to have his
heart pierced with a dagger was true.
Harman attained notoriety by his
advocacy of free expression and the
adjustment of institutional marriages.
He came to Los Angeles from Chicago
three years ago, and at the time of
his death was engaged in writing his
autobiography. While in Los Angeles
he published a. magazine called 'Eu-
genics,' and it is said he expended
nearly all of a once comfortable for
tune in this venture.
According to DR.. Hunter, worry over
his finances brought on the fatal ILL
ness. Besides his daughter in Chicago
Harman leaves a brother, Rev. Jo-
seph Harman of San Fernando, and a
son, George Harman of Valley Falls,
Kas.