Cremation,
the act of cremating or disposing of a corpse by burning instead of burying it. Cremation was practiced among the Greeks and Romans. The first crematory in the United States was established in Washington, Pa. in 1876. It was first used for the incineration of the body of the Baron de Palm in December of that year. In 20 years the number of cremations in the United States rose from 25 to 2,500 yearly.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.