GEOWTH OF MEMBERSHIP. 121 



Cemetery with the Society, it was much reduced by the 

 admission to membership, free of all assessments, of 

 purchasers of lots in the cemetery. The same effect 

 was produced by the late civil war ; the sum received 

 in 1862 being but little more than half that received in 

 1860. On the contrary, the completion of the halls 

 erected by the Society in 1845 and 1865 was followed 

 by a large accession of members ; the receipts from this 

 source rising from $460 in 1843 to $1,356 in 1847, 

 after which they gradually declined for several years. 

 In 1866, the year after the completion of the present 

 hall, they were $2,575.93, the largest sum ever received. 

 The total amount received from this source to the close 

 of the year 1878, is about $49,000. 



In this connection some notice of the growth of the 

 membership of the Society will be appropriate. At the 

 time of the first anniversary, in 1829, the list of members 

 comprised 249 names. The admission of the purchasers 

 of lots in Mount Auburn to membership raised the 

 number to 657 in 1834; but, after the separation of the 

 two interests in 1835, it fell to 350, and continued to 

 decline until 1838, when only 246 names were borne 

 upon the roll. On the completion of the hall in School 

 Street it rose to 438 in 1846, and continued, though not 

 without fluctuation, to increase gradually, until it reached 

 590 in 1863. In 1864 it rose suddenly to 705, and in 

 1865, the year of the dedication of the present hall, to 

 905, this being the largest increase in any one year. 

 After that time it increased gradually, until in 1871 it 

 reached 1,035, the highest number, ever attained. It 

 continued near that point until 1876, when, owing to 

 the financial pressure, it began to decrease, and at the 

 end of the year 1878 it was 900. A gratifying feature 



