PARK AND CEMETERY, 
3 
r 5 6 
THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION OF THE ASSOCIA- 
TION OF AMERICAN CEMETERY SUPERIN- 
TENDENTS. 
The eleventh annual convention of the Associa- 
tion of American Cemetery Superintendents held 
at the Grand Hotel, Cincinnati, O., September 14th. 
to 17th, brought together by far the largest num- 
ber of superintendents that have yet attended a 
meeting of the association. 
At the opening session the Rev. A. Smith, of 
Cincinnati, invoked the Divine blessing upon the 
meeting and Mayor Tafel extended a cordial wel- 
come to the city. New members to the number of 
sixteen were received and enrolled, after which Presi- 
dent George W. Creesy read his annual address as 
follows: 
president’s address. 
Ladies , Gentlemen and Friends of the Association : — It 
gives me much pleasure to welcome you to our Eleventh Annual 
Convention. 
As we have now reached the ten-year mark of our existence, 
it seems appropriate that we take a brief review of our past. 
From the original idea of our brother, Charles Nichols, was de- 
vised the scheme of meeting at a given place once a year for the 
ex hange of experiences, and also to visit the various cemeteries. 
Consequently, in answer to such an appeal, some twenty-five 
signified to him their desire to attend such a meetirg, and 
through the courtesy of Mr. Wm. Salway we met here in Cin- 
cinnati, October 19, 1887, and the body known as the Association 
of American Cemetery Superintendents was duly established, 
with Charles Nichols as president, and too much credit cannot 
be given him, and our first secretary, A. H. Sargent of Akron, 
O., for to these men more than to any one else do we owe our 
present existence. 
Our key word was then, as now. Stewardship , and it con- 
tains three ideas, namely: Unity, Growth, Knowledge. 
The first, Unity, we have ever sought to establish, knowing 
full well that subjects must arise, such as cremation, tombs, etc., 
which would naturally cause differences of opinion. But as we 
recognized the fact that each had equal light to his own view, 
and need only to accept or reject the same, according to his 
knowledge, there has been preserved to us that unity which is 
the true secret of our success, and which we trust will never be 
dissolved. 
Second, Growth . From twenty members we have reached 
nearly two hundred in number, these men representing ceme- 
te ies from almost every State. 
Third, Knowledge. We, who have been privileged to at- 
tend the meetings from year to year, know that our growth in 
numbers is small compared with the real knowledge we have at- 
tained from the interchange of thought and listening to some 
most able papers, such as: “Right Management of the Mgdern 
Cemetery,” “Landscape Gardening,” “Monuments and Vaults,” 
“How to Secure the Finest Lawn or the Best Road” and “How 
to Manage Our Laborers.” 
These and many others have given jus most helpful instruc- 
tion, and here I would like to express to the association my 
thanks for the great benefit derived from the united opinions, as 
well as to your printed matter relating to the removal of iron 
fences, curbing, hedges, and with which the cemetery repre- 
sented by myself was filled to overflowing. I had tried to reach 
a few lot owners, but met with poor success until handing them 
some of our printed matter on the subject, and with the help of 
our trustees, they realizing that they were behind their sister 
cemeteries, we have removed some five hundred such inclosures. 
Thus can be felt the real worth of this organization. I want also 
to mention right here a book, lately published, on .Mortuary 
Law, which answers many perplexing questions, and would prove 
itself of untold value to each member. 
Nor must we forget to make mention of the knowledge de- 
rived from the different cities which we have visited through the 
kindness of our different brethren, the drives, walks and sights 
seen at Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Balti- 
more, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Richmond, St. Louis, and where 
we now are. 
During the year past two of our members have ceased from 
their labors: Enos Kellogg, Norwalk, Conn., and Abraham Bull, 
who was sexton of Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, N. ]., for 
thirty- three years. 
“Oft as the bell with solemn toll, 
Informs us of a parting soul, 
Teach us to think how short the space 
Ere we, too, take our resting place. 
“Oh! may each act when others die 
Prove to ourselves a warning cry, 
Advance us on our homeward road, 
And fit us each to meet our God.’’ 
Thus as we have proven our value in the first ten years of 
ous existence, let us in the future strive to achieve still more by 
larger attendance at the conventions, by faithfully reading our 
paper, Park and Cemetery, by being willing to contribute 
our experiences for the good of others, and in the next ten years 
our growth will not be measured by numbers, but its influence 
will be felt throughout this whole United States. And what more 
noble or uplifting work could we engage in than the raising high 
the standard of the last resting place of our beloved dead. 
The report of Secretary and Treasurer Eurich 
showed a flourishing financial condition and a mem- 
bership of 143 at the close of the fiscal year. 1.000 
copies of the report of the St Louis convention 
were printed in pamphlet form for sale and distribu- 
tion among the members. 
The papers read at the morning and evening 
sessions were as follows: 
“History and Usefulness of the Association of 
American Cemetery Superintendents,” by Mr. 
Charles Nichols, Newark, N. J. “The Influence of 
the Association,” by Mr. William Stone, Lynn, 
Mass., and “The Influence of Surroundings,” by 
Sidney J. Hare, Kansas City, Mo. Among the 
reforms which Mr. Stone thought could be brought 
about through the influence of the association was 
the doing away with Sunday funerals, and in the 
discussion which followed his very suggestive paper, 
it was voted as the sense of the meeting that 
Sunday funerals should be discouraged. 
In his paper Mr. Hare said in part: 
Show me a city without parks and boulevards and I 
will show you a people far behind the times in every 
way. 
Parks educate the people in an art equally as grand 
as the art of painting or sculpture, or art fancy work. It 
influences people to adorn their home grounds, to plant 
trees and shrubs, and to study nature, the mother of all 
true art. 
This study leads them to see the beauty of a modern 
cemetery, with its vistas, well kept lawns and bright 
foliage, and makes them shun the old style grave yard. 
As one of my friends said to me recently, the sight 
of a beautiful cemetery drove from his mind all thought 
of death, while a country cemetery with its uncared for 
graves and broken down monuments sent a shudder 
over him and made him think death was a horrible 
thing. 
