F. P. Doremus

F. P. Doremus
Doremus in Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Born
Franklin Pierce Doremus

(1852-12-04)December 4, 1852
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 25, 1944(1944-11-25) (aged 91)
Brighton, England
Resting place
Downs Crematorium
OccupationVegetarianism advocate
Organizations
Known forWork for British and American vegetarian organizations
Spouses
Mary Anne Troward
​
​
(m. 1872; died 1886)​
Melita Caroline "Millie" Anderson
​
​
(m. 1888; died 1927)​
Minnie Brown
​
(m. 1932)​
Children1
Signature

Franklin Pierce Doremus (December 4, 1852 – November 25, 1944) was an American vegetarianism advocate. Based in Britain in the late 19th century, he was secretary of the London Food Reform Society from 1879 to 1885, editor of its Food Reform Magazine from 1881 to 1885, secretary of the London Vegetarian Society from 1889 to 1890, and secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union from 1892 to 1895. He was also a vice-president of the Vegetarian Society of America.

Biography

Early life

Franklin Pierce Doremus was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 4, 1852, to Gilbert and Rachel Doremus.[1][2]

Vegetarian activism

Doremus (back row, fifth from left) at the Vegetarian Congress in Brighton, 1894

London Food Reform Society

Doremus, then living in Camden, joined the London Food Reform Society.[3] He was secretary of the society from 1879 to 1885 and edited its magazine, Food Reform Magazine, from 1881 to 1885.[4]

On March 22, 1884, around 80 people attended a vegetarian banquet at the Apple Tree Restaurant, London Wall, to mark Doremus's departure for the United States.[5] It was chaired by Lord Byron. Attendees included Rev. W. J. Monk, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. Bowden Green, Mr. T. R. Allinson, Mr. W. Couchman, Mr. R. E. O'Callaghan, Mr. C. W. Forward, and Mr. M. Nunn. While Doremus was abroad, his duties as secretary were to be undertaken by O'Callaghan.[3]

Work in the United States

On July 18, 1884, the San Antonio Express-News reported on a meeting of vegetarians at Dr. M. L. Holbrook's Hygienic Hotel and Turkish Bath Institute in Manhattan, New York. Doremus was described as an American emissary of the Food Reform Society of Great Britain. He distributed vegetarian tracts and gave the opening address, in which he criticised heavy meat diets, argued that dietary change could reduce illness, and said vegetarianism was cheaper and could help feed the poor more economically. He also offered to undergo a physician-supervised diet test, eating vegetables "quantity for quantity" against a meat-eater.[6]

After the Vegetarian Society of America was organised in 1886 and incorporated the following year, Doremus served as a vice-president.[7]

Return to Britain

On returning to Britain, Doremus was secretary of the London Vegetarian Society from 1889 to 1890 and secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union from 1892 to 1895.[4] He edited The Vegetarian Year Book, 1897 for the Union.[8]

In 1889, Doremus wrote in The Vegetarian that in the 1850s vegetarianism had been associated with "many other reforms", and that it made greater progress only after "outside issues" had fallen away. He also wrote that vegetarianism was sometimes treated as a religion that required acceptance of other "antis" as articles of faith.[9]

Other work

Doremus moved to Horsham in 1911, where he was a member of the old Dutch Baptist Community and the Society of Friends; he lived there for 30 years.[10]

During the First World War, he lectured on vegetarianism and peace. He also served as an official of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society.[4]

Personal life and death

Doremus, c. 1915

Doremus was married three times. He married Mary Anne Troward on May 16, 1872, in Kings County, New York;[11][12] she died in 1886, aged 50.[12] He married Melita Caroline "Millie" Anderson on January 3, 1888, at Beddington, Surrey;[13] they had a daughter, Melita Franklin (b. 1890), who was killed in a mountaineering accident in Austria in 1933.[14][15] Anderson died in 1927, aged 76.[16] In 1932, he married Minnie Brown at Horsham.[17][18]

Doremus moved to Brighton because of failing health. He died at Brighton Hospital on November 25, 1944, aged 91. He was cremated at Downs Crematorium, Brighton, on December 2.[10] An obituary was published in The Vegetarian News.[4]

See also

Works

  • Food Reform Magazine. London Food Reform Society. 1881–1885.
  • The Vegetarian Year Book, 1897. London: Vegetarian Federal Union. 1897.

References

  1. ↑ "Franklin P Doremus". U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925. Ancestry.com. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Franklin Doremus". New York, State Census, 1865. FamilySearch. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Forward, Charles W. (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: The Ideal Publishing Union. pp. 78–79, 97, 142.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (May 2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF) (PhD thesis). Vol. 2. University of Southampton. p. 35. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Home". The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger. 11: 117. 1884 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Lots of Grass Fed Flesh: Plump Food Reformers Concocting a Vegetable Boom". San Antonio Express-News. July 18, 1884. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Vegetarian Societies in the USA". International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Books, Etc., Received". British Medical Journal. 2. 1896 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (May 2002). The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF) (PhD thesis). Vol. 1. University of Southampton. p. 93. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Mr. F. P. Doremus Dies at Brighton: Horsham resident for 30 years". West Sussex County Times. December 1, 1944. p. 8. Retrieved February 6, 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Mary Trowarde". New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937. Ancestry.com. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Deaths Sep 1886: Doremus, Mary Anne". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Doremus—Anderson". The Daily Telegraph. London. January 5, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved February 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Births Sep 1890: Doremus, Melita Franklin". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Englishwoman killed in Austria: Mountaineering tragedy". Evening Post. August 1, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved February 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Deaths Dec 1927: Doremus, Melita C." FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Marriages Dec 1932: Doremus, Franklin P." FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Marriages Dec 1932: Browne, Minnie". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
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