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From: "Timothy N. West" <>
Subject: [KYMCCREA] Those odd looking log headstones
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 17:59:32 -0500


All,

I found this article which describes those weird looking headstones that
are shaped like logs. There are several in the Coffey Cemetery in
Oneida, Scott Co, TN. I imagine their are others in other cemeteries
in our neighboring counties. Thought you might find it interesting.


...tim west...
Scott Co, TN Coordinator for the TNGenWeb Project

The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and
is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with
the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is
available at http://www.eogn.com <http://www.eogn.com/>;.


Tombstones That Look Like Logs

Let's face it. Genealogists spend a lot of time in cemeteries. Those who
visit cemeteries in the Midwest and western states often find tombstones
that look like logs or tree stumps. Some simpler designs look like
regular tombstones but with a circular design on them with a log, a
dove, an axe, maul, and wedge, and the inscription, "Dum Tacet Clamat"
("Though silent, he speaks"). Most of these tombstones were placed there
in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

What are these unique legacies left behind? What is the significance of
the logs or tree stumps?

In 1883, a man by the name of Joseph Cullen Root organized a fraternal
society in Omaha, Nebraska, called "Modern Woodmen of America". As in
many fraternal organizations of time, one of the benefits of being a
member was that upon death, the other members would pass around a hat
and donate money to the widow. Membership was limited to white males
older than 18 years of age. Later, when passing around the hat became
more frequent and costly, Root decided to sell life insurance to
members. Modern Woodmen of America became a fraternal benefit society.

Later, a women's auxiliary started up, called "Royal Neighbors of
America." Both the male and female organizations grew steadily, and in
five years, Modern Woodmen had a total membership of twenty-four thousand.

In 1899, several members had a "falling out" with the leaders of the
society and separated to form a new society under the leadership of Fred
A. Falkenburg, which they named "Woodmen of the World". Shortly after,
tensions were high in the new organization, and Falkenburg moved to
Denver to form, "Woodmen of the World, Pacific Jurisdiction". Today, the
three societies remain as insurance companies. Woodmen of the World
created women's auxiliaries called "Woodmen Circle" and "Supreme Forest
Woodmen," while the Pacific Jurisdiction created an auxiliary called
"Neighbors of Woodcraft", which still exists as an insurance company in
Portland, Oregon.

Up until 1935, when a member died, the society would donate $100.00
towards the burial expenses if the surviving family allowed the
society's emblem and/or wording to appear on the stone. These are the
aforementioned designs that appear on the deceased members' gravestones.

You can find numerous pictures of these tombstones on the Web, including at:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/flaghold/flag081.htm
<http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Esrgp/flaghold/flag081.htm>;

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~rocky/Franklin_Cemeteries/greenlawn/wow.htm
<http://homepages.rootsweb.com/%7Erocky/Franklin_Cemeteries/greenlawn/wow.htm>;

http://www.courses.rochester.edu/homerin/REL167/field_reports/stothers/stothers.html

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~rac/beardin.html
<http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Erac/beardin.html>;

http://www.austinexplorer.com/Cemeteries/WilliamsonCounty/RoundRockCemetery/

http://okielegacy.org/journal/Vol5/OHTHV5-19.htm

http://photoweb.lodestone.org/folder/719/en (click on the images to see
a larger version)

The most ornate one I could find is at
http://darktreasures.com/Graveyards/FavoriteTombStones.htm (look at the
bottom picture, click on it to see a larger image)

What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this
newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard


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