Root made a special effort to honor deceased Woodmen. He created Woodmen Memorial Day, celebrated on June 6 each year, and included the following statement in the Objectives of Woodcraft: "... to give honorable burial to our sacred dead ..."

Early Woodmen certificates provided for a death and a monument benefit. Gravestones were originally furnished to members free of charge and later were offered only to those who purchased a $100 rider to their certificates.

However, during the 1920s the Society stopped providing stone markers to members when the cost of gravestones increased and cemeteries began prohibiting above-ground markers for maintenance reasons. The monument rider was discontinued and converted to an extra $100 of insurance protection, but for many years after that, members and lodges arranged for markers and monuments on their own.

Markers vary

Woodmen gravestones vary greatly in size and shape. Some resemble a tree stump, others a stack of cut wood. There are elaborate hand-carved monuments, simple stone markers and stake-type markers driven into the ground.

Woodmen gravestones were originally intended to be a uniform design sent by the Home Office to local stonecutters, but not all the cutters followed the design. Some used their own interpretation of the Woodmen design which they felt was more appropriate.

The result was a wide range of designs that reflected members' personal tastes and included elements that were symbolic of Woodmen ceremonies or rituals. A tree stump, part of the Society's logo, is the most common symbol used on gravestone designs. Many stand approximately four to five feet high.

In one Kentucky cemetery, the gravestones started out as a modest Woodmen stump and grew larger with each additional burial. One gravestone is three feet wide with seven branches.

Woodmen cemeteries

Over the years, the once popular gravestones have become a rarity. Woodmen gravestones are still scattered in cemeteries throughout the United States. But in Laredo, Texas, there is a special section of the city cemetery reserved for Woodmen members that has been there for more than 40 years.

• Years ago Laredo Lodge 2364 members bought a section of lots in the cemetery for their membership. They built an ornate concrete fence around the area and planted rose bushes for decoration. A committee from the lodge takes care of the upkeep.
• A cemetery for Woodmen members also exists near Grand Rivers, Ky. Located at Land Between the Lakes, a strip of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) land between the Kentucky and Barkley Lakes, it is maintained by four area lodges.
• Many lodge members across the country take time to keep Woodmen gravestones in their area from decaying. For Owensboro, Ky., Ranger Lodges 732 and 805, taking care of gravestones has become a yearly fund-raiser.
• Each year adult Lodge 43 pays Ranger lodge members to clean and maintain all the Woodmen gravestones in the area.

No unmarked graves

Although the monument benefit is no longer included in Woodmen Life Insurance certificates, the Society does not let graves go unmarked.

The same Woodmen emblem is also available, fitted with pegs, for attaching to an existing stone. To purchase a bronze marker contact the Fraternal and Lodge Services Department at the Woodmen Home Office (402) 342-1890.

Regardless of its shape or size, Woodmen gravestones serve as a lasting tribute to its members and the ideals of Woodcraft. They also serve the Society's long standing motto that "no Woodmen shall rest in an unmarked grave."