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Camilla's Treestone & the Supreme Forest of the Woodmen Circle

The treestone in place for Camilla Nunnery (1875-1926) at Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald, Georgia shows she was a member of the Supreme Forest of the Woodmen Circle. This was a women's auxiliary to the Woodmen of the World fraternal organization and insurance benefit society. The emblem for the SFWC is a shield with stars and stripes and crossed axes. According to a 1913 publication of The Fraternal Monitor (Volume 23, Issue 8) -
"...The emblem used is the Shield. The colors adopted are lavender and green, instead of the National colors in the Shield. The emblem signifies that which protects or defends, and, therefore, symbolizes the grand and noble principles embodied in fraternalism -- Love and Protection."

From Woodmen.org: "The Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle occupied an important place in Woodmen of the World history from the time of its incorporation in 1895 until it merged with the organization on January 1, 1965.

For 70 years, the Circle and Woodmen of the World worked closely together. Woodmen of the World founder Joseph Cullen Root, who was also instrumental in founding the Circle, had envisioned it as a women's auxiliary to Woodmen of the World and made provisions for its existence when he created Woodmen of the World.

The Circle was created in 1891. May Falkenburg, wife of Woodmen of the World co-founder F. A. Falkenburg, served as president of the women's auxiliary from 1891 to 1895. But, it was not until Root and Secretary John T. Yates took personal control of the organization's planning that the Woodmen Circle was born on September 5, 1895, and incorporated as a separate fraternal benefit society."

Comments

Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Those are not crossed axes on the pin.
S. Lincecum said…
One appears to be an axe and the other a mallet on the pin. Is that correct? The stone doesn't appear as defined to me, but maybe an axe and mallet was the intention.
Mark Logan said…
I have a copy of the pin. Happy to forward it to anyone who may be interested. It clearly is an axe and a mallet crossed

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The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)