I've photographed many Woodmen of the World memorials, and I think this is the best image I've captured of their slogan, Dum Tacet Clamat. It translates to "though silent, he speaks."
Woodmen of the World is the largest fraternal benefit society with open membership in the United States. It is an insurance organization founded by Joseph Cullen Root in Omaha, Nebraska on the 6th of June, 1890.
The first certificate of membership was issued to William A. McCully of Independence, Kansas on the 29th of December, 1890. Six months later, Woodmen paid its first death claim on the life of teenager Willie O. Warner who drowned on the 14th of June, 1891, in Niles, Michigan.
Early Woodmen of the World policies provided for a death and a monument benefit. Gravestones were originally furnished to members for free and later were offered to those who purchased a $100 rider.
To learn more, visit "Woodmen of the World Memorials" on the Southern Graves website.
Note: The photo is of the treestone placed for Jesse H. Short (25 Sept 1878 - 25 Apr 1943) at the Waverly Hall Cemetery in Harris County, Georgia.
Comments