Modern Woodmen of America and Tree Stones

Due to hand surgery  - I am out of commission for a couple of weeks.  Here, back by popular demand, are two blog posts about tree stones.  Today's blog on Modern Woodmen of America, and next Friday, we'll look at Woodmen of the World.

If you've spent much time wandering cemeteries, you’ve come across those realistic, but sometimes ornate, tree stone grave markers.  While intriguing, there are always questions concerning them: How did they come about?  What do they represent?  And is there a difference between the organizations MWA and WOW?  Read on…….

Joseph Cullen Root

Joseph Cullen Root founded Modern Woodmen of America http://www.modern-woodmen.org/ in Lyons, Iowa in 1883.  Root was a member of several fraternal organizations and wanted to create one that would provide insurance benefits to a family when the husband/father died.   Most fraternal organizations at the time were tied to religious orders.  But Root imagined one without religious ties, a society that would “bind in one association, the Jew and the Gentile, the Catholic and the Protestant, the Agnostic and the Atheist.”

Root decided on the woodmen name after hearing a minister describe his congregation as ‘trees in God’s forest.” When first founded, modern woodmen were white men between the ages of 18 and 45, from rural Midwestern states.  The home office of MWA began in Fulton, Illinois in 1884 and moved to Rock Island, Illinois in 1897, where it remains today.

Royal Neighbors
of America

In 1888, the ladies auxiliary of the MWA, the Royal Neighbors of America (RNA), was started.  Their symbol was a five-petal flower.

Woodmen of the World Logo

In 1890, after a heated dispute, Root left the Modern Woodmen of America to found another fraternal insurance benefit society, Woodmen of the World (WOW or WOTW) in Omaha, Nebraska.

Foresters Drill Teams

The Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) became well known for their drill teams.  Known as the Foresters, over 10,000 units, made up of over 160,000 men performed nationally from 1893 through the late 1930’s.   The Foresters Drill Teams performed at parades and festivals across the country, and even entertained at the White House for President Hoover.

MWA TB Sanatorium

MWA members were also known for their community assistance.  The organization built a 1,000-acre, $1.5 million dollar tuberculosis sanatorium in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1909, one of the largest in the country.  It was named as one of the most outstanding TB institutions by the American College of Surgeons. Over 12, 000 MWA members were treated there for free.   The recovery rate at the institute was an amazing 70%.  The facility closed in 1947 when drug treatments for tuberculosis showed promise and deaths began to decline. In 1910 MWA membership hit the one million mark.  By 1929 women and children were also being insured by the group.

MWA Marker

Founder Joseph Root wrote a funeral ceremony that was to be performed when a member died.  These ceremonies were held during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  Today, memorial services are held during the month of June at each chapter to remember their deceased members.  

MWA Marker

Ornate and interwoven
MWA

MWA offered it's members the opportunity to purchase grave markers for deceased associates until the mid-1970’s.  Cemeteries around the country also have tree stone monuments, engraved with the MWA initials and symbols.  MWA did not supply these grave markers or provide any monetary assistance for their purchase for members.  Woodmen of the World did provide assistance for tree stone grave monuments for their members.

Prices for MWA Logo

Montgomery Wards
Tree Stone Marker

Tree stone markers were also available for purchase from the Sears and Roebuck catalogue and the Montgomery Ward catalogue during the early twentieth century.  A tree stone marker does not necessarily mean that person was a member of MWA or WOW.  Only if the organizations' initials or symbols are located on the stone does it indicate that the deceased was a member of one of these organizations.

The MWA doctrine includes striving for family financial security, positive family life and service to the community.  MWA symbols include the axe to represent industry, the wedge to signify power and the beetle to illustrate progress.  The logo is made up of the capital letters M W A.  Their motto remains “Pour Autre Vie.” – ‘For the life of another.’

Today, the Modern Woodmen of American is the nation’s third largest fraternal benefit society, with close to 750-million members.  The group has assets of over $9 billion.  Close to 2,200 chapters or ‘camps’, exist in the U.S., mainly in the Midwest and the South.  MWA meetings are held throughout the year, along with parades, and community events.  The MWA also supports youth activities and organizations throughout the country.  In 2008, Modern Woodmen of America celebrated their 125th Anniversary.

Friday, we’ll explore Father’s Day in the cemetery.  

Next Tuesday we’ll take a look at the second fraternal benefit society that Joseph Root founded, Woodmen of the World. This is the organization known for the tree stone grave markers.

~ Joy

Remembering the Johnstown Flood

Newspaper Headlines

It was 124 years ago today that a rare storm, sweeping across the U.S., coupled with a neglected dam in a Pennsylvania valley town, led to tragedy and thousands of deaths in the city of Johnstown.

Johnstown Waterways

Before the Flood

Floods were nothing new to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Built into a river valley along the Appalachian Plateau, which was located at the confluence of two rivers, and a man-made lake 14 miles down the mountains; the local residents had dealt with many high water occasions. At least once a year, the two local rivers would overflow their banks due to melting snows from the mountains above, or intense rains that got trapped in the valley below, and unleash torrential amounts of water.

Water Rushes off Mountains

Heavy rains had pummeled the area for days.  The Conemaugh Lake was overflowing, rain ran down into the valley from the mountains above, and residents, living on a flood plain, thought they knew what to expect.

But no one had paid much attention to the redesign of the dam at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, located high above the city.   

The Robber Barons

The Club, a wealthy man’s retreat that included Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick among the members, had re-engineered the old dam to create the three-mile lake and private mountain retreat for the rich steel and coal barons of Pittsburgh. No one had seriously considered what would happen if the dam, ignored by the club and now in desperate need of repairs, began to fail.

Residents had been given warning of a flood and had taken precautions by carrying their belongings up to the second floors of their homes and businesses – standard procedure for an expected flood.  But this time would be different.

Wall of Water

It was just after 3 p.m. on that dismal Friday afternoon of May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam washed away, and over 20-million tons of water rushed down the hill and toward the city of Johnstown.

Train Car in Flood Wreckage

The tumbling torrent carried with it trees, rocks, animals, people, houses, barns, miles of barbed wire from a destroyed wire factory upriver, even train cars torn from the railroad bridges in the tiny towns and communities hit farther upstream. 

The wall of water was over 30 feet high and almost a half-mile wide, traveling at almost 40 miles per hour when it slammed into Johnstown just after 4 P.M.  The northern half of Johnstown was swept away, over 1,500 buildings and thousands of people – gone.

Debris at the Old Stone Bridge

In the ten minutes it took for the flood to sweep through the city, over 2,200 people were drowned or swept away.  Some of the debris became stuck near the old Stone Bridge. Carried with it were several flood survivors, clinging to makeshift rafts, hoping to hold on until help could arrive at daylight.   

As the waters receded, debris continued to get stuck and piled up to a height of 40 feet.  Hot coals and gas began to ignite in the rubble; 80 people died in the flames.

Survivors on Rubble

Clara Barton and The Red Cross arrived soon after, tending the injured, and helping residents put their lives and their town back together. This was the first major peacetime disaster that Barton’s newly formed American Red Cross had responded to.

Flood Victim's Graves

In all, 2,209 died at Johnstown, in the worst flood in the Nation’s history, and the largest loss of civilian life ever experienced in the United States. 

Hundreds of people were never found; over 750 bodies were never identified and their remains were buried in The Plot of the Unknown in Grandview Cemetery.  Remains were found for months, even years after the flood – The final remains were found in Cincinnati in 1911.  It took the City of Johnstown over five years to recover from the Flood of 1889.

Although the collapse of the South Fork Dam was evident as a reason for the flood, neither the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, nor its rich owners, were ever found to be responsible for the flood or the damage.  However, many of the millionaire members did provide financial assistance for the rebuilding of the town. Damage was estimated to be $17-million – over $500-million in today’s economy.

1936 Flood

Subsequent floods have continued to hit Johnstown hard.  In 1936, the St Patrick’s Day floods caused severe damage and left a path of debris all the way to Pittsburgh.

Rubble from 1977 Flood

Again, in July 1977, torrential rains from passing storms flooded the rivers and the town was under 8 feet of water by dawn the next day. Eighty people died, forty in a dam failure. Over 50,000 were left homeless, and seven countries, declared as disaster areas, incurred over $200-million in property damage. The “100 Year Flood” was another one for the record books.

Photos of the 1889 Flood

The Johnstown Flood National Memorial was authorized in 1964 and established in 1969 to commemorate the 2,209 people who died in the 1889 Flood. It contains portions of the Stone Bridge and remains of the South Fork dam.

Point Park

Today, at Point Park, an eternal flame burns brightly in memory of the flood victims, and as a reminder of nature’s destructive power.

~ Joy

*Photos courtesy of the Johnstown Area Historical Association Archives, WWW.jaha.org and the National Park Service, www.nps.gov

Memorial Day - The Way One Man Remembers Throughout the Year

Monday, May 27^th is Memorial Day in the U.S., a  day set aside to remember those who have died while in the service of this country.

Larry Eckhardt

But it doesn’t have to be Memorial Day for an Illinois man to honor fallen military men and women.  Larry Eckhardt has traveled over 72,000 miles, given out over 70,000 small flags, and been assisted by over 30,000 volunteers in the past seven years, as he's paid tribute to our fallen soldiers.

Eckhardt of Little York, Illinois goes to as many Midwestern communities as he can, and lines the funeral procession route of fallen Armed Forces personnel with American flags. 

Eckhardt began his ‘mission’ in 2006. With the help of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and private donations, he has collected over 3,000 flags over the past seven years.

When Eckhardt finds out about the death of a military person from the Midwest, he takes his trailer, loaded with flags, to that community.

Volunteers from the area assist him in lining a mile or more of the funeral route with American flags mounted on 10-foot steel poles.  Eckhardt sees this as a way of honoring those who have served our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Afterward, volunteers help take the flags down.  Eckhardt gives credit to all who assist, saying he couldn’t do it without the local volunteers. His helpers have ranged from the ages of 3 to 93, and the “Flag Man” appreciates them all.

Surprisingly, Eckhardt was never in the military.  He simply feels that this is a way he can honor those who have died in the line of duty.  He has paid tribute to over 100 service personnel: sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines.

Eckhardt came up with the idea after attending a local funeral in Galesburg, Illinois a few years ago.  The community showed up to support the family and pay their respects, but there were few flags flying. And, as a symbol of our country, something these service members pledged allegiance to, it seemed to Larry that something major was missing.

So he purchased 150 flags and began taking them to area military funerals, putting them out along the funeral route. Eckhardt uses donations and his own money to pay for the flags, and his travel expenses, because he feels that this is how every fallen American soldier should be honored.  As he sees it, there can never be too many flags for a soldier.

When in a community, Eckhardt does not attend the funerals or meet the families. He feels that his job is to line the funeral route with flags as a way to express the country’s appreciation for service well done.

Communities have expressed tremendous gratitude for his “labor of love.” Military families have been amazed and touched by his generosity of spirit, and his depth of caring for their fallen sons and daughters.

DAR Award

Eckhardt tends to shun the spotlight. But regardless of his wishes, he has been recognized by several groups and has received the Medal of Honor from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and a Patriotic Citizens Award from the VFW in Illinois.

Now citizens across the country are banding together to request that Eckhardt be honored with one of the highest awards in the country.  Doug Hesler has started a Facebook page called, ‘Larry Eckhardt ‘The Flagman’ @ https://www.facebook.com/LarryEckhardtTheFlagman.  Hesler is hoping that enough people will contact the President and the White House that Larry will be honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal.

Presidential Citizens Medal

This award is the second highest civilian award given in the U.S. (The first is the Presidential Medal of Freedom.)  President Richard Nixon established the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1969 to acknowledge outstanding U.S. citizens.  The medal may be granted to any American citizen “who (has) performed exemplary deeds or services for his or her country or fellow citizens"

If you are interested supporting this initiative, contact White House.  You may send your request to President Obama @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

Or you can send a request to Vice President Joe Biden @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments/vp

You may mail a request to:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please include your e-mail address

Eckhardt has hopes that there are others throughout the country who will take this idea and organize similar groups.  If you would like to learn what you, or your group, could do to volunteer assistance with the flags, start a group, or to make a donation, contact Larry at

Larry Eckhardt

323 South Broadway, Apt 1-S

Little York, IL  61453

Memorial Day is a time when we remember those who have died in the service of our country. Each Memorial Day the flag is raised to full staff, then lowered to half-staff in remembrance of more than one million men and women who have died in the service of this country.  At Noon, the flag is raised to full staff to signify a nation that will rise up and continue to fight for liberty and justice, for all.

As we've seen, just one person, rising up, can make a difference. Thanks for the reminder, Larry!

~ Joy