Jeff D. Johnston - Oak Ridge Cemetery - Ladonia, TX, USA - Doves of peace on Waymarking.com

The Woodmen of the World are known today as WoodmenLife, a fraternal society that provides insurance to its members. Visitors to older cemeteries can frequently spot the tree trunk monuments that they placed at the graves of their members, although not every tree trunk monument out there was placed by the Woodmen of the World: It was common in the late 19th century to use a log to note that a person had died young, and many infants have such grave markers. Eventually, those tree trunk monuments became too expensive to produce, and headstones would be marked with a Woodmen of the World emblem of some kind. Earlier tree trunks, like this marble example, featured a dove of peace with an olive branch in its beak, flying over a fallen log where the tools of the woodmen's trade -- hatchet, mallet, and wedge -- can be seen, and "Dum Tacet Clamat" -- "Though silent, he speaks" -- is at the bottom of the emblem. Later emblems would show a simple tree stump instead, and the dove and the tools would be displayed somewhere on the monument.

The Woodmen of the World organized themselves into local "camps", and this is a fairly common example of a monument that references the camp to which the person belonged, noting that Mr. Johnston belonged to Red Cedar Camp No. 450.

The family name, "Johnston", is on the plinth, with "Erected by the Woodmen of the World" above it. The inscription scroll reads:

Jeff D.
Johnston

Born
July 23, 1861,

Died
Aug. 14, 1899.

---

Red Cedar Camp No.
450 W O W

Kind of dove: Dove with olive branch Used material for the dove: Other (explanation in the long description) Address: 10368 E FM 1550 Ladonia, TX USA 75449

Visit Instructions:

- The Waymarks coordinates must have been visited personally.

- A self-made picture of the Peace Dove has to be added to your log.

- Tell us something about your visit to the Peace Dove.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.