Harris - Fairview Cemetery - Denison, 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 ones, like this one, 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. Later ones would show a simple tree stump instead.

This impressive vault monument is made of gray granite. On one long side, the family name, "Harris", is just above the base, and the family initial, "H", is in a medallion on the cap. On the other long side is identical treatment for the Creager family. On the short sides, it is very clear who was the member of both the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Pythias, as the initials "G.T.H." are under their respective emblems on those sides. Like the Woodmen of the World, the Knights of Pythias are a fraternal organization, although they're a bit older, dating to 1864. Their emblem is a knight's helmet atop a shield with crossed halberds, and the letters F, C, and B, for "Friendship, Charity, Benevolence", their motto. Both organizational emblems are complemented by calla lilies in the upper corners, and a ribbon with ivy goes around the monument just under the cap.

Where it becomes interesting is sorting out the who's who. Findagrave shows no links between the Harris and Creager families. G.T. and Etta Harris Wilson most likely were husband and wife, given the "Papa" and "Mama" footstones in front of the monument. Next to "Mama", though is a small headstone for Harry P. Wilson (1860-1925), and it's a good guess that Etta Harris remarried after G.T. passed on. Their inscriptions are simple:

G.T. Harris
1860 1896
Our beloved

Etta Harris
Wilson
1869 1948

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The Creagers were husband and wife, and interestingly, Mr. Creager's family were the McKinneys, who boasted one Collin McKinney as a major player in Texas's independence. Like the Harrises, their inscriptions are simple:

Thomas H.
Creager
1836-1910

Martha A.
Creager
1839-1928

Kind of dove: Dove with olive branch Used material for the dove: Other (explanation in the long description) Address: Fairview Cemetery 1501 North TX 91 Denison, TX USA 75020

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