John L. Brian - Willow Wild Cemetery - Bonham, 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 later headstones would be marked with a Woodmen of the World emblem of some kind. Very early ones, like this one, typically lack an emblem, and are identified by the tools of the woodmen's trade -- hatchet, mallet, and wedge -- along with a banner or ribbon that says "Erected by the Woodmen of the World", their motto, "Dum tacet clamat," and a dove with an olive branch. This is one of those early monuments, lacking a Woodmen emblem. The family name, "Brian", is on the logpile base, and a ribbon with "Erected by Woodmen of the World" wraps around the top of the monument, below the dove and tools. The inscription is below "Dum Tacet Clamat":

John L.
Brian

Born
Jan. 30, 1866.

Died
Apr. 17, 1902.

--

A loving husband, a father
dear,
A faithful friend lies buried
here.

--

Someone not associated with the Woodmen of the World must have worked on that inscription, because the Woodmen of the World made efforts to note that their members don't lie. It would be more appropriate to have "is buried here" instead.

Kind of dove: Dove with olive branch Used material for the dove: Other (explanation in the long description) Address: 1220 W 7th St Bonham, TX USA 75418

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Date Logged Log   03/16/2023 The Snowdog visited it