Graveyard Guru 9/1/2011

The Death Wail
by Stephanie Lincecum

The death wail is a custom attributed to several different cultures that I have been interested in learning more about. Though I did not find a singular “guru” to help me on this quest for knowledge, I hope you’ll allow me to share with you my findings in this column format.

Wikipedia describes the death wail as “a keening, mourning lament, generally performed in ritual fashion soon after the death of a member of a family or tribe.” Examples of this have been found in numerous societies and date back many centuries.

Ernest Giles, an explorer to Australia in the 1870s and 1880s, has this early account: “At the first dawn of light…a direful mourning chant arose. It was wafted on the hot morning air across the valley, echoed again by the rocks and hills above us, and was the most dreadful sound I think I ever heard; it was no doubt a death-wail….”
A more modern account comes from Roy Barker, a descendant of the Murawari tribe of Australia. He was born in an old Aboriginal mission in the late 1920s. “You hear the crying and the death wail at night. It’s a real eerie, frightening sound to hear. Sad sound…to hear them all crying. And then after the funeral, everything would go back to normal.”

Keening is a term describing a “vocal lament associated with mourning” that was at one time traditional in Scotland and Ireland. It was generally carried out by women and included the listing of the genealogy of the deceased, praise for the deceased, and how the death affected the ones left behind. This might also be accompanied by rocking, kneeling, or clapping.

Also tied to Scottish and Irish history and mythology is the Banshee. This is a female spirit seen as an omen of death. The story began as a fairy woman keening at the death of important persons.

Though not always seen, the mourning call of the Banshee is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. There are a few different accounts of the sound -- a “low, pleasant singing;” “the sound of two boards being struck together;” and “a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl.”

Accounts of the death wail can also be found in American folklore. An excerpt from the 1891 A History of Mississippi by R. Lowry and W. H. McCardle:
“The history of Jackson county would not be complete without reference to the mysterious music heard in summer nights, arising from the waters of the Pascagoula river, as they flow into the broad bosom of the Mississippi Sound… The tradition in regard to this mysterious music is well known to the dwellers on our seashore, and has in it something of the high-heroic scorn of death….”

The Pascagoula Indians were sorely beset by hostile tribes. They had been defeated on many well-contested fields; their young braves had fallen in battle; their towns were destroyed and their fields wasted. None were left but infirm old men, with the helpless women and children. The exulting shouts of their victorious foes were already ringing in their ears, when, as moved by one impulse, the remnant of the tribe determined to welcome death beneath the whelming waves rather than live to be the slaves of their dested foes… In a few brief moments a procession was formed for the river, where the old men, the women and the children, the last of the tribe of the Pascagoulas, clasped hands, marched into the shining waters chanting their death song, until bubbles marked the spot where the last of the Pascagoulas ceased to live.

Ever since the Pascagoulas sang their death song on that memorable occasion, soft, sweet sounds may be heard rising in sad cadence during the summer nights from the placid waters of the Pascagoula river, and people of imaginative minds have come to regard these sad, sweet sounds as the echo of the death-wail of women and children who, two centuries ago, perished beneath the waves. The whole story may be a fiction, but many dwellers in the vicinity of the Pascagoula do not so regard it.”

While the brief overview above describes historical accounts of the death wail, the custom is still practiced today. In a video posted to YouTube in January of this year, you can hear the sounds of a death wail of the Yaminawa tribe in Peru.

You can also listen to an archival sound recording of a death wail recorded in Australia in 1898 at the British Library online.

Until next time!

Graveyard Guru 11/11/2010

Tombstones for the Innocent:
A Short Essay on Victorian Children’s Gravemarkers
By Stephanie Lincecum

I have a book on my shelf that I find myself returning to time and again when conducting cemetery and specific tombstone research. It is Cemeteries & Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture, edited by R. E. Meyer. It is a collection of works by several different authors. When re-reading the first essay for the umpteenth time, Innocents in a Worldly World: Victorian Children’s Gravemarkers by Ellen M. Snyder, it occurred to me that many of us see these types of tombstones quite often. But do we all know their origin?

The Victorian Era is the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901 in the United Kingdom. It was marked with peace and prosperity for the British people. Since the empire was so prominent, their attitudes, art and culture spread across the world. After the Civil War the United States could be characterized as a “Victorian America.” From roughly 1875 to 1910 the British cultural influence was reflected, especially in the heavily populated regions of New England and the deep South. This period was marked with a second industrial revolution and the growing upper class copying the high society of the UK in dress, morality, and mannerisms.

A great place to still see this cultural influence today is in the cemetery. In the Victorian Era, gone was the fear of death and the grim reaper. Death was almost embraced. Strong beliefs in the teachings of the Bible -- the belief in eternal life -- is seen all over our American cemeteries. Epitaphs such as “not dead, but sleepeth,” large crosses, asa well as depictions of angels and heaven all trace back to the Victorian Era. And this attitude was not lost on the youngest to be laid to rest. Children’s grave markers of this period are poignant and beautiful works of art.

According to Ellen Snyder, “By the late 1830s, the concept of childhood innocence was beginning to be highly valued. Perceived as untamed blossoms, children were seen as pure, unblemished, and lacking in artifice. They were closely associated with the home, which stood in marked contrast to the world outside…As innocent beings, small babes were untouched by outside forces; they were not part of ‘the world.’ And if they died, they were depicted in the cemetery in a way that would have been denied to them had they reached adulthood. Children’s markers -- specifically, three-dimensional, sculptural depictions of children with domestic artifacts -- are one of the most elaborate material manifestations of a standard urban, middle-class, Protestant, Victorian vocabulary.”

This concept of the purity and innocence of children was bolstered by Christian ideals. Reverend John Morison wrote in an 1842 sermon, “Their angel innocence shall remain unsullied by a breath from this sinful world.” And Theodore Cuyler wrote in an 1867 Cedar Christian newspaper column, “Parents! Spare your tears for those whom you have laid down to sleep in their narrow earth-beds, with the now withered rose-bud on their breasts. They are safe; Christ has them in his sinless school, where lessons of celestial wisdom are learned by eyes that never weep.” As Ellen Snyder put it, “Children who died had the surest guarantees of sinless afterlives.”

The most common sculpture of a child found in the cemetery is one of a sleeping babe, a recurring Victorian theme. A vision of a child safely tucked away in bed is a metaphor for a good, innocent, Godly child. A lamb is another familiar symbol of innocence in the Victorian cemetery. Ellen Snyder says the lamb “expresses the particularly nineteenth-century vision of the child as close to nature. Nature…had become associated with peace and virtue in the face of an urbanizing nation.”

Another tombstone sculpture sometimes tied to children connects to the Victorian usage of empty furniture to symbolize a deceased loved one. An example would be a small unfilled bed, crib, or chair. A pair of infant shoes may also be seen as well, clearly representing a child now gone. Other props sculpted may include toys such as rattles, teddy bears, or a rocking horse.

Ultimately, as Ellen Snyder states, “children in the cemetery remain forever young, more notable for their deaths than their short lives.”

Graveyard Guru 9/16/2010

The Many Symbols Freemasonary
By Stephanie Lincecum

If you follow this column, then you know I do not do the guru interviews in a traditional question-answer format. I use the information provided to formulate a short article or essay on a particular subject. In my requests for information, I have found many people are nervous about having their identities revealed online. This time, however, I failed to find anyone willing to participate in an interview at all! The topic I chose for this article is Freemasonry. Maybe that in itself says it all. I guess they still are a pretty secret society.

What I’ve included for you in this article is the small bit of research I have done on symbols of Freemasonry and its subsequent offshoots.

Wikipedia.org breaks the broad category of Freemasonry down like this:

“Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including…just under two million in the United States.

Freemasonry uses metaphors of operative stonemasons’ tool and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon’s Temple, to convey what has been described by both Masons and critics as ‘a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.’”

These symbols are often carried to the gravesite of members of a Masonic fraternity and portrayed on their tombstones.

The most often recognized symbol found on tombstones that represents Freemasonry is the geometric “square and compass.” It may or may not have a letter G in the center. There are many theories as to what these instruments together symbolize. A simple view is the square represents the earth and the compass represents the heavens. The G in the center has been linked to both geometry and God.

The next tombstone symbol for the Masons that I see regularly in my area of the Southern United States is the cross in crown. It is sometimes accompanied with the letters H T W S S T K S. The cross in crown might denote the deceased was a member of the York Rite Masons. The York Rite is a broad category that includes the Royal Arch Masons and the Knights Templar, among others.

The letters supposedly represent the statement Hiram The Widow’s Son Sent To King Solomon. Determining what exactly that statement means is a whole other matter.

Other symbols you might see on a tombstone represent fraternities that are offshoots of Freemasonry. The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, more commonly known as the Shriners, is an example. Their emblem is the scimitar (sword with curved blade), crescent, star of Bethlehem, and head of a sphinx. All Shriners must be Masons.

The aforementioned Knights Templar have a detailed emblem. At the top is a knight’s helmet. A cross in crown is on top of a Maltese cross with crossed swords behind it. Included is the motto In Hoc Signo Vinces, a Latin rendition of a Greek phrase meaning “in this you will conquer.”

One other fraternal offshoot of the Masons I want to point out is the Order of the Eastern Star. According to Wikipedia.org, “The Order of the Eastern Star is the largest fraternal organization in the world that both men and women can join…It is based on teachings from the Bible, but is open to people of all monotheistic faiths…Members of the Order are aged 18 and older; men must be Master Masons and women must have specific relationships with Masons.”

The emblem of the Order is a five-pointed star, and the character-building lessons taught are stories inspired by Biblical figures. In the center of the star is a pulpit. One point contains the image of “Electa’s Cup” from the story of the “elect lady” in II John. Next is the “Adah Sword” from the story of Adah, Jepthah’s daughter, from Judges. Next is “Life-Time Wheat” from the story of Ruth, the widow. Then there is a “Crown and Sceptor United” from the story of Esther, the wife. Finally is the “Broken Column” from the story of Martha, sister of Lazarus, from the Gospel of John.

Depicted here are just a few of the symbols associated with Freemasonry. There are many, many more including some that might surprise you. I invite you to visit fellow Graveyard Rabbit Beth Santore’s site http://www.graveaddiction.com/ for more images of symbols with possible ties to the secret society of Freemasonry.

Graveyard Guru 7/22/2010

The Burial Mound of the Mississippians
by Stephanie Lincecum


Take a look at this photo:

Archeologists estimate this mound that appears to be just dirt and grass contains about 100 human remains. It is a funeral mound of the Muscogee (Creek) Native Americans that settled along the Ocmulgee River more than one thousand years ago in what is today Macon, Georgia. This mound and several others are located within the boundaries of protected lands known as the Ocmulgee National Monument.

It is estimated that people have lived in the Macon area for thousands of years, dating back to the Ice Age. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on a much later era. The “Mississippian Period” approximately dates from the year 900 to 1650. At the earliest it was a new way of life on the Macon Plateau, believed to have originated in the Mississippi River area. The Native people of this time and place are sometimes referred to as “mound builders,” as they constructed large ceremonial centers with huge earthen temple, burial, and residential mounds and earth lodges. Their economy was supported by agriculture, with crops such as corn and squash planted in the rich river floodplain.

I was very interested in learning more about the funeral mound during my recent trip to visit the Ocmulgee National Monument. The park rangers were very nice and attentive. The information was plentiful, and they were great “gurus.”

The funeral mound pictured at the beginning of this article was the burial place for village leaders and important people. Archeologists discovered over 100 burials within the mound, as well as log tombs (including a massive one on the lower level) and other structures at different levels. Log tombs are so named because of the rows of massive log posts running down the walls of the tombs, presumably supporting a low roof.

Evidence suggests that this mound was built in seven stages. A structure was built on top of each stage, probably to prepare the dead for burial and the accompanying ceremonies.

The present height is at the third stage. At the seventh and final stage of construction, it is estimated that the mound may have measured as much as 280 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 25 feet high.

Significant artifacts found during the archeological investigations of the 1930s uncovered a part of a human figure effigy and the remnant of a necklace. These further imply that high-ranking officials of the community were buried here. Copper and shell ornaments were found as well.

The Mississippian culture also used burial houses in their funeral practices to bury their elite members. The bodies would decompose in the house, then the bones would be cleaned and placed into burial urns or wooden tombs. Occasionally, grave goods would have been buried along with the body. These might include ornaments, tools, pottery, and food. Common people were buried underneath the house of their family.

Respect and Preservation

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation consider this land to be sacred and, as with all ancestral burial grounds, should be preserved and treated with respect. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 states: “Whoever knowingly sells, purchases, uses for profit, or transports for sale or profit, the human remains of a Native American without the right of possession to those remains…shall be fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than 12 months, or both, and in the case of a second or subsequent violation, be fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.” -- The same public law applies to Native American cultural items.

The road to demanded protection, preservation, and respect was a long one. In 1828, the “Old Ocmulgee Fields,” including the mounds, was surveyed and laid off into land lots incorporated into the city of Macon. Manufacturing enterprises arose, railroad lines were established, huge oak trees on the mounds were cut for timber, clay for brick manufacturing was mined near the Great Temple mound, and a fertilizer factory was constructed nearby.

Specifically, in the 1870s, the Central of Georgia Railroad destroyed a portion of the northeast corner of the funeral mound during its construction. Here is an old photo, as well as a new one. During my visit a train went right through the sacred lands. I was standing atop the temple mound, looking back to the earth lodge.

Even as late as 1933, a large portion of a mound was removed to use as fill dirt for a main street. Motorcycle hill-climbing left scars on the slopes and summit of the Great Temple Mound.

Finally a group of local citizens were convinced the mounds were of great historical significance and should be preserved. They sought assistance from the Smithsonian Institution, and the next year a bill was passed by Congress authorizing the establishment of a 2,000 acre Ocmulgee National Park.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established Ocmulgee National Monument and directed the National Park Service to preserve and protect 2,000 acres of “lands commonly known as the Old Ocmulgee Fields.” Unfortunately, only 678 ½ acres were acquired. Later an additional five acres were added, and the total is what is protected today -- only a fraction of what was originally desired.

Lands unprotected were destroyed in the 1960s for highway I-16 and again in the 1970s for a Sheriff’s Department firing range. Progress trumped history and sacredness once again.

More than 180 years ago, in 1828, a local newspaper reported on the mounds. Some would say the sentiment was more than 300 years too late, but if heeded, the mind set could have saved 150 years of desecration and destruction.

“The site is romantic in the extreme; that, with the
Burial mounds adjacent, have long been favorite haunts of our
Village beaux and belles, and objects of curiosity to strangers.
We should regret to see these monuments of antiquity and of
Our history leveled by the sordid plow -- we could wish that
They might always remain as present, sacred to solitude, to
Reflection and inspiration.”

[I encourage anyone who is able to visit these awesome and historic lands. For more information, visit the Ocmulgee National Monument page on the official National Park Service site -- http://www.nps.gov/ocmu/index.htm . ~ Stephanie Lincecum]

Graveyard Guru 5/27/2010

The Obelisk & Its Origins

by Stephanie Lincecum

Most of us that spend any time in a cemetery have happened upon an obelisk at one time or another. They come in varying sizes, from short to tall to massive. It is possible, however, to have never entered a cemetery and still have seen an obelisk. They can be found all over the world. The tallest obelisk, completed in 1884, is 555 feet and 5 ½ inches high. It is the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.

Wikipedia.org defines the obelisk simply as “a tall, narrow, four-sided tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top.”

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

In his book Forever Dixie: A Field Guide to Southern Cemeteries & Their Residents, Douglas Keister describes funerary architecture in the American cemetery: “Up until the Reformation in the sixteenth century, most cemeteries consisted primarily of randomly placed headstones. Wealthy folks purchased their way into being buried within the walls and floors of their church. But a series of edicts and a slowdown of church construction during the Reformation essentially put an end to burial within the church. Moneyed types started looking outside the walls of the church to erect a suitable memorial to themselves and their families. Elaborate statuary, tombs, and monuments slowly began to find their way into formerly stark churchyards and city cemeteries. When garden cemeteries with vast landscaped expanses began to be developed in the early nineteenth century, they became a new architectural frontier for America’s architects, artists, designers, and builders.”

Mr. Keister goes on to describe six broad groups of cemetery architecture. It is in the Egyptian architecture where the obelisk is found. The Egyptian style is considered to be the most funerary of all architecture because almost every work in ancient Egypt had something to do with death and afterlife. The obelisk is no exception. It is representative of a ray of sunlight in honor of the Sun God Ra, the giver of life and the source of all heat and light.

As it pertains to the American cemetery, Douglas Keister writes this: “The obelisk was readily adopted by funerary designers because of its obvious verticality stretching towards the heavens and the ways it could be adapted by adding reverential shrouds [and] flames representing eternal life…It’s also more than a little obvious that the various sizes of obelisks were meant to show one’s status.” The addition of shrouds, flames, and even crosses made the obelisk less of a pagan image and more palatable for the Christian society, allowing it to evolve into what we see today.

  

All other photos by Stephanie

Graveyard Guru 4/15/2010

Woodmen of the World: The Society & Their Tombstones
by Stephanie Lincecum

Most of us that have spent any time in a cemetery have probably seen them. Tree stumps made of stone dotting the landscape. This type of stone without any fraternal affiliation attached often represents a life cut short. Since 1890, this type of tree stone upon closer investigation might also mean the deceased was a member of the Woodmen of the World.

I called my local branch of the Woodmen of the World Insurance Society and spoke with a nice gentleman named George Allen. He confirmed the research I had done on the society and kindly directed me to more information. Thanks for being my graveyard guru for this article, George!

The Society -

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.

Here are excerpts from two articles about the beginning of this fraternal order in Atlanta, Georgia from March and April 1893 editions of The Atlanta Constitution:

26 March 1893: “A New Order

The Woodmen of the World are receiving a hearty welcome by the citizens of Atlanta. Quite a large list of charter applicants is already enrolled… While in general principle, woodcraft is similar to the Royal Arcanum, and Golden Chain, it has several unique and valuable features such as making its certificate noncontestable, placing the monument over the grave of every deceased member and the paid up policy.

The order is constructed with a careful view of securing the lowest possible death rate and the greatest possible increase of membership. It has thus built in its two and a half years a membership of 17,000, and paid every loss i26 March 1893: “A New Order

n full with an average of six assessments per year.

About the first week in April a camp of 200 strong will be organized.

Consul J. B. Frost, of the Woodmen of the World, attended a rousing meeting of the Magnolia camp at Montgomery, Ala., started a fine list at Columbus, Ga., and at Macon last week.”


9 April 1893: “A New Enterprise for Atlanta

The woodmen of the world have located permanent headquarters of the southern jurisdiction in Atlanta, and all the business pertaining to organization in the south is now handled in their Atlanta office. The citizens are showing their appreciation of this fact and of the excellent plan of the order by rapidly swelling the charter list. The first local camp in the city will be organized this week with over two hundred members.

The woodmen is an order of four degrees, those of morning, noon and night giving social entertainment and educational advantages, while the protection degree affords an insurance at phenomenally low cost.

The policy issued is non-contestable. A monument is placed over the grave of every deceased member.

The certificate is never allowed to lapse while its holder is ill, and in thirty, twenty-five and twenty years the policy becomes paid up and a life membership is given.

Dun's agency gives a favorable report of the fidelity and promptness with which all claims are met and of the integrity and standing of its officers.

The remarkable growth of the order is evidently due to its merits…”

As mentioned, the Woodmen of the World are still active today. From their website (www.Woodmen.org): “As a Woodmen of the World member, you become a part of a fraternal benefit organization committed to helping families seeking insurance protection and financial security. Just as important, you become part of an organization committed to doing good and taking care of families like your own and the communities across the country we all call home.”

The Tombstones -

Early Woodmen of the World policies provided for a death and a monument benefit. Gravestones (usually noted as memorials) were originally furnished to members for free and later were offered to those who purchased a $100 rider.

During the 1920’s the Society stopped providing markers to members when the cost of gravestones increased and cemeteries began prohibiting above-ground memorials for maintenance reasons. For many years after that, members and lodges arranged for markers and monuments on their own. Although the monument benefit is no longer included, the Society does not let graves of members go unmarked.

WOW gravestones actually vary in size and shape. Many are in the form of the aforementioned tree stump, but others found are in the shape of a stack of wood. I have also seen simple granite ledger markers with the Woodmen of the World affiliation noted. Most contain an image of the logo, which includes a tree stump and the phrase “Dum Tacet Clamat.” This translates to “though silent, he speaks.”

According to the Woodmen website, “In one Kentucky cemetery, the gravestones started out as a modest Woodmen stump and grew larger with each additional burial. One gravestone is three feet wide with seven branches.”

WOW treestones are fairly common in my area of Georgia, and they are apparently common enough across the entire South. From The Upland South Folk Cemetery Complex: Some Suggestions of Origin by D. Gregory Jeane:

Monument unveilings in the South were associated primarily with fraternal, or semifraternal, orders. The most significant organization in the South associated with unveilings was the Woodmen of the World Life Assurance Society (W. O. W.). This semifraternal insurance organization had numerous "camps" scattered across the South, and practically every man belonged. Part of the membership creed supported the concept of a right to the dignity of a marked grave. A policyholder could, therefore, arrange to have a monument engraved with the Woodmen of the World logo erected on his grave, the cost covered by a modest rider on the holder's insurance policy.

Woodmen of the World monuments were dedicated and unveiled in formal ceremonies conducted by the local camp, usually on Memorial Day or at a convenient date set by the camp. The unveilings were formal events attended at times by a parade of the camp members to the cemetery and always with a moving eulogy for the deceased member. On Memorial Day flowers would be placed as well on the graves of other camp members. Later changes in the by-laws of the W. O. W. admitted women to the order and they too could have a marker with the W. O. W. logo. By the time women were allowed, however, unveilings had begun to decline precipitously, and no evidence of unveilings for women has been found.

A news note of an unveiling from the 30th of August, 1894 edition of The Atlanta Constitution reads, "The Woodmen of the World will, on Thursday, unveil the monument erected by that order over the grave of Mr. John Dootson. Rev. W. H. Young will read a poem and Mr. T. W. Reed will deliver the oration on that occasion."

Here are some images of what might have been unveiled.