Modern Woodmen of America Organization

MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA

By Karen Utter Jennings

Many of my Utter ancestors are buried at the Owsley Union Cemetery, located south of Longview and north of Powell on 76 Highway in McDonald County, Missouri. One day while there, I noticed a unique headstone for Walter E. Utter, a son of my great, great-grandfather, David Jefferson Utter. Walter died two days before Christmas in 1908 from pneumonia.   

Walter’s headstone is a rectangular smooth piece of gray stone that sets on a large base.  It measures five feet tall. Walter’s date of birth and date of death is on the front of the stone. An inscription reads, “left a wife and five children.” At the top of the rectangle on both sides, are engraved upside-down lilies. Four large engraved stone logs are stacked on top of the headstone.   Beneath the lilies and logs is a large square emblem marked with a shield, an ax, and an aul, with the letters M, W, and A. 

I had no idea what Walter’s headstone represented. But, I noticed other ornate headstones in the cemetery that resembled his. They mark the graves of Jerry H.Clapper and Lee R. Owsley. Owsley’s stone resembles a tree trunk with the same emblem, but his states “Erected by the Woodmen of the World.”  From that, I had the information I needed to do research. 

Joseph Cullen Root started the Modern Woodmen of America around 1883 for honoring the pioneer woodsmen who cleared the land for developing our roads, communities, and building homes. Modern Woodmen of America, also known as the Woodmen of the World, began as a fraternal benefit society that protected families and their financial futures by offering insurance protection. In the early days, certificates provided a death and a monument benefit to its members, furnishing free gravestones when they died. Eventually the elaborate gravestones became obsolete due to the cost of materials and cemetery regulations.    

Originally, all of the Woodmen’s gravestones were to be identical in size and design, but the result varied across the nation as local stonecutters used a wide variety of designs. What evolved are beautiful, elaborate, and precious works of art marking woodmen’s graves. There is the answer to the question of why all of the headstones are different, except for the Society’s emblem. 

Woodmen’s gravestones are scattered across the nation and is a fascination for many people who want to document the elaborate stones found in cemeteries. The USGenWeb Archive Project does have some photos of gravestones in our area, but not of the Owsley Union Cemetery. You can access the website at USGenWeb Project to see the photos.  

Cynthia Ann Utter, my great, great-grandfather’s sister, married Lewis Fulweiler Houser. They lived in the Rocky Comfort, Missouri, area all of their married lives. Lewis Houser is distinguished as being a charter member of the local Modern Woodmen of America in Rocky Comfort. I have a picture of the Rocky Comfort Citizen’s Bank building. Banking was done on the lower level, while the Modern Woodmen met in the upper level of the building.

After finding the interesting Woodmen headstones in cemeteries, I watch find more when I’m out visiting cemeteries. As of this writing, I have seen many Woodmen stones dispersed throughout our Missouri counties. While using the newspapers on microfilm, I watch for meeting notices of any fraternities.  

I am proud to have Modern Woodmen of America in my family. Finding information like this is thrilling for family history researchers. Do you have Modern Woodmen of America ancestors in your family tree?  If you’re not sure, why not do a little research and see what you can find?
I wish you luck in finding your history ~