Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Woodmen of the World Regional Memorial, Charlotte

Type

Column

Subjects

Industry

Creator

Scoggins Memorial Art Works, Charlotte, NC, Sculptor

City

Charlotte

County

Mecklenburg

Description

This memorial honors members of the fraternal organization of Woodmen of the World. It is a column, approximately six feet high, composed of pink granite. The top of the column has been carved into the shape of a tree trunk. The face of the monument is smooth, with a polished border. Below the engraving of a crossed axe and mallet the names of members from the east coast are inscribed. The column rests atop a square pink granite base. The second to last line of the inscription includes the Latin phrase Dum Tacet Clamat, translated as "though silent, he speaks." The Charlotte memorial was the first of five regional monuments placed to honor departed members.

Inscription

Front: WOODMEN / OF THE WORLD / REGIONAL MEMORIAL / LINUS P. SUTTON CAMP NO. 12 N. C. / JOSEPH F. MEADOWS “ ” 17 N . C. / ROBERT P. HINSON “ ” 45 N. C. / ALBERT YARBOROUGH “ ” 96 N. C. / LONNIE L. CARPENTER “ ” 112 N. C. / RALPH H. CLEMENT “ ” 116 N. C. / W. T. HOBBS “ ” 201 N. C. / CLAUDE A. FLOYD “ ” 225 N. C. / JOHN G. CARPENTER “ ” 382 N. C. / ST. CLAIR DUDLEY “ ” 3 VA. / EDWARD F. SHEPHERD “ ” 3 VA. / LEE M. MORGAN “ ” 97 VA. / WILLIAM E. CRAWUEY “ ” 0 MO. / EARL LONG “ ” 4 MO. / L. L. LEFLER “ ” 23 MO. / JOHN A. RYAN “ ” 368 MO. / FRED E. GUSEWELLE “ ” 469 MO. / VINCENT D. BROWN “ ” 8 ARK. / CHARLEY W. ISOM “ ” 104 ARK. / SPENCER E. FOUNTAIN “ ” 108 ARK. / JOHN P. MARSH “ ” 154 ARK. / J. F. LYON “ ” 1132 ARK. / CHARLES A. JOHNSON “ ” 2 ALA. / PERCY C. STEVENS “ ” 2 ALA. / HOWELL H. GOLSON “ ” 25 ALA. / JOHN J. ZORN “ ” 289 ALA. / SAM F. HOLLINGSWORTH “ ” 420 ALA. / EDWARD J. BARNES “ ” 25 CONN. / ANDREW TOTH “ ” 137 CONN. / DUM TACET CLAMAT / 1950

Rear: THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED / IN MEMORY OF DECEASED / MEMBERS OF THE WOODMEN / OF THE WORLD WHOSE / INDIVIDUAL RESTING PLACES / COULD NOT BE MARKED

Custodian

Elmwood Cemetery, owned and operated by the City of Charlotte

Dedication Date

June 4, 1950

Decade

1950s

Geographic Coordinates

35.234150 , -80.847300 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

"Elmwood and Pinewood Cemetery, Charlotte, NC," Waymarking.com, (accessed May 6, 2017) Link

Killeri, Kimberly. "Pinewood/Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, NC," published on Feb 4, 2013, (accessed May 6, 2017) Link

Newberry, Farrar. Life and Speeches of Joseph Cullen Root and the Glories of Perfected Woodcraft (Arkadelphia, AR: The Siftings Printing Co., 1914), (accessed April 15, 2013) Link

Woodmen of the World. "History," (accessed April 15, 2013) Link

“Memorial to Be Presented by Woodmen,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), May 30, 1950

“Woodmen to Unveil Memorial at 3 P.M.,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), June 4, 1950

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Pink granite

Sponsors

Woodmen of the World

Monument Dedication and Unveiling

Farrar Newberry, of Omaha, Nebraska, national Woodmen president, presented the memorial and Charles A. Hines of Greensboro, national Woodmen director, delivered the memorial address.

Subject Notes

Woodmen of the World is a non-profit financial organization founded in 1890 by Joseph Cullen Root in Omaha Nebraska. Root established the organization as an insurance company with the goal of making insurance widely available to anyone. Woodmen of the World is also a fraternal organization associated with the financial company and has lodges or camps still in operation throughout the country. The lodges have a say in the governance of the company and engage in volunteer activities in their communities. Originally the company made grave markers available to its members and fraternal members, often in designs reflecting the image of the tree stump or sawed limb, but eventually discontinued this practice.

The monument in Charlotte is a regional memorial dedicated to known members listed on the front of the monument whose graves are unknown. Each name includes the member's camp.

Location

The monument sits just inside the gates to the Elmwood Cemetery located off West 6th Street. It is the first monument visible where the circular road around the cemetery branches to the left and right.

Landscape

The monument sits in a manicured lawn area beneath mature shade trees. A few steps and a walkway frame both sides of the monument.

Death Space

Yes