Feb 14

Tombstone Tuesday-Knights Templar Symbol

This is an interesting tombstone inscription I have seen a few times, the symbol of the Freemason order of Knights Templar. The inscription features a Patee cross with the Latin phrase In Hoc Signo Vinces. There is usually a Christian cross and crown in the center, although the cross and crown is sometimes used alone. The Latin phrase dates back to 312 A.D. and the Roman Emperor Constantine and is translated as In This Sign Thou Shalt Conquer.

Knights Templar, Union Cemetery, Darke County, Ohio

Knights Templar, with Masonic symbol, Union Cemetery, Darke County, Ohio

Knights Templar, Woodland Cemetery, Lima, Ohio. This person was also a member of the Odd Fellows.

Wikipedia gives the full name of the Knights Templar order as The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St. John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes, and Malta. The order is open to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity.  

A little different version of the Knights Templar symbol:

Knights Templar, Woodland Cemetery, Van Wert, Ohio.

The original Knights Templar order (Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem) was founded about 1118 A.D. to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land after the First Crusade (1096-1099). They were known across Europe as an elite fighting force with a strict code of conduct. They swore oaths of chastity, poverty, and obedience and eventually gained a great amount of financial and military power.

Pope Clement V officially dissolved the Knights Templar in 1312. Since the 1700s the Knights Templars have been revived and imitated. Today, in addition to the Masonic order of Knights Templar, some non-Masonic groups have Knights Templar orders.

Feb 10

Black Creek & Liberty News, 1911

I have moved from 1910 and am now looking through the 1911 issues of The Celina Democrat, searching for news and information about Black Creek and Liberty Townships. Most of the news the paper printed was from the Celina area, but occasionally there is news from the northwest part of the county.

Chatt-area farmers make plans for their own Farm Institute in Liberty Township:

20 Jan 1911, The Celina Democrat

John Linn and wife return to Liberty Township. I believe this article refers to John Linn (1880-1945) and his brother Philip Linn (1868-1935), sons of Jacob and Catharine (Mueller) Linn. John’s wife was Marie Klenz and John’s mother Catharine was the sister of my great-grandfather Jacob Miller.

20 Jan 1911, The Celina Democrat

The death and funeral notice of Ollie E. (Ketro) Morrison (1877-1911). She is buried in Woodland Union Cemetery in Van Wert:

27 Jan 1911, The Celina Democrat

Here are a couple mentions about local ministers, reprinted from The Lutheran Standard. The third person mentioned, Rev. George Haas, was Zion Chatt’s minister from 1907-1911. He was born in Germany in 1876 and would have undoubtedly made an excellent professor of German History.

27 Jan 1911, The Celina Democrat

A fire in Rockford made news:

20 Jan 1911, The Celina Democrat

Did you ever wonder when and where your ancestor moved? This could be a clue. I believe this is James Andress (1868-1950), the son of Jefferson & Malvina (Figley) Andress, born in Mercer County and buried in Shelby County, Ohio:

27 May 1910, The Celina Democrat

Feb 07

Tombstone Tuesday-Masonic Tombstone Art

Masonic symbols are usually easily identified on tombstones. The Masons, also known as Freemasons or Free and Accepted Masons, is a fraternal society that originated in the Middle Ages from stonemason and cathedral builder guilds.

Mason, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

The most common Masonic symbol seen on tombstones is the square and compass, the tools used by masons and carpenters. The square represents morality and the compass represents measuring the ability to wisely conduct actions. The letter G is often in the center of the square and compass. The G may mean God, geometry, gnosis, or the ancient Hebrew letter with the value of 3.   

Mason, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

Masonic symbol superimposed over Bible, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

Members are awarded degrees, some as high as 32 and 33.

32nd Degree Mason, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

33rd Degree Mason, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

33rd Degree Mason, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

The Masons have several auxiliary organizations, called appendant bodies. The Order of the Eastern Star is open to both women and men but is probably known more as a women’s branch. The Eastern Star symbol is a five-pointed star with the bottom point pointing downward toward the manger. The meaning of the letters FATAL is reportedly revealed only to members but I have read that they represent the words Fairest Among Thousands Altogether Lovely.

Order of Eastern Star, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

This Order of Eastern Star symbol has its acronym, OES.

Order of Eastern Star, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

The boys Masonic branch is the Order of DeMolay and the girls branch is the Order of Job’s Daughters or the Order of the Rainbow.

Another group connected to the Masons is the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, usually known as the “Shriners.”  

Shriner, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

Feb 03

1911 Postcard to J.S. Egger

How interesting that a postcard sent over a century ago, to a state over 700 miles away, eventually ends up within a few miles of its origin.

This 1911 postcard is addressed to J.S. Egger in Hornick, Iowa. Egger is a surname that was familiar in the Chatt area at one time.

1911 postcard to J. S. Egger from Freda.

Rev. Samuel Egger (1857-1948) was born in Monroe County, Ohio, married Mary Buckio there in 1882, and by 1900 he and his family had moved to Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, where he was the minister of the UCC church near Chatt for 38 years. Rev. Egger spent the rest of his life in Mercer County and is buried in St. Paul’s Cemetery on Oregon and Wabash Roads.

Rev. Egger’s oldest brother was Jacob Samuel “J.S.” Egger (1851-1947), also born in Monroe County, Ohio, and moved to Iowa about 1881. He remained in Iowa the rest of his life.

The Egger family kept in contact with one another. This is the second old postcard I have that was sent from Rockford to J.S. Egger in Hornick, Iowa.

The postcard, postmarked Rockford, Ohio, Sep 14, 1911
To Mr. J.S. Egger
Hornick, Iowa

Message:
Just received word from the girls that they are coming today & Freda will have to leave Friday. Don’t worry if she don’t get home until Tuesday for pa will go to Chicago with her Monday. Freda

1911 postcard from Freda, to J.S. Egger, Hornick, Iowa.

Two Fredas are mentioned in the message, the message-writer and the Freda who is leaving for home.

There were in fact two Freda Eggers, first cousins, about the same age. Rev. Samuel Egger had a daughter Freda (1887-1980), who married Jacob Henry Brehm (1889-1953). Rev. Samuel’s brother in Iowa, J.S. Egger, had a daughter Friederike Julia “Freda” (1890-1986), who married Clarence Sulsberger (1892-1971).
 
I am guessing that the Mercer County Freda wrote the letter to her uncle J.S. Egger in Iowa, concerning her cousin Freda’s travel arrangements. Cousin Freda from Iowa was probably visiting family in Mercer County. The pa mentioned was likely Rev. Samuel Egger.

Of course, this is just speculation. The postcard may have been written by the Iowa Freda.

Jan 31

Tombstone Tuesday-J.W. Smith WOW Monument Unveiled, 1910

As I was reading through the 1910 issues of The Celina Democrat, this article got my attention. It tells about a Woodman of the World [WOW] cemetery marker that was unveiled 31 July 1910 on the grave of Jacob Walther Smith, at North Grove Cemetery in Celina.

The Celina Democrat, 5 Aug 1910. Smith monument unveiled.

Jacob Walter Smith died 5 October 1909, at the age of 34, and was buried on 7 October. Smith died relatively young from typhoid fever, after suffering with the disease for 18 days. He was a real estate agent and was married to Mary Rosetta Koch. They had two daughters, Eulalia and Juanita. Jacob Smith was the son of William and Caroline (Meyers) Smith. [1]

Woodmen of the World, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Ohio

Jacob Smith’s monument was not unveiled until late July 1910, nearly ten months after his death. The unveiling ceremony appears to have been quite an event, with music and eulogies. Several organizations were involved, including the I.O.O.F. [Independent Order of Odd Fellows], the Ladies’ Circle auxiliary, the White Oak Camp, and Senator Johnson. I am not sure what group the ladies auxiliary was associated with and I wonder if the White Oak Camp was the name of the local Woodmen’s organization.    

I have written about the Woodmen of the World before. They are a non-profit, fraternal benefit society that combines insurance with mutual aid and social membership. Their markers often look like a tree stump, or in this case, like stacked logs. Early Woodmen certificates entitled holders to a death benefit and a free monument, but later the monuments were given to members who purchased a $100 rider. The tree stump tombstone was abandoned in the late 1920s due to cost. 

Right now it is a little chilly to be out taking cemetery photos, but as luck would have it, this marker caught my eye back in 2005 and I took a photo of it then. The angle of the tombstone in this photo isn’t the best and does not show the inscription very well, but you get a good overall look of the tombstone.  

[1] “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” Mercer County, Jacob Walter Smith, 5 Oct 1909; database with images, FamilySearch.org, viewed 30 Jan 2023.