"Americans" only need apply. Nativists organization symbols in the cemetery.

This is a Masonic symbol right?    Wrong.

 

 This is a Masonic symbol. 

The ritual and symbology of the above symbol featured was said to be heavily influenced by that of the Freemasons. This is where the misidentification comes in.   Of the twenty five original founders, four were Freemasons and four other delegates were eventually raised to the Craft. The emblem of the Order incorporated the square and compasses with an arm and hammer in the middle. 

But  what was this group and what was their purpose?                                                           

What you see featured at the top, is the symbol for the Order of the United American Mechanics. This was an American Nativist organization - "American only". It originally was called the Union of Workers. Members were required to undertake efforts to publicize and campaign against the hiring of cheap foreign labor and to patronize only "American" businesses.

The Order grew out of the resentment many native born American workers in Philadelphia felt toward foreigners during the depression of the mid 1840s. As many American workers were laid off poor German immigrants were allegedly taking their jobs at lower wages.

Unlike other Nativist societies that sprang up in the 1840s and 1850, the OAUM was able to survive the Civil War. By 1896 there were State Councils in twenty one states and the order had 60,000 members.

In 1853 it created the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, as an youth auxiliary. This group would eventually become more popular than the OUAM itself and became an independent adult organization in 1885.

A stone featuring both OUAM & Masonic symbols.

 Overtime, the OUAM abandoned its Nativist politics and became a standard insurance society, even dropping the word "Order" from its name to become just the "United American Mechanics". It was eventually absorbed by its former youth affiliate, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics .

In 1903 the rules used by one Doylestown, Pennsylvania  group stated that membership was open to "white male citizens, born in the United States". The objects of the order were employment assistance, supporting member's businesses, assisting ill members, and providing funeral and survivor benefits. Meeting were each Wednesday evening. Dues were 15 cents a week. There were disability benefits of $5 for first 13 weeks, $4 next 13 weeks, and $3 onwards. Funeral benefits were $100, or for a spouse $50. Donations to distressed families were limited to a maximum of $2.

Bastardized Symbols - their true meanings revealed.

 

One of the many aspects of being a taphophile is the study of icons and their secondary meanings when used on gravestones.  

We refer to this as Iconography.  While conducting cemetery tours, I explain to people what any given image on a stone says about the stone's owner. Many flora and fauna images used on stones have meanings speaking to faith, age or family relationships. It's a bit like reading hieroglyphics if you can speak the language.

 

 That being said, what would seeing a swastika on a gravestone say to you? What would it's secondary meaning be if not one of hate? And why would anyone use it? Read on for a quick history and the simple answer.

One thing we do know is that over time, the meaning of a symbol can change as changes in the culture also occur. Such is the case with the swastika.

We see this symbol as having a dark history. It's use is currently outlawed in Germany. All of this  can be attributed to one man's warped ambition, Adolf Hitler. In fact he hijacked not only this symbol but a second one as well during the days of the Third Reich.

A swastika plot marker from Texas.

The ironic thing is that this symbol can be traced back all the way to Roman times, and was also used by the Viking.

We can trace the use of the swastika cross well into antiquity.  It has been found on objects such as pottery and ancient coins from Gaza.  

 Some theorize that the symbol originated with the Pagans but was carried over into Christianity.

An early 1900's postcard sent for well wishes.

One thing we do know for sure, is that the word we use for it  "swastika", comes from the Sanskrit word svastika. It is derived from the  

su- meaning "good, well"  and

asti- "to be".... or svasti- thus meaning "well being". 

The suffix -ka intensifies the the verbal meaning, so literal translation could then become "that which is associated with well being" or maybe even "lucky charm". 

There is the answer, the secondary meaning.

Other names for the same symbol are many depending on the culture. It has been called the crooked cross, the angled cross, and the sun cross. In heraldry it is known as the cross cramponned due to each leg's resemblance to an iron-angle or a crampon. A Greek name for the symbol is the gammadion. Each leg of the cross resembles the gamma symbol. The use of this name can be found from Scotland to Iceland. The gammadion can be found on Celtic crosses and jewelry such as necklaces.

The swastika is also known as a gammadion cross.

Another found name for the cross is the Fylfot Cross [fil-fot]. In Britain the name fylfot came from the Anglo-Saxon's - fower fot, meaning "many footed". 

 A manuscript from the 1500's explains the use of the fylfot as a symbol to fill in the empty spaces at the bottom of stained glass windows in medieval churches.

As recently as June 12'th 1996, The British House of Commons Hastard Debate, discussed the badge of the No. 273 British Flight Squadron which uses the symbol. During the debate the ancient symbol was solely established as being called the fylfot while the Nazi symbol was to be referred to as the swastika. 

This firmly established "fylfot" as being the name of the "good" symbol. Even though the Nazi's had nothing to do with the creation of the swastika, their use of it has tainted it for all modern time.

A Christian grave featuring a Star of David.

Inevitably when one thinks of the Nazi's and their use of the swastika another symbol of that time period comes to mind.

 It is the Star of David. Also a very ancient symbol, this star has been used by Jews and Christians... yes Christians for hundreds of years.

It is formed of two triangles. One triangle being man and the other being God, the symbol represents the relationship between the two.  It is also said that the six points of the Star symbol represent all the directions within the Universe, North, South, East, West, up and down.

It was during WWII when Hilter again took control of yet another iconic faith symbol. He chose the Star of David gave it the color yellow and began to use it to "mark" all Jews.

"JEW" embroidered on a patch worn in WWII

Before this action, the Star of David was a minor Jewish symbol of faith, having equal significance with other similar faith symbols. By the end of the War, the world had witnessed the murder of six million people, many of them wearing this same small fabric star. Sadly the Star of David had forever cemented it's place in history as the absolute symbol of the Jewish people.

Fair or not, the meanings of both of these symbols have been forever altered by just one man. Certain images flash through the mind.

To place a Fylfot Cross in your window or mail postcards to your friends wishing them the power of the symbol would cause shock and inevitable scorn. Beautiful ancient symbols altered by Geo-politics. 

That being said, there was a time when these greetings would have been appreciated. 

This powerful final image, shows both symbols married together in stone forever.  Not in opposition, but complimenting each other.

In this age, who could ever have imagined such a sight?

Exhuming the Dead. Warning: images may be disturbing to some people.

The exhumation of graves is never something done on a whim. The process, if done correctly, is a careful and meticulously documented endeavor. Not just the moving of stones...

This blog will walk you, the reader, through the exhumation process of an entire family that was conducted in Rochester, N.H.

The site of the original Legro Cemetery and exhumations.
Plastic was used to preserve the area. 

During the fall of 2009, an archaeologist on a state-sponsored excavation project for the NH Highway Department, exhumed the remains within the Legro and Leighton cemetery which was located in middle of the on/off ramp of Exit 15 off the Spaulding Turnpike in Rochester, NH. The removal of the cemetery was to make way for the new highway ramps.

Years before the exhumation project all of the headstones had been removed from the cemetery, for what was called "safe keeping" by a local cemetery enthusiast. This person made a hand written map, using tree locations as measurements to mark where the headstone once stood. This ultimately posed a huge challenge for the archeological team since some of the trees had been removed since the making of the map. The true size of the family cemetery and position that the markers had been in were now not properly documented. It would be a game of guess work to locate exact positioning for all of the remains. All this extra work for the team, due to the actions of a person who wanted to "help".

Carefully removing soil from the remains.

Elihu Legro's remains

The workers started their day at 7 am and worked through the day until 5 pm.



Most of the team's day was spent bent over on their knees in the dirt performing painstaking work. This made for very long days.  








At the end of their work day the workers would secure their tools, stretch plastic sheeting over the site and secure them with sandbags.


A tractor would then bring in large sheets of metal to be laid on top to keep anyone from tampering with the site. 




The team typically didn't work past 5 pm unless they found new remains, then they all concentrated their time on quickly and carefully exhuming and documenting the newest finds before it became too dark. 

A Leighton Child

Pieces of glass were found on top of some of the children's skulls, this would have allowed for a closed casket funeral where the child's face was visible. These coffins were known as a viewing coffins. The glass had the unintended consequence of creating a "microenvironment" that allowed for better preservation of some of the remains. The children's remains are from the 1840s or '50s, while the adults may have been buried as late as 1871.

One of the many great finds was the original headstone that belonged to Elihu which was thought to have been removed to make way for his Civil War Military stone. 

It was buried under 8 inches of soil and three feet from his resting place.

Mary Legro remains. Notice the hairpin used to hold her hair back is still present on the skull.

Researchers found elaborate buttons near the remains of Mary Legro. Also present was a hair pin and a frock button which would have been a part of her dress.

A collection of burial artifacts including buttons, nails and a coffin handle.

The whole process took approximately two weeks to complete.


The final archeological report showed the Legro Cemetery measured 25 rods and contained the remains of David and Joanna Legro, Elihu and Mary Legro, their son Elihu Jr., 2 of  Elihu’s siblings, as well as four children from the Leighton Family.


On May 8^th 2010 under rainy skies, Elihu Legro a Civil War veteran was reburied with full military honors at the Rochester Cemetery.
 

Small handmade pine caskets.

Prior to Elihu's burial, the rest of the family was reburied.

All were reburied in the same order they were found in. 

All were given new handmade caskets as seen in this photo to the right.

Pine caskets placed in eco-vaults.

As you can see, this was a massive undertaking.  Not just a quick shuffling of gravestones from one location to another. Officials from the governor's office to state and local government agencies were involved.

Daniel Meehan a Son's of Union Veteran's official and a Civil War reinactor with the 12th New Hampshire single-handedly orchestrated the entire funeral.

Final Footnote:

It was noticed that Elihu's and Mary's heads were tipped to the sides. The result was that each was  looking at the other.

Prior to being placed within their newly made coffins, straw was laid down and they were placed the same exact way, so they will continue to look at each other through the ages.

May they finally rest in peace.

This photo shows how they were found.

The Grave of a Pilgrim

William Bradford.                ~ Plymouth Colony Governor                                                                                                                                  “Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many...”

The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England in September of 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of 30-40 in terribly cramped conditions.  In November of 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they finally spotted land.

After returning from an exploration party on land,  William Bradford made his way back on board the ship, where he was told of the death of his wife, Dorothy. One day after he had embarked with the exploring party, Dorothy had fallen over the side of the Mayflower and drowned. Bradford recorded her death in his journal.

The grave site of WilliamBradford

Bradford had delayed writing his will in hopes that he could obtain the services of his friend, Thomas Prence. But "feeling himself very weak and drawing on to the conclusion of his mortal life," he made out a nuncupative will on the day of his death.

 William Bradford was buried on Burial Hill in Plymouth, MA.  His current stone is made of slate and is preserved nicely within a granite support.
The epitaph on the stone reads:

"He lived long but was still doing 
good,
And in his countrys service lost 
much blood;
After a life well spent, he's now 
at rest,
His very name and memory
is blessed."