[Monday] May 14, 1931
I worked 3 hrs. in the grave yard to-day and put a box of flowers by the loved ones. I’ve always did my part in remembering the loved ones there & after I am gone I sure hope my children will never neglect doing the same for Alb. and myself. It can be done without spending money for unnecessary offerings.
NOTES
Mary was most likely working that day in the Marysville cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day, which was more often referred to as “Decoration Day” in those days. Although Memorial Day was originally intended as a day to decorate the graves of soldiers who died in the service of their country, many people also decorated the graves of other family members.
In 1931, the “loved ones” Mary was referring to were her first husband George Schenk who died on October 31, 1915, their daughter Valentine Dora who died several months before George on April 2, 1915, and Mary’s unnamed infant son who died in 1921.[1. The grave marker gives the year of death as 1920 but I located a record that gives “abt 1921” as the date of birth and “2 Jan 1921” as the date of death. “Montana Death Index, 1907-2007,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search/ : accessed 30 May 2016), entry for Infant Schafer (sic), 2 Jan 1921; citing Montana State Genealogical Society, comp. Montana Death Index, 1860-2007.] Mary’s second husband Albert Schaffer was the father of that child.
About 15 years ago, my son and I visited the Marysville cemetery and he took these photos of the graveyard. Image #1 is a map he prepared showing the location of the cemetery in relation to Marysville.
Curious about the image shown in Photo #7, I did some research and learned that it represents a fraternal organization founded by Joseph Cullen Root in 1890 known as Woodmen of the World. Membership in this organization included an insurance policy which provided for a free gravestone which exhibited the insurance company’s logo. Traditionally, four objects were included on the gravestone: maul, axe, wedge, and a dove of peace carrying an olive branch.[2. Sources for information on Woodmen of the World: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~okmurray/wow.htm and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WoodmenLife#History.] The Latin inscription on this marker is “Dum Tacet Clamat” – which translates to “Though Silent, He Speaks”.
The four-sided Schenk grave marker shown in Photo #4 contains information on one side for George Schenk (Photo #5) and on a second side for his daughter Valentine (Photo #6).
*All photographs in this post were taken by the author’s son, Jake Hertz.
