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Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Odd Fellows Cemetery in Elma, Washington

Elma has two fraternal cemeteries.  The Odd Fellows Cemetery is located next to Grays Harbor Fairground and Event Center.  

This fraternal group, established in America in 1819,  was dedicated to assisting those in need, including Odd Fellow Members and their families.  Members and their families were provided with food, nursing care, and the opportunity to purchase burial sites.  Newly established Lodges purchased land in new towns for cemeteries where their Members and families could be inferred.  Odd Fellow Cemeteries were often open to the public and plots were sold to help defray the cost of the land purchase and fund other projects.





Eric & I split up to 
walk the grounds of












The Veterans Memorial













I gravitate toward the older section of the cemetery.





Mary Spurgeon died
in 1937 at age 71.













Harriet Stancliff died in
1907 at age 71.

The monument is beautiful.






Joseph Young died in 1911
at 80 years of age.

side of the monument 
symbolizes resurrection.




Annie Corbett died in 1905 at
the age of 27.

The Draped Cloth symbolizes
 mourning.




This monument has the
Odd Fellows Symbol.




Though difficult to see, the
Abell monument has the Odd
 Fellows Three Link Chain.




Elliott Grips died in 
1896 at 19.  




This Harding monument
 Compass carved into it.

I wonder why Mr. Harding
bought a plot here & not
at the other end of town.




Nearby is another Harding
monument with a Triangle
& the inscription Faith,
Hope & Charity.





The Kane plots are enclosed
by stone & sit beneath
 shade trees.




The fish on the flag flying
above the Boiling plot 
is an Ichthys, an early
Christian symbol.










The markers here are shorter or flush, which is more in keeping with current cemetery marker styling. This cemetery, along with the Masonic Cemetery is now administered and maintained by Elma.

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