Monday, September 26, 2011

GRAVESIDE MEDALLIONS: I.O.R.M.

One of the things that I noticed when I first started taking cemetery photos
were the assorted medallions placed near gravestones. So I thought I'd feature
some here from time to time. Due to the recent rash of thefts of such items
from cemeteries I won't disclose the location of these items to protect them from
metal thieves.

This first one has the initials I.O.R.M. which stands for the Improved Order of
Red Men. This was a fraternal group organized back in the late 19th century that
claimed it was descended from the Sons of Liberty from the American Revolution.
The Indian theme was based on the Boston Tea Party when the Sons of Liberty
disguised as themselves as Indians,

"No 153" is the lodge of which the deceased was a member.

When I researched this medallion I thought I'd read about the I.O.R.M.
somewhere before and a quick google search reminded me of where it had
been: an article on Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Nutfield Genealogy about the
Boston Tea Party that you can read here!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention, Bill! I like the idea of your new meme. I spent last weekend puzzling over one I saw in Derry, with the letters FLT. I still haven't figured it out....Maybe if I join your meme and post it, someone can comment the correct answer?

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  2. Heather, I found out that FLT stands for "Friendship, Love, & Truth" which is a slogan from the Odd Fellows.

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