Tree Stump Tombstones

Tree Stump Tombstones were very popular in the United States in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. A style connected to the Victorian Rustic movement and the Arts and Crafts movement, they often symbolized sincerity, the end of life, or a life cut off. Many were made for members of Woodmen of the World, a fraternal benefit society founded in 1890 that paid for the carvings as an insurance death benefit. These are a wonderful and creative form of memorialization, and Walter S. Arnold has been fortunate to be able to continue this tradition and carve a number of trees.