Until I moved to the Midwest, I’d never seen a tree trunk tombstone. I’ve visited a few older cemeteries in Indiana and have noticed gravestones in the shape of a tree trunk, with intricate carvings to depict facts and graphical elements reminiscent of the person’s life. They are unusual looking and make an impression. They also are more hearty than regular in-the-ground tombstones. I had to Google the story behind them. They were popular from the 1880s to the 1920s. Joseph Cullen Root was the founder of Modern Woodmen of America (MWA, 1883) and Woodmen of the World (WOW, 1890), both fraternal insurance benefit societies. The goal was to make…