Dum Tacet Clamat

“Though silent, he speaks”

In cemeteries throughout the west, Dum Tacet Clamat is written on hand-carved gravestones paid for by an insurance company called the Woodmen of the World. In an era where people had no other form of insurance, they made sure that their ultimate resting place would have an appropriate marker.

Jill and I ran into Dennis Gallagher (Denver City Auditor, Historian, and Raconteur) last Saturday; it turns out that we share an interest in preserving one of the unique parts of Denver’s cultural history.

A hundred or so years ago in the western United States most people didn’t worry much about art; there were more pressing concerns. Looking back from a distance, the most significant works mostly went in two directions; either they were architectural, or they were in cemeteries.

Denver’s most significant (or at least compelling) collection of funerary art is in Riverside Cemetery, located north of downtown off Brighton Boulevard. Jill and Maddie and I go walking there a couple times a week; it’s by far the calmest, most private place in the city. (If you’re interested, I’ve posted a few photos of Riverside as a set on Flickr.

Unfortunately, Riverside is drying up and falling apart. This evocative collection of stories about the people who founded Denver, who lived and died in Denver, is barely hanging on. A few years ago they lost their water rights (even though the cemetery is right on the banks of the Platte River). So now the trees are dying, the grass is brown, the old roses aren’t making it through the hot summers anymore. It’s a shame.

The city of Denver should buy Riverside and turn it into a park; sure, it’s in the middle of an industrial area, but industrial areas close to downtowns are being renovated all around the country.

We’ll see what happens with this; hopefully Dennis and his buddy Tom Noel can raise some awareness about this little known jewel. Riverside has a lot to say. It’s just lacking the right voice to say it with.

34 thoughts on “Dum Tacet Clamat”

  1. In looking through old cemetaries in Alabama I find many Woodman of the World upright tombstones. They all have Dum Tacet Clamat. I believe that was an insurance company which went belley up and a lot of prople lost precious money. The company was in ill repute from then on. Glen Moultrie

  2. Just a slight correction to the comment by Glen Moultrie. The Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Company is still ‘alive and well’ and has been since the Woodmen of the World was established in 1890. They were one of the insurance companies that made it thru the depression years without ‘folding’.

    Jim Davenport

  3. Dear Historians, Fancy writing on Christmas Day! My small boy has just given me ” a necklace with a medal for Mom” something he bought at a local junk shop with his limited pocket money. Not knowing what it was I simply typed in the motto on the medal to see what it meant. One has to smile, it is a Woodman of the World medal and the “fancy rope” as my son calls it. is someones hair!!!!! I realise now it was a gentlemans watch chain. Is the company American and the watch chain has simply ended up in Australia?

  4. My daughter and I were taking a stroll in the cemetary at Watermerman Ave. in San Bernardino, CA. One of the graves of Roy. Jencks 1887-1917 has the logo Woodmen of the world Dum tacet climet memorial. I was trying to look up what it ment. It’s a rather nice round symbol with a picture of a tree in the middle. Although I can’t find any futher information on the Mr. Jencks, I was led to this web site for the logo. Thanks 🙂

  5. I have photographed many Woodmen of the World headstones. Most are likened to a tree but there are variations. There was a time the organization would repair the headstones if needed but that has fallen by the way. It is a shame for they are unique. The first one I ever saw was at the age of 5 in a cemetery in Cherokee County, Texas…..my oldest grandson belongs to the organization now but they no longer furnish the headstones I don’t believe. Such a loss in this cemetery Shame on Denver City for taking the water rights and for not caring enough about a part of thier heritage to save it……

  6. Great site! Thanks for sharing… Janis Edwards’ grandfather’s Woodmen of the World Memorial marker in the Sylvan (near Paris, Texas) Cemetery is on the above site… Not the best light, but his name was Holl Enoch Edwards… Neat story of his death (and life, of course), his young wife was pregnant with Janis’ father when Holl Enoch died, en route from Blossom to Paris (about 10 miles) with a ruptured appendix at age 32 yrs. 11 mos. 17 days…
    Cheers,
    Rick & Jan

  7. went grave reading tonight in a catholic cemetery in Austin, Texas and found many headstones (most of which were falling apart) with the symbol. very curious

  8. I found one of these today in Sumterville, Florida. This one is in good condition and in the shape of a tree trunk.

  9. My husband acquired a dress sword and sheath that has “dum tacet clamat” on it. It also has (WOW) initials, as well as Highland Camp No. 4. The blade is marked “May Shoe and Clothing Company”, Denver, CO. Any information for what this sword would have been used for would be appreciated.

  10. Today I took my 17 year old to the oak dale cemetery in Glendora, ca — a chance for him to practice his driving– it’s the way my Dad taught me saying. Low chance to hurt anyone — as I was walking around I knew if I went to where the older upright headstones were id be more likely see interesting histories… Came across the phrase dum tacet clamat. I kept it in my head until I got to a computer… Curious to find its meaning… Thought it might be a special club or organization … Maybe a spiritual. Blessing… But thanks for having this blog… Any history is cool.

  11. Today is the birthday of William C. Anderson, born March 29 1900 and died July 22 1934 Dum Tacet Clamat Woodmen of the world buried at Doubled headed Baptist church in Screen county Ga.
    His headstone is that of a tree stump and reads,” Gone but not Forgotten”

  12. This summer my sis and I visited my grandfathers grave site in Park City,
    Utah. It has the Woodman of the World logo on it , we were told it was an order like the Masons. It was interesting to find it is not but an Insurance company. My grandfather was killed in a mining accident in 1916. The tombstone is in great shape.

  13. I live next door to Lakeview Cemetery in Marietta, Love County, Ok. We have a wonderful collection of Woodsmen of the World tree markers – the are beautiful and each one unique. Also a flat brass marker with Dum taet clamat. With out this site I would not have know it was also a Woodsman of the World marker. Thank You. Jan

  14. I found an intricate pin that is about 4 inches in length and have 3 parts to it. The top is 2 inches by 1/2 inch and has the words “Camp No. 7″ in the interior of it. Then chains connect the next part of the pin which is 1 1/2 by 1/4 inches and has the word ‘SOVEREIGN’ in the interior. The last part, connected by chains also, is a circle emblem surrounded by scroll work. In the middle of the circle is a picture of a log with an ax in the wood and possibly a mallet laying next to the wood with little trees next to it, underneath are the words DUM TACET CLAMET. I think the whole pin is made ouot of brass. On the back are the words ‘WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO, NEWARK NJ” PAT APPLD FOR. If any one out there can help me identify what this would have been made for or a history behind it I would appreciate it. Thank you.
    It has been interesting reading the above history of the insurance company. I am going to do more research on the company.

  15. I have grown up at the Port Blakely Mill Cemetery, the mill there was at one time the largest in the world. I disagree with the translation. “In silence we speak” It should actually be “In silence we shout” I believe that has to do with the woodsman’s shout of “Timber.”

  16. I own a commercial building in Commerce, GA, where the “woodmen” must have once met. There is a “monument” in the building, made of wood, in the shape of a gravestone. Looks a little like the Washington monument. It’s painted gray, and marked with the tree and “Dum Tacet Clamat” inscription in black. The lower portion of the 5-foot high monolith reads “WOW”. I’ve always liked the thing being around just for the sake of historical conversation……now I know what it’s about….Thanks.

  17. I live in a small town in Millom Cumbria England. My local church is Holy Trinity in Millom. I have often wondered how a man from Butte Montana came to be buried in our little churchyard. The inscription DUM TACET CLAMAT had always puzzled me until I Googled it and found your excellent explaination. As a point of interest the deceased persons name was John B Bennet and he died on May 27th 1912 and he was
    50 years old.

  18. There are a couple of Woodmen markers in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland Calif.

  19. Just burried my cousins daughter from the UCC shooting, only 18. Noticed one of these headstones in riddle or.

  20. Woodman of the world markers found in Oakwood Cemetery in Parsons, Kansas. Very interesting. Would not have guessed it had to do with an insurance company.

  21. dum tacet clamat means ” Though Silent He Speaks ” , my grandfather’s tombstone has this on it . He is buried in Salem Cemetery , Obion , Tennessee . He was a Doctor , his name was Joshua Ilar Glover .

  22. Found my first Woodsmen of the World plaque on an ordinary style head stone at a Catholic Semetary in Cincinnati Ohio. Intreging.

  23. dum tacet clamat means ” Though Silent He Speaks ”

    After reading this archive, The words are prophetic and we are talking about them many years later so yet they have passed still they are mentioned.

    The Woodmen still exist and no one lost money because of them. They quit offering the free headstones many years ago because of costs is all.

  24. My grandfather/grandmother’s tombstone is a Woodmen of the World in Pittston, Pa. I am having an appraisal to repair, from 1937.

  25. My wife’s great grandparents family were polish the family gravestone in Buffalo New York has that stamp. Is it more prevalent in the western U S or does it mean he was a lumberjack. A member of Woodman of the World? Any info would be helpful.

  26. I found my Great Uncle John H. Kalbfleisch’s grave in the Graniteville Cemetery, Graniteville, South Carolina. He was a Woodsman of the World. It had the dum tacet climate on the huge tombstone! Fascinating history! He was born in 1870.

  27. On an antique shaving mug with the name R. M. Briley in gold, Woodsman of The World, Dum Tacet Clamat and picture of a section of log with metal wedge and axe driven into it appear. The mug belonged to Richard M.Briley, grandfather of my husbband, Richard Gaylord Briley, of Bessemer, Mi. Grandfather lived until the 1940’s.

  28. Several headstones at the downtown Redding, CA cemetery. Signs posted that half their park lost water rights. Very dry. Many lovely old markers.

  29. My friend Choi and I walked around Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward, California on Aug. 21, 2022, just looking at headstones. We came across four “Dum Tacet Clamet” headstones. Three of the deceased had died in their 40s, one at age 25. I theorized that the four had lost their lives while cutting the Oakland redwood trees that were used to build San Francisco (pre earthquake and fire in 1906.)
    At home I looked up the Latin phrase, and found the truth–there probably was no wood cutting involved in the four deaths.
    The youngest of the deceased was buried among the richer residents of the cemetery.

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