Tree Shaped Tombstones - Cabins of the Pioneers

Back at Forest Lawn Cemetery in St. Paul I ran across a log cabin themed monument that I had to include in my Tree Shaped Tombstone series.  A bit of a stretch.  But on our recent road trip to Iowa we encountered a pair of magnificent specimens that were clearly akin to the "Trees".

Behold.

Here is another view for perspective.  Look at the detail, the chimney not only has individual bricks, there are gobs of fake mortar between them and a foundation underneath.  Remember all of this is carved stone.

Here are the names.  It struck us as odd that just the wife and children were listed.

We found it in the delightful small town of Independence Iowa.  As we continued our journey we made a brief stop in nearby Oelwein, where my brother spotted another small cemetery.  And hey, check it out...

Not identical really, this one has nine logs across the front and eight on the roof.  The Independence specimen had eight and seven.  Also, look at the flat board on the roof.  This was blank on our prior example:

The man's name and dates go on the roof.  Is this symbolic of "putting a roof over his family's head"? But the biggest surprise was on the chimney section of this cabin.

From hundreds of tree shaped tombstones and their close kin this is only the second time I have seen a maker leave his mark.  J.J. Lundy, you were a true artisan.  Sir, I salute you.