When I am traveling I sometimes have a few free hours to just wander about a small town. I have gotten pretty good at figuring out the history of a place by a walk down Main Street, with side trips to "the other side of the tracks", any open construction sites, and of course the local cemetery.
Cadillac Michigan I had figured out early on. Logging community, post Civil War, later re purposing as a resort area. I figured the local cemetery would have more than its fair share of "Tree Shaped Tombstones". And it did. Sort of.
It is fairly common to see a larger family marker, in a typical tree trunk shape, surrounded by smaller markers for the individuals. Sometimes these would have names, sometimes just designations like "Mother". Here's a few.
Note the interesting flower basket made with smooth pebbles. This seems to be a local style. And here below another odd planter, once a sort of tree shape now with the applied plaster flaking off.
And another batch of the small subsidiary tree/log forms. But notice something missing?
Not a single example of the larger and more interesting family markers. Just these little guys that you really never see in isolation. Except in Cadillac Michigan.
I guess different cemetery associations can make whatever rules they like, but these would seem an odd stance to take. Nor can I see any evidence that the family markers used to be in situ but are now gone. Usually at least some trace of foundation would remain.
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