Woodmen Cemetery is a large, public cemetery located slightly west of the Monticello community in southwest Titus County. It is relatively new, since Monticello previously used Bivens Cemetery. The Woodmen of the World organization purchased land for this cemetery for Monticello's use when Bivens filled up. The name "Woodmen of the World Cemetery" was shortened to "Woodmen Cemetery" and became the cemetery's common name. A chain link fence surrounds the well maintained cemetery, and there is a noticeable lack of irregular markers like stones, wooden markers, or funeral home markers normally found in other cemeteries.
The cemetery has two distinctive gave sites. An above-ground crypt attracts attention among other graves. Folklore says the interred wanted to be buried sitting up in his favorite rocker. Although the crypt seems large enough to accommodate his wish, it supposedly wasn't granted.
The second grave belongs to Charles L. Burnett, who died at age 30. His marker contains a photograph of Burnett's corpse in his casket. It is said that the photograph verifies a statement that Burnett made before leaving Titus County that he would only return "in a pine box".
DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM THE TITUS COUNTY COURTHOUSE:
Drive 0.5 mile west on West First Street to the intersection of Ferguson Road (U.S. Highway 271). Veer left and cross the intersection at the traffic light onto South O'Tyson Street (Texas FM 127, locally known as the Monticello Road).
Continue 8.0 miles south on FM 127, where County Road 2630 intersects from the right. Turn right onto County Road 2630 and drive 0.1 mile, where the road appears to fork (actually the intersection of County Road 2600). Continue on County Road 2630 (the left fork) for 0.2 mile, where the cemetery is located on the right side of the road.
Woodmen Cemetery entrance gate
GPS COORDINATES: 33°05.838' N 095°05.473' W
DECORATION DAY: Second Saturday in May. Covered dish luncheon at 11:00 a.m. at the cemetery.
MARKED BURIALS INDEXED IN TCS DATABASE: 613 (2008-04-01)
FREE BURIAL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS CEMETERY.
SEE "HOW TO REQUEST BURIAL INFORMATION" PAGE FOR DETAILS.
LAST TCS PHYSICAL SURVEY: 2006-03-03
Historical information for this cemetery was provided by and used with the permission of David Horton, and was compiled from Mr. Horton's work and the earlier work of Lynch Harper. Map provided courtesy of Ark-La-Tex Council of Governments GIS department. Please forward any mapping questions to http://www.atcog.org/gis_mapping.htm.
Charles L. Burnett said that he would only return to Titus County "in a pine box." He did, and here's the photo to prove it!
Woodmen Cemetery
Monticello Community, Titus County, Texas
