Norman L McKay

128 Years ago, Norman L McKay was laid to rest in Union-Highland Cemetery in Florence, Colorado. 

This headstone features a sphere on the top that is rather large. That metal Bedstone is lovely and so is the plaque at his feet. This stone has the engraving on the base for that of Woodsmen of the World. Woodsman of the World was much like an insurance policy that would help families in need of burial. I did a story on them before and the story is best viewed in my blog by searching for woodsmen. These stones have an entire history of their own. 

Norman was Born in Nova Scotia, Canada on April 12th, 1848. According to the Florence Daily Herald, Norman passed away in his home on December 20th, 1897. The article states that he was only a small boy when he headed west. He was in many mining camps of the past including California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and then Colorado. 

He landed in Colorado looking for Gold in 1890. His endeavors were fruitful and he did make a bit of a small fortune. He was found to have suffered from stomach cancer and had undergone surgery for it a few months before his passing. The surgery was hard and he was not expected to recover from it. He made it for a while after, the article claiming that his hardiness and constitution prolonged his life as much as it possibly could have. 

“Death found him well prepared and his end was very quiet”, the paper mentioned that he was well known and will be missed by many. He left a wife and two small children behind. His funeral was conducted at Knights of Pythias and was conducted by Rev. C.C. Warner and Rev. S.H. Kirkbride. He was laid to rest in Union-Highland Cemetery near the front road. 

Another batch of articles I read stated that he and a colleague were opening a stone cutting business to make some of the monuments for the area, the stones were to be supplied by Mr. McKay and Mr. Mustard would do the cutting. McKay & Mustard had also secured a contract for El Paso county for stone work. And also the contract for track scales at Metallic Extraction Company’s new roasting building in Florence (Cyanide), the mill extracted gold from its ore. This was February of 1897. 

Norman L McKay

April 12, 1848 to December 20, 1897

His Inscription reads “Dum Tacet Clamat” Woodsmen of the World motto. 

He was 49 years old. The bottom of the base reads “Erected by the Woodsmen of the World.”

Rest in peace Norman.