2257 Main Street | Munhall, PA 15120
412-294-3189
Notables
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Independent Order of the
Odd Fellows and Rebekahs
Find A Grave link currently unavailable
Located in Old Section I, in center of Section
This cryptic monument, engraved with "I. O. O. F.," includes an epitaph dedicating the monument to the "memory of deceased members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs." The memorial is located in the center of Old Section I.
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The principles of the Independent Order are "to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan." A sick/funeral benefit, as well as entire cemeteries, were provided by local Lodges to their members and as charity. A large plot would sometimes be purchased within a cemetery, such as what is located here. Headstones would often be depicted with a heart in an open palm, or show a three-link chain containing the letters, F, L, and T, which stood for friendship, love, and truth.
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Two lodges were located in Homestead. The Magdala Lodge # 991 was instituted on January 9, 1883, and consolidated on January 8, 1963 with the Homestead Lodge #1049, originally instituted on June 28, 1892. Homestead #1049 went defunct on October 21, 1978.
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For more information about the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, please click here.
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Information received from IOOF Grand Secretary, Justin C. Bailey, 2021.
Fireman Thomas W. Jacobs
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Location: Old Section E, Lot 52
Source: "One was killed, three injured." Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 11 September 1904, p. 11.
Source: Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Wednesday, 14 Sep 1904, p. 4.
Source: "One was killed, three injured." Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 11 September 1904, p. 11.
Fireman Thomas W. Jacobs, a member of engine company No. 1 of Homestead, died as a result of head trauma while fighting a recurring blaze in the Harbison-Walker Refractories plant fire on Saturday, September 10, 1904. A falling smokestack struck Jacobs, along with several other fire fighters. He was taken to Mercy Hospital where he died from a concussion of the brain shortly afterwards. He was 49 years old. He was buried in the Homestead Cemetery on Tuesday, September 13th, following a service at the Fourth Avenue Baptist Church in Homestead. His funeral, the first in the borough for a fireman, was recorded as one of the largest ever attended in the borough, with members of the surrounding boroughs fire department marching to the cemetery.
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Information source:
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"Fireman Jacobs Buried." Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 14 Sep 1904, p. 4.
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"One was killed, three injured." Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 11 September 1904, p. 11.