This unusual symbol on a gravestone at Highland Cemetery in Wichita is a Knights of Honor monogram, the meaning of which is secret, revealed only to those who reached the highest level of the Knights of Honor. The mark consists of the letters O, M and A inside of a six-pointed star.

More photos of this gravestone can be found here: J.B. Curry, Highland Cemetery, Wichita, KS.

This monogram is on the gravestone of J.B. Curry. He was a member of the Knights of Honor, and upon his death, his wife Kate was paid $2,000 by them as part of her husband’s membership benefit. For more information about J.B. Curry, and to learn about a second rare mark on his gravestone, check out: J.B. Curry, Highland Cemetery, Wichita, KS.

Wichita Daily Times, Aug 2, 1883

This Knights of Honor symbol proved difficult to research so I wanted to share everything I learned. Hopefully this makes it easier for the next person looking for answers.

Mystery Monogram

A little over a decade ago, a Cleburne, Texas resident named Eunice Parker noticed the same symbol on her grandfather’s gravestone. Once I knew what to search for, I came across her journey of discovery and it was similar to mine.

Cleburne Times Review via Find a Grave

Like me, Eunice was armed with just the details contained in the symbol. My best guesses were that it was Masonic or Jewish, and that’s what Eunice thought too. One person suggested to Eunice that might be an “Ave Maria” symbol, and I got the same suggestion when I asked around.

Eunice finally got her answer from the Association for Gravestone Studies. The AGS didn’t immediately know what the symbol was either, but they were able to show Eunice a resource she hadn’t seen. They sent her an image of a symbol they found in an old jewelry catalog that matched the symbol on her grandfather’s gravestone.

Source

Like Eunice, I also found my answer in a jewelry catalog, right before I stumbled across her story. Someone helped her, and I was also helped by a suggestion to look into another secret society, and that led me down the right path.

Knights of Honor

Knights of Honor had similarities to other fraternal organizations. The man who organized the Knights of Honor in 1873 in Kentucky was a fraternalist and a member of several secret societies. He copied ideas from other existing groups to create the Knights of Honor.

The Coffeyville Weekly Journal, Jan 1, 1883

Men paid a small annual fee to be a member of the Knights of Honor and and in turn received several monetary and non-monetary benefits. One of the major benefits of KoH was the $2,000 widows & orphans insurance policy. Some said these types of insurance policies were frauds, and called on citizens to “beware of any organization that flaunts the word ‘honor,’ [and] any organization in this enlightened age that call themselves ‘knights.’”

Blank Knights of Honor Certificate of Membership. Knights of Honor required members to believe in God and “earn a livelihood for himself and his family.”

In the Knights of Honor, “men learn that it is not unmanly to be dependent, and that it is ennobling to be fraternal and charitable.” In addition to caring for one another, men pledged to “defend and maintain the virtue, chastity and dignity of true womanhood, the widows and orphans.” Being a member signified “the protection of the chastity and honor of our women of these modern times.”

Seal of the Supreme Lodge of the Knights of Honor featuring a Knight guarding women and children and other symbology. “Of all the laws of chivalry, none was maintained with more rigor that that which secured the respect for women.”

The purpose of the Knights of Honor, according to their constitution and general laws, was:

To unite all acceptable, employed white men.
To give moral and material aid through lectures, supporting each others businesses, and assisting each other to gain employment.
To provide widows and orphans (or other dependents) up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) upon the members death.

The substantial death benefit for just a few dollars annually made KoH extremely popular in the late 1800’s, and membership soared. But it wasn’t long before those members were dying of disease and old age in large numbers. The group paid out tens of million in death benefits between 1873-1895, and was forced to make changes to the unsustainable membership structure. As a result, membership declined, and the organization was unable to pay the benefit promised to some widows and orphans.

In 1915, it was reported that KoH was bankrupt. The organization officially disbanded in 1916.

The Canton Independent-Sentinel, Sep 16, 1915

Knights and Ladies of Honor was an offshoot organized in 1881 that allowed white women to join. Knights of Honor of the World was another offshoot formed in 1893 that allowed Black men and women. None of these groups are connected to the defunct anti-Catholic political group American Knights of Honor and the currently active Knights of Honor Motorcycle Association.

Knights of Honor in Kansas

The KoH appears first on The Kansas Knight and Soldier (or Western Veteran) masthead.

KoH membership increased rapidly in the 1870’s, and the secret society reached Kansas in 1877. Four cities in Cowley county—Wellington, Winfield, Oxford, Arkansas City—and at least eight other cities organized Knights of Honor lodges that year.

The Sumner County Press, Feb 8, 1877

Dr. Alonzo Howland, one of Winfield’s earliest white settlers, was KoH’s Deputy Grand Dictator for the state of Kansas that year. He started the lodges in Cowley county and then traveled around to start other lodges around the state. He is credited with helping organize KoH lodges in Newton, Howard, Cottonwood Falls, Emporia, Topeka, Chanute, La Cygne, Paola, Junction City, and many more Kansas towns.

South Kansas Tribune, May 22, 1878

During the first six months of 1878, the number of KoH lodges organized in Kansas more than doubled over the previous entire year, mostly thanks to Dr. Howland and the enticing $2,000 death benefit for a low membership fee.

Supreme Lodge Officers and Kansas Grand Lodge representatives in 1886. Western Veteran, May 15, 1886

Knights of Honor Today

A website called Knights of Honor claims to be the same as the one organized in 1873 (it’s not) and says all you have to do to be a member is start paying the $35 monthly fee for “lessons.”

The website promises they are not like the Illuminati, but say membership will “start you on the path to a new life filled with money, friends, health and the fulfillment of all your dreams” and warn new members “we are watching.”

This is a scam. Knights of Honor does not exist today. The organization went bankrupt 108 years ago.

Knights of Honor Symbols

Lamb: Symbol of innocence, typifies the innocence of infancy.

White Lily: Purity, innocence.

Flags: Flags recall the helpless condition of infancy, and remind us of the duty of caring for all who are unable to care for themselves.

Lamp/Flame of Truth: Ever burning to illuminate the minds of those who place themselves within reach of its rays. “May you always be ready to receive the truth.”

Shepherd’s Crook: Represents David and his victory through suffering when led by the Lord.

Cluster of Grapes: Represents the toil of the husbandman who will in due time be rewarded with abundant fruit.

Scepter: Represents honor gained by unceasing effort.

Sword: Represents the fight against evil, and reminder to be well-armed with proper weapons for warfare.

Shield: Represents a guard against rashness, and preparedness to “repel the assaults of vice.”

Late 1800’s or early 1900’s Knights of Honor casket plate with a sword, scepter, and shield with the letters O, M, A. The three banners at the top may represent the three degrees of the order. This emblem also includes a knight and a crown and bears many similarities to a Knights of Pythias symbol.

Some symbols aren’t explained in any Knights of Honor documentation that I found. Considering that Knights of Honor borrowed heavily from other secret societies, the meanings behind some of the other symbols could be easy to figure out by looking at the meanings assigned to the symbols by those societies.

Banners for Knights of Honor of the World featuring the Knights of Honor O.M.A. monogram. Source

Oddfellows and Masons use many similar symbols. The star or hexagram could represent the Seal of Solomon, the crown could represent eternal life, and the eye that seems to appear in some versions of the monogram could represent the Eye of Providence (all-seeing eye).

Late 1800’s printer’s block of the KoH monogram, like the one used in the Coffeyville Weekly Journal, featuring the intertwined letters O.M.A. inside of a six-pointed star. The O appears to be shaped like an eye, and the A has a crown (or perhaps a flame) at the top.

Seals can also be found with the monogram inside a triangle.

The seal from Providence Lodge No. 182 in Rhode Island features a triangle, the monogram, the letters O.M.A. associated with each level (Infancy, Youth, Manhood).

Knights of Honor Degrees

Much of the information for the degrees, symbols, and rituals of Knights of Honor came from a book about rituals for Knights of Honor of the World, which were modeled after, but could vary from, those used by Knights of Honor.

Knights of Honor had three degrees, and if you are familiar with other secret societies, the basic concepts of these degrees may be familiar to you.

Knights of Honor fraternal pin featuring “a tri-colored banner, white, yellow and red, bearing the monogram of the order.” Source

The letters O, M, and A are each associated with one of the three degrees, and each degree and letter is associated with one of the three colors of the KoH banner.

Knights of Honor fraternal pin. Source

First Degree: Infancy

Infancy is represented by the color white and the letter O. On KoH emblems, the letters I and O are overlayed; I stands for infancy, and O is the first letter of the motto O.M.A. Members must move through “three tours in this degree, because every state has a beginning, a middle and an end.” Symbols for this degree include the lamb, the white lily, and flags. “The color … is indicative of the purity of infancy … you will invest yourself with the proper badge of this Degree (which is white).”

Knights of Honor pendant. Source

Second Degree: Youth

Youth is represented by the color yellow and the letter M. On KoH emblems, the letters M and Y are overlaid; Y stands for Youth, and M is the second letter of the motto O.M.A. Achieving this degree includes a test of faith: “I order you to pass your hand … through this molten metal.” Symbols for this degree include the lamp, the shepherd’s crook, and a cluster of grapes. “Arise, my son, and behold the emblems of the Degree of Youth … you will invest yourself with the proper badge of this degree, which is yellow.”

Source

Third Degree: Manhood

Manhood is represented by the color red and the letter A. On the KoH emblem, the letters A and M overlaid; M stands for Manhood, and A is the third letter of the motto O.M.A. The member initiated into this degree is “taught a lesson of mortality.” Symbols for this degree include the scepter, sword, and shield. “Red is the emblematic color of Love, and as the great characteristic of true manhood is Love to the Master, and to all his creatures, it is meet that he who enters this high estate should wear upon his breast the celestial color.”

Knights and Ladies of Honor red badge, perhaps given to him who “should wear upon his breast the celestial color.” Source

Knights of Honor Secret Motto & Monogram: O. M. A.

The motto O.M.A. was intended to be “a secret to be made known only to members of this Order, and to be used only by them for fraternal purposes.”

Source

The secret may have went to the grave with every Knight of Honor. I wasn’t able to find the exact meaning of the letters, but it was used in various forms throughout the documentation I found.

Rev. Sir L.L. Green “joined our O.M.A.” Source

O.M.A. was used in the complementary close of many letters written from Knights to Knights.

“Yours for the good of the race, in O.M.A.” Source

Both the Knights of Honor and the Knights of Honor of the World used the acronym.

O.M.A. inside a triangle on a K&L of Honor of the World banner. Source

One of the offshoots of Knights of Honor was called the Order of Mutual Aid, and sometimes the Knights referred to themselves as an order of mutual aid. This may not have any relevance to the O.M.A. found throughout the Knights of Honor symbols and documents, other than the letters are the same.