Mysterious Symbols Found in the Graveyard

The ‘Nancy Drew’ in me just loves running across gravestone mysteries like this one at Galveston Memorial Cemetery. I couldn’t wait to put on my ‘research hat’ and find out what it means.

This particular symbol is a marker for the Seven Society, founded in 1905. It is the most secretive of the University of Virginia‘s secret societies. Members are only revealed after their death, when a wreath of black magnolias in the shape of a seven is placed at the gravesite, the bell tower of University Chapel chimes at seven second intervals on the seventh dissonant chord when it is seven past the hour, and a notice is published in the universities alumni news.

The only known method to successfully contact the society is to place a letter at the Thomas Jefferson statue inside the university’s historic rotunda. 

Definitely not a symbol often seen on gravestones on the Gulf Coast of Texas!