THOMAS BAKER
BORN
NOV. 13 1847
DIED
JAN. 18 1896
Farewell my wife and
Children all. From you
A father Christ doth call.
FRANCIS T.
Son of
T. & M. E. BAKER
BORN FEB. 23 1874
DIED OCT. 10 1874
God seized the precious treasure
To us so lately given
He took the lovely flower
And planted it in Heaven.
The gravestone of Thomas Baker, in the Mount Carmel Cemetery at Stinesville, Indiana, has hatchet, more specifically a tomahawk, with the initials T. O. T.E. carved into it. The tomahawk marks the grave of a member of the Improved Order of Red Men (I.O.R.M.), which claims its beginnings with the patriots who were in the Sons of Liberty during the American Revolution.
The society models itself after the Iroquois Confederacy councils. In fact, some of the markers display images of Native Americans because the society based their organization on the rites and rituals of the Native Americans.
The initials T.O.T.E stands for Totem of the Eagles. According to their Website, the IORM “promotes patriotism and the American Way of Life, provides social activities for the members, and supports various charitable programs.”
Gravely Speaking 
A bit of a shock to see this one as my name is Tom Baker!
No one ever wants to see their name on a gravestone–of course, few do since it usually happens AFTER one dies and the stone is engraved. Hope this one didn’t give you too much of a start!
I recently got to see my great Grandfather’s gravestone 1850-1918 and discovered a tomahawk with T.O.T.E. on the sharp edge of the blade and also Walula Tribe No. 427 above it. You just gave me my first lead on deciphering the meaning of TOTE. So, thank you very much for it. Still looking for information on the Walula Tribe 427. Google is not helping much.
I am not an expert on T.O.T.E. but my guess is the Wallula Tribe 427 is the Improved Order of Men Lodge name and number of the lodge in your great grandfather’s area. Was he in Oregon? Just a guess.
Spent the last few days looking this stuff up after finally finding sites that could help me. Turns out he was in the Improved Order of Redmen. Seeing photos of different groups nationwide and researching it. They remind me of a Knights of Columbus, Shriners and other groups like that. He wasn’t from Oregon, but Youngstown, Indiana. It’s in the SE part of Vigo County. Easiest way to find it is look for Terre Haute. Thats the county seat. I found an old newspaper article, May 12, 2016, that listed them in it. Found another that said this group was formed in 1906. Not sure if the group/lodge still exists there today, but there is one that still exists in Anderson, IN where I live today. Plan to attend one of their upcoming meetings to hopefully learn more information. Thanks for the reply.