Cemetery Records – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Snapping Stones – Tips for Photographing

Each Memorial Day when I was growing up, I’d accompany my family to tend the graves of ancestors I never knew. Small flags stood at attention on the graves of veterans and the scent from flowers filled the air.

My grandmother had a “cemetery box” in the trunk of her car; it contained hand clippers, a trowel, garden gloves, a rag and a paper bag. Grandma would don the gloves and clip any tall grass growing around the stone, putting the clippings in the paper bag. If weeds were sprouting my mom carefully pulled them out or used the trowel to remove before tossing them into the paper bag. Finally, the stone would be wiped down. I don’t remember seeing either spraying the stones with a cleaning product but I had usually lost interest by that time and was wandering around looking at the pictures on nearby markers.

In the older part of the cemetery where my great grandfather lay, many stones contained photos of the deceased. Frozen in time, I was fascinated by the faces staring out at me. Many were in uniform having died during World War I. Others were like my great grandfather who had died in the 1919 flu epidemic. Who knew from which others had succumbed? My imagination would kick in and I’d make up stories about their demise. I was usually in the middle of some epic made up tale when I was called to return. Back into the car we drove to yet another area of the cemetery to pay respects to family friends and former neighbors.

In all those visits it never once occurred to me to take a picture of the stones. Assuming they would always be there, why would a photo be needed? By the time I had entered by teens vandals had toppled many stones in the older part of the cemetery and those that couldn’t be moved were damaged by having the picture obliterated by blows. My great grandfather’s picture was one that was destroyed. We had a copy of the photo but the stone was never repaired.
Thank goodness for Find-A-Grave, Billion Graves and individuals who have posted gravestone photos on other sites. If you’re planning an upcoming cemetery visit, make sure you snap a picture during your visit and upload to preserve the record. Although we don’t think of a tombstone as a record, they are and need to be cited just like paper documents.

Here are a few hints for photographing stones:
It’s okay to tidy up the stone a bit but avoid major scrubbing. I’ve added a spray bottle and bleach tablets to my cemetery kit. Placing one tablet in the bottle and adding water, I can spray the stone to remove algae and dirt quickly. I sometimes need to use a soft bristle brush, too, but be gentle!

vIf someone has placed flowers or other adornments in front of the stone it’s alright to move them for the photo but please carefully replace when you’re done.

For upright standing stones – get down in front and level with the stone. It reduces distortion and if the photo is taken close up, minimizes your shadow.

For flat stones – try to take the picture from directly above making sure you don’t include your feet. If you can’t do that, please crop the photo before uploading.

Back up and take a photo of stones adjacent to the one that is of interest to you. Possible relatives, neighbors or friends may have been buried close by and might be of help when you are researching paper documents when you return home. This method may alert you to a child who died between census years or an uncle who came for a visit and passed away unexpectedly.

Remember, just because it’s engraved in granite doesn’t make it so! Conflicting evidence does occur; an error could have been made just like with paper. If the cemetery office is open, stop in and ask for a copy of the records. To save the staff time I often photograph them in lieu of having a photocopy made. Being thoughtful goes a long way!

Hints to Get Your Needed Records During the Upcoming Year

I’m not sure what it is about holidays – maybe it’s the food, knowing time away from work is coming or the spirit of the season but I’ve learned that when I have a needed record to obtain those are the best times for me to secure it.

The good news is there are holidays all year long and you can use that to your advantage! Here’s what has happened to me and maybe this “Month of the Year Research Calendar” will work for you, too:

January – Last year I was writing a Kinship Determination Paper for by Board for Certification of Genealogists portfolio on the Harbaugh family and I needed clarification about their religious beliefs. Most of the first generation was buried in a Lutheran Cemetery in Indiana but the second generation was buried in a Brethren Cemetery. I was trying to understand when the change occurred so I called several churches in the area during the Christmas season seeking parishioner records from the 1880’s. The timing was wrong – churches are extremely busy then. I followed up via email in January and reminded them of the prior phone call, mentioned I hoped they had an enjoyable Christmas and before they got busy with Lent, would love them to check their parish records for me. It worked! By Valentine’s Day I had pictures of relatives I had never seen, a copy of the parish record book, an understanding of why the family went to a different denomination (it was across the street from where they lived) and a diary on DVD in which a parishioner had recorded daily life in the area that just happened to record ALL of the births and deaths of the family I was searching. January is for me, the best time to obtain church records!

February through Easter and October through December- This might not work for those somewhere other than Florida but I find those months the best time to meet folks from New England, Mid Atlantic and the Midwest as they are temporary residents here and frequently attend local workshops. So, if you’re residing in those locals then do this on the months I haven’t recorded! I pick their brains on resources from their home area, get leads on people back home they know who might help with my research and sometimes, meet a cousin. I’ve blogged previously about a serendipitous meeting I had in October 2016 (Less Than 6 Degrees of Separation and December 2015 A Transcription Treat).

March – April and November – I don’t know why these seem to be less busy times at archives but I’ve always found that the staff was readily available to help and the sites sparse with visitors. I’m talking about the Family History Library in Salt Lake and the New England Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston. I guess most researchers are either on spring break in a warmer climate or too busy getting ready for Thanksgiving during these times leaving the facility vacant. I’ve also had quick responses from state libraries via email during these months.

May – September – Need a tombstone photo? This is the best time to get one! Why? Simply because people visit cemeteries most between Memorial Day (duh!) and Labor Day. Put a request for a photo on Find-A-Grave a week prior to Memorial Day has almost always gotten me the photo I need. Think about it, who in their right mind would go out in a blizzard to take a cemetery photo? Well, yes, I would and have but that was because I was visiting the area and wouldn’t have gotten another chance to find what I needed. If I lived in the area, I would wait til the snow melted.

Thanksgiving – December – I was pining for the marriage record for one of my 3rd great grandparents. It’s not online and I needed to verify the date I found in family records as some of those were slightly off. I had called the small town in Ohio Clerk’s Office in August and was told to follow up with an email. I gave the couple’s names, dates of birth and what I thought was the marriage date. Two weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything so I emailed again. I got a response that the clerical workers were too busy. Waited another two weeks and emailed once more. Got the response that they were still busy and wouldn’t have time to look it up. Emailed the office manager and got no response. I left the email as open in my email account as a reminder I needed to pursue it. Well, on the Monday before Christmas I sent the following: Dear (clerk’s name), I’ve been a good genealogist this year and I’m hoping that you can assist Santa in bringing me the marriage record for my great grandparents – Emma Kuhn and Francis “Frank” Landfair. It’s all I want for Christmas! Wishing you a joyous season, Lori” I got it the next day. The response also explained why it’s never been scanned and online – evidently the book is in poor condition and won’t photograph well. I’ve also used a similar tactic the day before Thanksgiving. I called a cemetery for records and the office worker finally agreed to fax them to me because I told her I was having family over the following day and we just had to know who was buried in which plots. This cemetery is located in a not so nice area so I never could get anyone to take a photo and the clerk had previously refused to release the info due to privacy previously. (BTW-the dead don’t have privacy rights but she was insistent the cemetery rules prohibited her from releasing the plot information).

Hope this helps your hunting as you plan your research for the year!

Making the Most of Your Research Trip – Part 7

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 31 Aug 2016.

I was on the way to visit the home of a minister who had old cemetery records from a previous church that was no longer in existence. I’m a farmer’s daughter so driving down country roads and acclimating myself to finding directions isn’t that big of a deal to me. I was pushing the speed limit, though, as the Reverend had not wanted to meet with me today as he had other plans and I didn’t want to hold him up. In about 20 minutes I whizzed past the turnoff. I call it a turnoff because it wasn’t a named street. It was a gravel drive that appeared to belong to one family but after making a 3 point turn I realized that several families lived on this lane. An elderly gentleman flagged me and I rolled down the passenger side window and asked him if he was the Reverend. He asked why I wanted to know (so clearly, he wasn’t or if he was, he had a serious case of forgetfulness.) I told the man I had an appointment with the Reverend. He looked skeptical and pointed down the road, informing me that the Reverend lived behind the barn. I drove off and was soon flagged down by an older woman who looked like she stepped out of the 1800’s. I again rolled the passenger side window down and told her I was meeting with the Reverend. She shook her head like she didn’t believe me and pointed behind her. The lane curved slightly between her home and the large barn. I came to the end of the lane and parked; I knew this was the Reverend’s place as I recognized the truck from that morning when I had been in the cemetery.

I was

There was no doorbell so I knocked firmly on the door. No answer. I knocked again. No answer. It dawned on me I should go to the back door and not the front door. I walked around the house and the Reverend was coming in from the field. I gave him a perky hello but he was not too keen to see me. He immediately said, “My wife looked and didn’t find the people you wrote in your note. They aren’t buried there.” I told him I believed his wife had done a great job but I wanted to see who was buried next to the Pentz’s as I had found the people I was looking for in the cemetery that morning. He looked surprised. I whipped out my phone and showed him the tombstones. He shook his head and invited me in.

The Mrs. Reverend and daughter were baking and it smelled wonderful! I said hello and mentioned how good it smelled. Neither responded.

I followed the Reverend through the dining room and into the living room. He told me to sit at a table and he would bring the maps and book. We looked through the book and found no one named Pentz. He asked me if I was sure that I had been in his cemetery and not some other cemetery. I was not only sure, I produced the Find-a-Grave page for the people I was looking for. I pointed out the background that clearly showed the other church so it had to be his cemetery.

He was quietly pondering how this could be when he asked me to point on the map he produced where I had found the graves. He asked me if the plots were near the apple trees. I hadn’t noticed apple trees. I told him it was close to the smaller, fenced cemetery, three rows in from there. He replied, “Well, that explains it. I don’t have records for that part of the cemetery. That’s the old cemetery. My records start in 1897.” The tombstones I had photographed were from prior to that.

I asked where I could find the older records. He said there weren’t any. Huh? Evidently Price’s Church kept no records or if they ever did, they were long gone. He said they all knew where everyone was buried or married to so they didn’t need records. Great! So I would not be finding a marriage record for my Ancestor 1’s sister, either.

The Reverend could see I was deeply disappointed and asked me why it was so important that I find this information. I told him I was a teacher and was going to be retiring soon and was planning a second career as a genealogist. I needed the records for a paper I was writing to become certified. He informed me his daughter was also a teacher. He thought for a moment and said he had been told by elders that there were no burial spaces remaining in that older section. It was possible that the stones for the people I were seeking were sunken, which would have explained why the area looked depressed to me. He said there had been several problems with sunken stones in that area. He suggested I go back and look carefully at the ground to see if any remaining part of a monument might be visible. I mentioned that the stones had deteriorated a great deal since the picture had been taken and placed on Find-a-Grave. He suggested I spray the stones with bleach water and lightly brush the lichen off. I thanked him for his time, said good-bye to the family, and was on my way.

I stopped back at the cemetery and kicked with my foot into the ground to see if I could feel a stone. Nothing but the area was clearly sunken.

I examined a tombstone closer and could see that it had sunk:

When I had visited in the morning I thought that the stone was on a pedestal but that’s not the case. Upon closer inspection, and moving the dead grass off the base, I discovered that the death date is below the ground level. I would return with bleach and a brush first thing the next morning!

On my way back to town I stopped at a third cemetery – Burn’s Hill – hoping to check records in the office as I have never been able to reach anyone by phone. When I arrived I realized why – there is no office. I drove through and found lots of Harbaugh’s but the stones were all newer than what I was looking for. On to the library…

I made one last walk through of the stacks to make sure I hadn’t missed anything from the visit yesterday. The volunteer genealogist still hadn’t come in and there was no telling when he would. There were different librarians on duty so I asked them where I could find the Union Cemetery records. Checking the database I wasn’t surprised to get the same response as yesterday – we don’t have them. I signed on to a computer and finished searching the newspaper archives that had been digitally uploaded. Nothing discovered. I asked where I could find the newspaper that had been mentioned on the pedigree chart in the museum. They had no idea. I was calling it a night. Hopefully, I’d find something tomorrow.

Why Persistence Pays in Hunting Records

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 3 Dec 2015.

On 6 August 2010, I called a cemetery in Indiana requesting records of the family plot. I know I called that day and I know who I spoke with because I wrote a note on the ancestor’s burial citation on my Ancestry.com tree. I was told it was against the cemetery’s policy to release burial record information. I told the employee that I planned on visiting the cemetery and needed to know where the grave was located. That grave location was given to me and I dutifully recorded it.

That day I created a Find-A-Grave memorial for two of the individuals in the family, the husband and wife. I thought it was odd they were buried in Grave 2 and 3 but since the cemetery employee refused to give me who was buried in Grave 1, I had no way to know. I immediately put in a request for a photo on Find-A-Grave hoping that the mystery of burial space 1 would be revealed. No one ever came through with the photo.

In September, I wrote for the death certificate of the other spouse as I decided I would use this family for my Board of Certified Genealogist certification portfolio. It took 2 months, and several phone calls to Indianapolis, before I FINALLY received the record. I’m not understanding why the website says “Average Processing Time: 2 weeks (5-10 business days). Processing times could increase during peak times (holiday, travel, income tax months and school enrollment) and may take up to 3 weeks (5-15 business days) to prepare your order for shipping.” when it took them 2 months but that’s another story – I kept being told that it was a busy time. I was very excited when the record finally arrived and it confirmed that the burial was in the same cemetery as the wife. I decided the day after Thanksgiving to call the cemetery again to see if maybe their policy had changed and I could obtain a copy of the cemetery record.

I love getting the cemetery records because I have uncovered some very interesting info – names of children I had never heard of, confirmation that the family was in the area earlier than I had thought based on the purchase date of the plots and married names of female relatives who were listed as the next of kin.

Unbelievably, when I called the cemetery I got the same person I spoke with 5 years ago. She again told me that records weren’t available. I told her I needed a picture of the stone and had placed a request on Find-A-Grave but no one had fulfilled it. She said that maybe there was no stone. I told her that I was interested in having a stone placed on the graves so I needed to verify that there was no stone. She agreed to pull the file which actually was only an index card. She stated there was no mention that there was or wasn’t a stone. I asked how I could know for sure. She said I’d have to look. I told her I lived 2000 miles away and couldn’t do that. She told me she couldn’t give me any further information because she had no proof I was a relative.

I asked her how she would like me to get her proof – fax or email? She said to send via email so I scanned the 2 death certificates, one of their children’s birth certificates, the grand child’s birth certificate and my driver’s license. Moments later she sent an email with a copy of the burial card and that’s when I did a double happy dance!

The card, interestingly, showed that 7 burial plots were purchased in 1927. At the time of purchase, the couple had 2 children and the wife was pregnant with the third child. I could understand purchasing 5 plots but they purchased 7. Reviewing the record I learned that the wife’s mother was also interred in one of the plots. I had tried to verify where this woman was buried for 10 years! Although I had her death date from family member recollections no one could remember her maiden name or where she was buried. I tried writing for a death certificate but was told that there wasn’t one on file. I tried to get hospital records as there were only 2 hospitals in the area at the time of her death but was told by both sites that they don’t have records that old. I tried contacting what I thought would have been the funeral home but they are no longer in business. I was so happy to finally find where this woman was buried! Unfortunately, the card did not list her maiden name.

I was also shocked to discover that an infant grandchild was buried in the last space. I knew of this child as I had found his birth certificate among family papers but I never knew where he had been interred.

I can only assume that 7 plots were purchased as the couple planned to have additional children but did not. Perhaps they were unable to have more children or the economic times was a detriment. Maybe they purchased the extra spaces for their young children’s spouses. This was a family that really planned well so that, too, remains a possibility. All I know for sure is that I’m thankful that I was persistent and called again to get more information. Sad that it had to take 5 years to get information that was available. Since there are no relatives left in the area, I think I’m going to contact a reputable (meaning I’ve used them before and been pleased) monument company in the area to verify that there is no stone since the cemetery worker refused to leave the office and check and no one on find-a-grave has picked up the request.