With spring nearly upon us, most of us are anxious to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine. A visit to the cemetery is a good way to enjoy the great outdoors and to discover more about our families at the same time.

What You Can Find
While some may see us hanging around cemeteries and think us a bit ghoulish, as family historians, we know that the records and headstone inscriptions found there can be incredibly rich sources of birth and death information. Cemeteries records may include sexton's records, church burial registers, cemetery deed and plot registers, burial permits, monument (gravestone) inscriptions, and more, depending on the place and time.

Indexes can be a great starting point and helpful in pinning down what cemetery an ancestor is buried in and some have been indexed by genealogical and other historical agencies. Unfortunately, however, most cemeteries are not indexed and it will be necessary to write or visit the cemetery to obtain information. A great advantage of visiting a cemetery is that you will know exactly who is buried in the plot with the ancestor, and in adjacent plots, where you may find other family members. You may find your relative buried with his or her in-laws, cousins, or the married names of siblings.

Information on tombstones could include, maiden names, birth and death dates, relationships, town of origin, military service, and possibly religious affiliation. All of this can lead to other record sources that can further your search. Some ethnic groups even have photographs embedded in the tombstones.

It is not uncommon to find siblings that died in infancy or at a very young age buried in these plots. These siblings may have previously been unknown to you and their death records may also provide valuable information such as parents' names, towns of origin, etc.

You may also find that the grave has been maintained or is freshly decorated with flowers, possibly by another unknown or long-lost family member. If this is the case you may want to check with the cemetery office or with a caretaker to see if this visitor is known to them. Or you could leave a note in a plastic casing (to preserve it from the elements) so that other family members who visit the grave can contact you. (You will want to be careful about how much information you leave though, as you don't have any way of knowing who will run across your note.)

Locating Cemeteries
There are various ways to locate a place of burial for an ancestor. Death certificates will frequently contain this information, as will obituaries. Mass cards or prayer cards handed down or kept in family scrapbooks can also provide this information.

Also many local societies have compiled cemetery indexes and others may have been put up on the Internet. Interment.net (http://www.interment.net/) is a good place to start looking for online cemetery records. You can also do a search, using your favorite search engine, for [the city, town, or county of interest] and "cemetery."

Another useful online tool for locating cemeteries is the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Name Information Server (GNIS) at: http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/gnisform.html Just enter location information in the appropriate field(s) and choose 'cemetery' under 'Feature Type' and you will get a list of cemeteries in the area. By clicking on the cemetery of interest, you can also see a page that allows you to create a map of the area.

If you know the religious affiliation, you might try to visit local Web sites for churches in the area. The Archdiocese of Chicago has a website just for the Catholic Cemeteries in the area at: http://www.cathcemchgo.org/home.htm

Other directories online, include:

Cemetery Junction
http://www.daddezio.com/cemetery/junction/

Find a Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/index.html

List of State Veterans Cemeteries
http://www.cem.va.gov/lsvc.htm

Death
http://www.totentanz.de/index.htm

When trying to determine which cemetery in an area a family member is buried in, you might want to do a little research into the methods of transportation that were available in the area at the time. A walk-in cemetery will typically be within a couple of miles or so of the home of the deceased. Often railroads or streetcars also made stops at cemeteries, so by locating the residence of the deceased and plotting local cemeteries on a map, taking into account religious affiliations if known, you may be able to make an educated guess as to the burial location.

Books like "Graveyard Shift: A Family Historian's Guide to New York City Cemeteries," by Carolyn Inskeep (http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog/
product.asp?pf%5Fid=1126146&dept%5Fid=10103002) are also invaluable in tracing the history of cemeteries, and in tracking old cemeteries whose burials may have been relocated.

Visiting Cemeteries
When you visit the cemetery you will want to check with the office to see what records are available. The offices will typically contain indexes to burials and possibly maps to help locate graves. Burial records, sexton's records, cemetery deeds, plat records, burial permit records, grave opening orders, and transit records may also be held in the offices and can provide valuable information.

One word of warning--don't leave a purse or other valuables in your car when you visit cemeteries. Several local news programs here in the Chicago area issued warnings in the past weeks about thieves who were preying on visitors to cemeteries and robbing their cars while they visited graves.

Taking Care With Headstones
If you are planning on visiting cemeteries remember to treat the headstones and markers with care. Many of these grave markers are very fragile, and even the pressure used to take a tombstone rubbing could cause damage to some stones. Do not apply shaving cream or other chemicals to the stones, as this can also cause damage. By using a mirror held at an angle or by photographing the stone at different angles, (or at different times of the day), it is often possible to make out those worn down inscriptions. I have also heard that a black light shone directly on the stone will help too. More information about tombstone care and preventing damage is available from: The Association for Gravestone Studies, 278 Main Street, Suite 207, Greenfield, Massachusetts 01301, Tel: 413-772-0836, E-mail: ags@javanet.com, http://www.berkshire.net/ags/. (Please include your name and mailing address in all correspondence.)

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