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Beyond the Index
No
Stone to Leave Unturned
by
Michael John Neill
Finding the burial place of an ancestor can be one of the
great hunts of genealogy. It can also be one of the most
frustrating parts of the research process. This week we look
at some ways to determine where your ancestor is buried and
the additional records that may be available. First, we will
look at some records that may indicate the ancestor's burial
place.
Death Certificate
For relatively recent burials, the death certificate
should provide the relative's final resting place. Bear in
mind that the names of some cemeteries may have changed over
the years. Attempts to locate the death certificate should
be at the county or state level.
Obituary
Your ancestor's obituary or death notice may provide
information on her place of burial. Even the name of the
church or the officiating minister may be a clue as to where
the internment took place.
Burial Permits
In some areas, records of burial permits were kept. These
records may be helpful if you are reasonably certain where
your ancestor died but you don't know the place of the burial.
These records (if kept) are typically created at the county
or city level.
Church Records
Is your ancestor buried next to his church? If so, the
church may have additional records on your ancestor, particularly
a death or a burial record. If you know your ancestor's denomination,
were there particular cemeteries in the area that catered
to members of that faith? If you are not certain of your
ancestor's religious persuasion, are there clues in her background
that might make memberships in some denomination more likely
than others? French-Canadians tend to be Catholic, Germans
tend to be Lutheran or Catholic, Swedes tend to be Lutheran,
Irish are typically not Lutheran, and so on. These are tendencies,
not hard and fast rules---there are always exceptions and
a lone staunch Lutheran on the frontier may easily attend
the local Baptist, Methodist, or other church.
A Proximity Search
Look for your ancestor in cemeteries near where he is
last known to have lived. Remember if your ancestor "evaporated" that
he might have died where he last is known to have lived,
or he might have moved several states away to live with one
of his children and died there. Consequently your search
for an ancestor's stone should include all those areas where
his children lived.
Battlefield Burial
If your ancestor was in the military service and died
on the battlefield, he may be buried in a military cemetery
or in an unmarked grave. This may be noted in his military
service record.
No Burial
Was your ancestor not even buried? I've got one whose
body was turned over to the Illinois Demonstrator's Association
in the early 1900s. This was noted on his death certificate.
He has no known final resting place.
Some Finding Aids
The inscriptions of the stones of some cemeteries have
already been copied and may have been published. When using
any type of transcribed tombstone information, try to determine
if the information you are viewing is an actual transcription
of the stone or if it is a listing of burials in the cemetery.
There is a difference. Keep in mind that some stones might
have been difficult, if not impossible, to read, and that
other stones might have been buried themselves and overlooked
when the transcription was completed. Once you know your
ancestor is in a certain cemetery, it still may be a good
idea to view the stone yourself or see if you can get a picture.
Published Transcriptions
Published transcriptions can be relatively easy to locate
even if they were published in a small quantity. Card catalogs
of the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov),
the Family History Library (www.familysearch.org),
the Allen County (Indiana) Public Library (http://acpl.lib.in.us),
and other libraries (including those in your region of interest)
may contain references to published transcriptions for the
area under study. Keyword searches in these card catalogs
for "yourcounty county cemetery" or "yourcounty
county tombstone" should pull up some desired results.
Searches of the Family History Library Catalog should be
for the specific county and state of interest.
Online Transcriptions
Online cemetery transcriptions can frequently be obtained
via the County USGenWeb site (www.usgenweb.org)
or other geographically based genealogy pages. Searches for "cemeteryname
city state" at Google (www.google.com)
may also bring up additional references.
Unpublished Transcriptions
Not all transcriptions have been published; many exist
only in manuscript format. Locating these unpublished transcriptions
requires a little more work, but may be well worth the effort.
The county historical or genealogical society is the place
to start this search, but regional and state archives, state
historical societies, and public and private libraries within
the region may also house these materials.
Sexton's Records
Some cemeteries keep excellent records. Others do not.
Generally speaking, one is less likely to find records for
small, rural cemeteries. Larger, more urban cemeteries may
still not have extant records for the earlier burials and
lot owners. Those with family members buried in larger cemeteries
currently accepting new interments might find that locating
some information is as easy as making a phone call to the
cemetery.
Those trying to locate records for a rural cemetery may
have more difficulty. In some areas, cemeteries that were
once maintained by a church or a private group of individuals
may now be under township or other government maintenance,
or no maintenance at all. Local historical or genealogical
societies may also be able to provide information or at least
give the name of a contact person for the cemetery. Keep
in mind that for some cemeteries, records of burials and
lot owners were never kept.
Specialized Finding Aids
There are a few specialized finding aids for burial information.
Card Records of Headstones Provided for Deceased Union
Civil War Veterans, ca. 1879-ca. 1903 (National Archives
and Records Administration microfilm publication number
M1845) contains information on the burial location of thousands
of veterans. While 99% of these burials are from the Civil
War, occasionally the veteran of another war slips in (well,
not literally). There is a card for James Kile, a War of
1812 veteran, buried in Keithsburg, Illinois, in 1852.
In some states, lists of military burials were published,
some have been reprinted, and usually local historical
or genealogical societies have copies or are aware of their
existence. Statewide finding aids (if available) are also
included in the appropriate state research guide from the
Family History Library (www.familysearch.org).
Searches of various library card catalogs using the following
subject headings resulted in numerous matches of this kind
of material:
United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Registers of
dead
United States History War of 1898 Registers of dead
Readers are encouraged to alter the search terms for other
wars and periods.
Performing these subject searches at online library catalogs
like the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov)
or the Allen County Public Library (www.acpl.lib.in.us)
resulted in several references. Those wishing to locate similar
references in the Family History Library Catalog (www.familysearch.org)
should locate the particular locality and then choose "Cemeteries" under
that geographic location. This should be done at least twice,
once for the state and once for the specific county.
No Stone
Lastly, your ancestor might not have a tombstone or may
never have had a stone at all. This makes it rather difficult
to find one! In some cases, you may never find your ancestor's
final resting place. I'm still looking for Augusta Newman
who died in White County, Indiana, in 1864 and for Peter
Bieger who died in Warsaw, Illinois, in 1855! I'm afraid
that I'm going to be looking for quite some time, too.
Michael John Neill is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical
Institute of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield,
Illinois, and is also on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College
in Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist for
the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois
State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars
and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical and computer
topics and contributes to several genealogical publications,
including Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing. You
can contact him via e-mail at mjnrootdig@myfamily.com or
visit his website at www.rootdig.com,
but h e regrets that he is unable to assist with personal
research.
Copyright
2003, MyFamily.com.
All rights reserved.
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