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Tips for Cemetery Research
© 2001 Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, C.G. adapted from Your Guide to Cemetery Research (available April 2002) and Cryptic Clues in the Bone Yard (video presentation)

Cemeteries are the one place where you can be the closest to your ancestors, both physically and spiritually. While it is always a thrill to find your ancestors' names in historical documents, nothing can beat finding their names carved on a tombstone and knowing that your ancestors are just six feet below your feet. You are treading on the very same ground where they once walked, looking at the same headstones they probably looked at before they died. Here you have physical evidence that your ancestors existed. But there's much more to visiting your ancestors' gravesites than meets the eye.

1. Locating Your Ancestor's Final Resting Place
If your ancestor died from about the late-nineteenth century forward, you may easily learn where that person was buried through home sources (funeral cards and oral history). Death certificates and obituaries traditionally carry this information, too. If not, but a funeral home is given, contact them. Check the American Blue Book of Funeral Directors or similar directories, available in most public libraries' reference section. If the funeral home no longer exists, contact the local or state historical society or local public library to see if they know what happened to the records.

For ancestors who died before the late-nineteenth century, discovering where they were buried may require more creativity. You need to know the locality where the ancestor died, since chances are that was where the person was also buried. Many individuals and organizations have fully transcribed cemeteries and published the results. So next look in the locality where your ancestor died for a published cemetery transcription. Check the catalog of the Family History Library http://www.familysearch.org for the locality, followed by "cemetery." This library has, perhaps, the largest collection of published cemetery transcriptions.
More and more cemetery and tombstone registries are popping up on the Internet, too. Type in "cemetery" or "cemeteries" into a search engine and see all the possibilities. Also see the sidebar for some Web sites.

2. Making a Trip to the Cemetery
After locating the cemetery, you might want to visit it. Along with copying the inscription on the tombstone, here are some other items to note:

• Who's buried around your ancestor? They could be relatives.
  What is the location of the grave from the entrance?
• You'll want to be able to find it again or tell others how to get there.
• Is there a map of the cemetery, giving sections and plot numbers? If so, mark the location on the map, assuming it's a photocopy, and keep it in your files.

What kind of artwork is carved on the stone? These symbols have different meanings and weren't chosen randomly.

Also be aware that stonecutters did make mistakes. Just because it's carved in stone, that doesn't always mean it's accurate. It was too costly to correct a mistake, so if the carver accidentally made your great-grandmother many years younger than she actually was, making her twelve when she had her first child, then so be it.

3. Treating the Headstone with Respect
Keep in mind that tombstones are historical artifacts; some have been around since the 1600s. Just because it is made from stone doesn't mean it's durable. Do not do anything to the stone. Acid-based compounds, like vinegar, can eat away marble. Many genealogists, myself included, used to use shaving cream on the stone to clean it and to bring out the image, but gravestone preservationists are cautioning that shaving cream has a low pH, which means it is acidic. Rubbing chalk across the face of the stone was another method no longer recommended. It can leave a residue on porous stones or fine scratch marks.

4. Taking Photographs
Photographs turn out better if you take them on an overcast day. In many cemeteries, graves lie on an east-west axis. If you take photographs early in the morning or late in the afternoon, you'll cast a shadow over the stone. The reflection of a mirror will help light up the stone for a better photograph, but you will need an assistant to hold the mirror and reflect it onto the stone while you take the photograph. Just wetting the stone with plain water may bring out the inscription.

5. Taking Notes
Even if you are photographing tombstones, it's a wise idea to also make a written record of the inscription. Sometimes the photo doesn't turn out, or worse, like a friend of mine discovered after taking a whole roll and getting home, there was no film in the camera! So copy down everything on the headstone, including the type of artwork.

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack is a Certified Genealogist who writes commissioned family history narratives. She is the editor of Betterway Genealogy Books, a contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine, and a consulting editor for Newbury Street Press (an imprint of the New England Historic Genealogical Society). Sharon has written five narrative family histories, six genealogical guidebooks, such as Organizing Your Family History Search (a Book of the Month Club selection) and Your Guide to Cemetery Research (forthcoming Spring 2002), numerous articles in genealogical publications, and made two video presentations, including Cryptic Clues in the Bone Yard. For more information on Sharon's publications and videos, visit her Web site at www.sharoncarmack.com.

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