Obtaining vital records from cemetery research

The burial sites of ancestors are often of great interest to family historians. We may wish to pay tribute to our family members at their place of rest, but from a research standpoint, we can obtain a lot from gravestones and burial records. Oftentimes this information is available in no other source.

The records you find on cemeteries vary with the type of cemetery. The best records are kept by active church and private cemeteries. If the cemetery is no longer used or the congregation is inactive, finding the records can be a challenge. Very few family cemeteries, oftentimes long forgotten, have any records.

Gravestones often include the basic vital records of name, birth date (and sometimes place), death date (sometimes place), age and relationships. Less often, marriage date and place and military service information are inscribed. We can deduce religious affiliation, membership in fraternal or service organizations, vocation, avocation and economic status from the markers as well.

Information transcribed from the stone is always secondary information. The birth and death information, unless it came from an "official" document, was from someone who did not witness the event. Then, it was carved or cast on the marker, which can generate additional errors. Relatives may place markers decades after a relative died, adding another source of error. Always correlate the information with any other sources.

Novice family historians sometimes have mistaken assumptions about cemeteries. For example, very few people had permanent grave markers before 1850, and markers became the rule only in the last 100 years. There is no entity beyond the level of the cemetery or a private cemetery association that maintains cemeteries, although many mistakenly believe this is done by the state or county. Not every cemetery has been inventoried, especially the small family lots on private land. Missouri does have a state cemetery law that protects cemeteries and access to them. However, landowners need notification via certified letter that the cemetery is on their property before the protection of the law is effective.

The first step to finding your ancestor's marker is to determine where they were buried. Obituaries usually have this information, but published obituaries are rare prior to 1900. The death certificate includes place of internment, but again, few states required these before 1920 (Missouri began the requirement in 1910). Depending on the location, death records might list the burial place.

The online grave websites Find A Grave and Billiongraves allow searches at different levels (city, county, state, country) and you can also restrict the date ranges. Find A Grave was originally developed to feature graves of famous people but is now the largest collection of online burial information. You should use it with caution, though, because much of the information entered for a burial goes beyond the information on the marker and may include a lot of errors. I only trust what is on the stone or cemetery records generated at the time of the event. Billiongraves is a smaller database developed with genealogists as the target users.

Locating the cemetery can be challenging. Coordinates may be online. County-level plat maps may have locations, and cemeteries may be noted on topographic or other maps. Local historical and genealogical societies, county assessor offices and local funeral directors can be good sources for locating smaller cemeteries. The local society may have created inventories of local cemeteries with location information. Once you find the exact or approximate location, secure permission to cross private property.

Fall and winter are the best times to visit cemeteries. Recording information requires data forms, pencil and a camera. Reading old stones can be difficult because of dirt, lichens and stains. Often shaving cream is recommended to read the inscription, but this is a serious mistake. The materials in shaving cream can accelerate weathering of the stone. Rather, take a container of plain water and a soft-bristled brush. Wet the stone, then scrub lightly across the inscription. This deposits surface soil from the stone into the inscription and make the lettering easier to read. You can also use a mirror (full length if you have an assistant), catch sunlight in the mirror and direct the reflection at a steep angle across the stone to highlight the lettering.

Written records for cemeteries, if they exist, are invaluable. These may be with the sexton for larger or public cemeteries, or with funeral homes. They may exist in church records. Finally, if your relative was indigent, search county poor farm records for their death and burial record.