Welcome to my Find-A-Grave page!
The reason I created this page, instead of just providing a link, is because if you're anything like me you prefer a bit of an explanation of what the site is all about before you go there.
If you'd rather just go to the site, there are two links just above. The first one goes directly to the Find-A-Grave website, the second will take you to my personal page, which contains the grave sites of my family members I have found so far, saved in my virtual cemeteries.
If you're still interested in a bit of information, please feel free to continue reading...
What is Find-A-Grave?
Find-A-Grave, or FAG, is an online site created to host Memorials to those family members and friends we've lost throughout the years. It is run by volunteers who have dedicated themselves to the preservation of grave sites, in online form, from around the world.
How Can Find-A-Grave Benefit Genealogy?
FAG has been a treasure trove of information in researching my ancestors. This site gives me the chance to find the graves of family members that I would never have found otherwise, and quite often, these Memorials contain birth/death dates & locations, information regarding parents, spouses and children, and there are often photographs and other bits of information that others have shared.
FAG has also been a great way to connect family members together, and I've found a few distant cousins of mine that I wouldn't have met otherwise.
What if I Cannot Find an Ancestor or Family Member on Find-A-Grave?
While FAG is a great tool, it is also subject to volunteers who give up their own time, energy and efforts to create these Memorials. There are literally millions of graves and cemeteries out there, so finding them and recording them can present a challenge, and quite often there just isn't enough time to get them all recorded.
Also, in researching ancestors, we've got to remember, that without proof that the person is buried in a particular cemetery a Memorial cannot be created. Also, often family members were buried on small, family plots on the home farms and the locations have been lost over the years.
What if I Found My Ancestor on Find-A-Grave, but There Seems to be Errors in the Information?
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of total accuracy with each Memorial. I've noticed that even with pictures of headstones the information has been recorded inaccurately at times, such as the dates recorded don't match with what the actual headstone says. There are two reasons for this I've found...1) the person who created the memorial didn't pay close enough attention to what is written on the stone when creating the Memorial. 2) the Memorial was created with inaccurate information before the picture was taken and added. But these are easy fixes with the 'Suggest an Edit' tool.
There is also the fact that occasionally the person who created the actual headstone wrote the wrong information on the headstone to begin with. For example, my 3rd Great Grandfather William S. Baptist died on July 11, 1901, but the headstone recorded his date of death as July 11, 1900. I know this is inaccurate because of death records, and an obituary I found, that prove his date of death was in 1901. I imagine that the cost, and hassle, of having this information 'fixed' was probably too much for the family at the time.
Some Helpful Hints for Find-A-Grave Researchers:
1) When typing in your ancestor's/family member's name, try different variations of spellings. Sometimes the names are, quite frankly, spelled differently than what you've got on your Tree. Also, try searching without a date, or without a middle name, or even a location.
2) If you find a family member, but none of the relatives are linked, search the same cemetery for their last names. Often, when Memorials are created, the person creating them doesn't link the family together. If the family member isn't in the same cemetery, and you know where they are on FAG, then use the "Suggest an Edit" feature to link them. Trust me, the rest of the family genealogists will be supremely grateful for your assistance!
3) Be respectful of the images posted. Most of these images are posted by family members as a way to honor their lost relatives, so if you want to use a photo on another website, make every effort to contact the person who posted the picture for permission, or at the very least, post a link in the citation to where you found it so that others might benefit from the original posting. NEVER claim the photo as your own if it isn't.
4) Become a Member! I'm not kidding, becoming a member of the site is easy, free, and a great way to build your very own virtual cemetery. Membership also gives you the ability to create Memorials, become a photo volunteer, and more.
5) If you find a family member, please remember, you don't need to 'own' their Memorial to contribute to it. I've uploaded pictures, obituaries, and, by using the 'Suggest an Edit" feature have updated inaccurate information for Memorials that were not created by me. FAG is a community, not one person's crusade to 'own' every family member.
While FAG does have guidelines for transferring Memorials to family members, even if you do fall into their approved transfer list, the Memorial still may not be transferred to you. You have to remember, the person who created the Memorial may be directly related as well, and in that case, may not be willing to transfer.
6) Before you send in an edit using the 'Suggest an Edit' feature, make sure you check your facts. Also, make sure that the family members you are trying to link together are actually family members. For example: My Great-Grandmother was mistakenly linked with her son, listing him as her husband, and she also was linked with a niece, listing her as a daughter, all because they were buried in the same 4 plot area in the cemetery. The person who created the Memorials assumed the relational details based on the fact they were all buried together, and shared the same last name.
