Are you trying to prove birth and death dates for an ancestor who lived before vital records were recorded? Cemetery records can be one way to do that. FindAGrave.com is the largest site cataloging cemeteries. The DAR rules are explicit for FindAGrave. We can use information on the tombstone image and the location of the cemetery posted on the page. We cannot use any other details that are typed on the memorial page.
If the tombstone image does not contain the details you need, it may be worthwhile contacting the cemetery directly. They may have plot purchase records and/or the interment records (or know where you can find them.)
I had difficulty locating my own ancestors in Macon, Georgia. The brother of my ancestor had a large plot with all of his immediate family members in a well known cemetery. I didn’t understand why my ancestor and his family were not also listed as buried there.
I travelled to the cemetery and by a stroke of luck, met the caretaker on the one day a month she is onsite. She graciously pulled out the enormous plot book and showed me that my ancestor did indeed have a plot where he and all of his immediate family members were buried. I walked there and found that it was not too far from his brother’s plot. My ancestor’s plot did not have a single tombstone whereas his brother’s had many elaborate ones. The lack of tombstones or markings of any kind is why my ancestor did not make it onto FindAGrave. The interment book gave the dates of death and dates of burial for each family member.
I took the search one step further by visiting the local public library, Washington Memorial in Macon, which, fortunately for me, happens to be one of the best genealogical collections in the south. They had microfilm of the cemetery plot sale records. I located the deed where my ancestor purchased the plot in 1856, thirty years before he died. The cemetery was relatively new and in a major selling phase. With the copy of the interment record and the plot deed, I had everything I needed to be confident of where my ancestor was buried and on what date.
In the years since I took that trip, I see that a published version of the interment book has been donated to the DAR Library in Washington. I’m glad it’s there for future use, but I feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity to track down the information in-person and on-site.
- Clelia Walters, Registrar