Google ancestor cemetery records

How to Google cemetery records for ancestry research.

The most common cemetery records can include sexton or caretaker records, church records, and tombstones and gravestones.

Google Ancestor Cemetery Records
Table of Contents

What You Will Find in Cemetery Records

Cemetery records usually include birth and death information. You will often find other information and clues that will lead you to other records. This information can include the address of the deceased; age at death; cause of death; cost of the plot or burial; date of death; full name, including maiden name for women; birthplace; full dates of birth and death; information linking the plot owner to other plots (in cases of disinterment, reburial, and so on); information about military service, such as unit; inscription (poem, Bible quote) providing insight into the ancestor or those left behind; logo of the organization that the deceased belonged to (ethnic, religious, military, or other organizations); the name of doctor or hospital; the name of officiating minister; names of other involved (funeral home, officiating clergyman, memorial company); owner of the plot; relationship clues (“Beloved wife of . . .”, list of children, or who else is buried in the plot); marriage date (rare); where deceased died, if other than where they lived; and photos, favorite saying, writings, music, or images that relate to a hobby or profession.

[Return to Article TOC]

Research Insights for Cemetery Records

To find tombstone and sexton records, you will need to know the ancestors’ names and where they were buried. Search all available sources of cemetery records to build as complete a profile as you can for your ancestor. Tombstone inscriptions are as different as the individuals they commemorate. In most cases, you will find some element of value, and you will most likely find the actual given name of the person or even a nickname that can help you find information. Many cemeteries have paper records of buried persons there, which are kept with the sexton. These records come in many formats, and some churches keep what is known as burial records.

 

[Return to Article TOC]

Several Types of Cemeteries

Religious Cemeteries. These cemeteries were often located next to the religious group’s church or synagogue. Qualification for burial was often reserved for the burial of the congregation members or faith. The records of burials in religious cemeteries are most likely to be found with that religious group rather than with a sexton.

Introduction to the Cemetery as a Historical Record
An introduction to the cemetery as a historical record for individual and family research. Learn about the cemetery, cemetery layout, what cemeteries tell us, plots and headstones and reading inscriptions.

Other videos you may like:

Community Cemeteries

Contact the sexton if you suspect your ancestor was buried in a community cemetery. The sexton’s job is to coordinate, and often actually handle, the burial duties (usually in concert with a mortuary and church) and keep the records of burials in that cemetery.

Private Cemeteries

Some of the earliest cemeteries in North America were private, family cemeteries. These are especially common in the southern states and some New England areas, although they may appear in any locality. Private cemeteries can also include cemetery associations and fraternal or social groups, such as the Mason or Old Fellows. These cemeteries are usually located in very rural areas with no other options.

Commercial Cemeteries

Commercial cemeteries are among the most common cemeteries today and have taken the place of community cemeteries. These cemeteries are run by a local mortuary or company and are usually found in larger communities. Ancestors are not likely to be found in such cemeteries unless they lived in the 1900s.

Military Cemeteries

There are over thirty-seven cemeteries and memorials overseas for soldiers who died during the service of their country.

[Return to Article TOC]

Google Ancestor Cemetery Records

Locating a burial site can be difficult, but people are usually buried where they die. Begin your search for a cemetery where your ancestor drops out of the records. In any given area, there are usually many cemeteries. The records of these various cemeteries are often in many different places and may not be easily accessible. The records are often organized in chronological order or by plot and are not usually alphabetical. If public records exist for your ancestor, they will usually denote where the burial occurred. For deaths occurring after 1870, the community may have required a burial permit from the local health department (these are not death certificates), which would identify the cemetery the person was buried in.

The first place to find sexton’s records is the cemetery itself. If you come across an “inactive” or “full” cemetery because there is no more room for additional burials, contact the local sexton to begin your search to see if they have records.

There are many directories to assist you in locating a specific cemetery or even a list of all possible cemeteries in a particular locality. In large cities, beginning with the city directory for the period your ancestor died. There are also online record directories, such as Interment.net, African American Cemeteries Online, FindAGrave, Obituary Central’s Cemetery Search, and the Political Graveyard. You may also want to check with local mortuaries in the area your ancestor died. They will be aware of at least the active cemeteries of that time and may be able to refer you to a local cemetery association.

Other resources I have used include maps, GPS, land records (deeds), obituaries, death certificates, mortuary records, local and regional government, church officials, genealogy and historical societies, community residents, and local historians.

[Return to Article TOC]

Google 18 Types of Ancestor Records

The following is an overview of the common 18 types of ancestor records that I have found constantly valuable in my historical and genealogy research and hundreds of other resources I have learned to research and use through the years. When I mastered researching these resources, I could quickly expand my research to other records to help me connect the pieces of my genealogy puzzle.

Google Ancestor Records
Cemetery Records Census Records Church Records
Civil Vital Records Directory Records Family Histories
Histories and Biographies Land Records Maps
Message Boards, Mailing Lists, and Wiki’s Military Records Naturalization Records
Newspaper Records Photographs Probate Records
Publications and Periodicals Ship Passenger Lists Writings of Ancestors

In my profile of each resource, I have included what you will find, how to use the resource, and research insights for each resource. I would encourage you to use this section as a starting point from which you can search out and find other genealogical tutorials, and guides that help to provide deeper insights.  The common websites that researchers first think of are Ancestry, Archives, FamilySearch, FindMyPast and MyHeritage.

[Return to Article TOC]

Google Other Ancestor Records

The following are other articles you may enjoy to help you Google your ancestry.

[Return to Article TOC]