Cemeteries keep us connected to the ones we love, providing us with a physical location to come visit and spend time with the ones we’re missing. They also offer us a look into the past, letting us learn more about the generations that came before us. By using cemetery records, we can uncover our family history and meet our ancestors.
What’s in a Cemetery Record?
Cemetery records contain information that essentially helps you build a family tree. In cemetery records, you’ll find:
- Names, including maiden names
- Birth and death dates and locations
- Familial relationships, like spouses and children
- Burial locations
- Information on military service, occupation, religion, and organization memberships
When you find one cemetery record, you’ll likely find information that goes beyond one ancestor. You’ll likely also learn about their spouses, children, or even more extended relatives.
How to Find Your Ancestors With Cemetery Records
How you’ll find your ancestor will depend on how much information you already have. Do you know their name? That’s a great starting place. You may be able to locate their obituary or death certificate, which may tell you where they’re buried. Once you know which cemetery they’re buried in, you can request records from the cemetery. If they were buried with family, the cemetery should have records from the initial ancestor you began your search with, as well as more ancestors you may discover.
The cemetery staff should be able to help you locate the gravesite and help you find it if you’d like to visit it in person. Going to the cemetery may help you learn even more about your ancestors, as the gravestone art and etchings may tell you more information about them, like their interests and hobbies. Who knows? You might discover you have quite a bit in common with a long-ago ancestor.
Another option is to use a website like BillionGraves or Find a Grave. Both are free resources that rely on volunteer contributors to upload information on graves around the world. Other websites, like FamilySearch, also offer additional tools to help you build out your family tree of ancestors. FamilySearch can be helpful if you don’t have a name to start with. You can search using a more recent relative, like a grandparent, and FamilySearch will have more information about their parents, spouses, and children. From there, you can continue to follow the line back to locate more distant ancestors.