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4 Levels of Cemetery and Headstone Research for Genealogy

Have you had to figure out cemetery and headstone research for genealogy on your own? It can be a bit overwhelming! In this article, we'll help you find new depths to your cemetery research. 

cemetery research genealogy gravestone

Most genealogists seek to find each ancestor's birth, marriage, and death information. Headstone and cemetery records can provide our ancestors' death date and final resting place. However, if we dig deeper into cemetery records, we may find so much more information! 

Level 1: Online Sites like BillionGraves 

Online cemetery databases are one of the most accessible sources for researching an ancestor’s burial. Cemetery database websites collect burial information from around the globe. Volunteers gather this information to grow the database, which is then searchable at the click of a button. 

BillionGraves is one of the premier online cemetery databases with millions of records worldwide. A unique feature of BillionGraves is the GPS tag on every record, allowing you to pinpoint exactly where your ancestor was buried. The site also features a companion app available for mobile devices. The app provides tools for volunteers to add headstone photos on location at the cemetery. 

A cemetery search for San Antonio, Texas, reveals several cemeteries clustered just east of downtown. Clicking into the San Antonio National Cemetery shows 6,552 records of burials with 4,825 images attached. The zoomed map pinpoints each burial within the cemetery grounds.

Billion Graves cemetery map TexasBillionGraves Cemetery Search for San Antonio, Texas. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Level 2: Published Sources

Headstones erode and become illegible or destroyed by man or nature over time. Cemeteries fill to capacity and then become inactive and neglected. Burials that lack readable markers may not be cataloged on an online cemetery website. How do researchers overcome this challenge? 

gravestone for genealogy research Time-worn headstone of Gincey Wilson, from the author’s collection.

In earlier decades (the 1910s through 1940s), several organizations, including the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), published cemetery transcriptions for many local areas. These indexes may include entries for headstones that have succumbed to the wear of time and are no longer readable. Find these transcriptions at genealogical libraries and in the FamilySearch catalog under the location of interest and the category “Cemeteries.”

Barrett CemeteryLicking County, Ohio, tombstone inscriptions of old Fredonia cemetery, D.A.R., Hetuck, and Granville Chapters.

This transcript from Licking County, Ohio, was organized alphabetically and documents individuals born as early as the 1790s. Most of the memorials found on the transcript do not appear on modern cemetery websites, likely indicating time has worn away many of the headstone inscriptions. The volunteer efforts to transcribe headstones one hundred years ago are a valuable research tool for modern researchers. 

greenwood cemeteryPhoto of Greenwood Cemetery, from the author’s collection.

Level 3: Onsite Cemetery and Funeral Home Records 

Not all burials included a headstone or memorial plaque. Some were marked with a simple cross or stone or not marked at all. How do researchers overcome this challenge?

Many cemeteries now have websites with information on their burials. For example, the picturesque Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, has over a half-million burials on 478 acres. The website features a burial search page where interments can be searched by name or date. The instructions note the index may not be complete, especially for the earliest burials. However, the page notes the records onsite are complete, and you can contact their office for additional information.

The cemetery website offers a Burial and Vital Records: 1840-1937 search page. This index record for Jane Finlay noted her date of death and interment, the lot and grave number, and information about her age and residence at death. The index entry provides a link to a scanned copy of the original cemetery register for Jane.

 

Cemeteries may provide a PDF guide to their burial records instead of an online search. Other cemeteries publish a phone number or email address on their website. Contact them about specific burials of interest for information about unpublished records they hold onsite.

Funeral homes, also called funeral parlors, began as early as 1759 in the United States. Providing the necessary care and preparation for the burial of the deceased, funeral homes kept records of their work and clients. Many funeral homes hold records dating back to the beginning of their establishment. Historical organizations have made transcriptions of the documents in some locales. Conduct an online search for the name of the funeral home and transcript to see if one has been created for your area of research.

Level 4: Work on the Plot for Relatives 

Thus far, we have discussed three resources for cemetery records. The fourth level of cemetery research focuses on a method instead of a resource. After locating an ancestor’s burial information, what else can you do with it? Our ancestors lived and worked with family, friends, and associates. They were likely buried near them as well! Study the burial plot or cemetery for other relatives and associates to maximize cemetery research.

This method works with every level of cemetery research discussed so far.

Remember the GPS tags on each record at BillionGraves? This unique feature allows a researcher to see the burials located near the known ancestor. You can then research those individuals to determine if they were relatives.

DAR transcriptions were created plot by plot and cemetery by cemetery. Some lists were alphabetized, which helps identify individuals sharing the same surname. Other lists were kept in the order they were recorded, which helps identify groups buried together.

Greenwood Cemetery’s search features a plot number search option. Searching by the plot number where Jane Finlay was buried, the following individuals were buried in the same plot: David James Finlay, Francis F. Avant, Robert H. Bell, Elizabeth A. Finlay, Joseph Avant, and Sarah Moore. With further research, you can determine their relationships to one another. Further investigation revealed that the group included two brothers, two sisters, and a brother-in-law. 

In a recent research project for a Legacy Tree Genealogists’ client, multiple levels of cemetery research strategies helped piece together the family of Frances Colbert, the client’s ancestor.

Lakeview Cemetery in Marietta, Love County, Oklahoma, has nearly six thousand memorials on the online cemetery database Find A Grave. One entry in the cemetery was located using the surname Colbert, David Colbert, whose headstone is broken and only partially readable. Although the memorial links David to proposed family members, none were buried in the same cemetery. Additionally, there is no information about David’s burial location within the cemetery or those buried near him in the online database.

The city of Marietta, Oklahoma, maintains the Lakeview Cemetery and has a downloadable PDF of the burials there. The guide to Lakeview Cemetery burials noted David Colbert was buried in section 2, block 26, space 6. The owner of the lot was W.H. Cochran. 

Utilizing a search feature within the guide, we created the following list of the lots near David’s burial, which W.H. Cochran also owned:

  • Willie Cochran, section 2, block 25, space 1
  • Forney Cochran, section 2, block 25, space 2
  • Hunter Cochran, section 2, block 25, space 3
  • Carrie Cochran, section 2, block 25, space 4
  • Verta Cochran, section 2, block 25, space 5
  • Robert Lewis Green, section 2, block 26, space 1
  • Rosebud Green, section 2, block 26, space 2
  • Emma Green, section 2, block 26, space 3
  • Daniel D. Green, section 2, block 26, space 4
  • Tory Thorton, section 2, block 26, space 5
  • unknown, section 2, block 26, space 6
  • Catherine Vicktor, section 2, block 26, space 7
  • Samuel T. Cochran, Jr., section 2, block 26, space 8
  • Samuel T. Cochran, section 2, block 26, space 9

The cluster of individuals buried together in the plots owned by W.H. Cochran was confirmed as the extended family of Francis Colbert with the use of additional genealogical records.

  • David Colbert was her father.
  • W.H. Cochran was her son; his wife and children were buried in block 25.
  • Samuel T. Cochran was the father of W.H. Cochran and Samuel T. Cochran Jr. and the second husband of Francis Colbert.
  • Robert Lewis, Rosebud, and Emma Green were the children of Daniel Green and Francis Colbert.
  • Tory (Green) Thorton was the married daughter of Daniel Green and Francis Colbert, who died as a young woman.
  • Catherine Vicktor was the daughter of Robert Vicktor and Francis Colbert. 

Another search of the Find A Grave memorials for the cluster of individuals buried together at Lakeview Cemetery confirmed another similarity. Most of the headstones for the family group were styled with an emblem engraved at the top. The deceased's name was followed by their relationship with parents or spouse, then their birth and death dates. This styling suggests the person or people choosing the headstones wanted the family grouping to have the same look and feel.

Genealogists can document their ancestors' death dates and burial places by utilizing multiple levels of cemetery research. But they can also document extended family members buried in the same location. 

If you'd like more help with your research, our professional genealogists are available for consultations to get you on your way!

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Ask a Genealogist: When Native American Research Gets Personal

Legacy Tree Genealogists' Melissa Finlay has more than 30 years of experience in genealogy research and a bachelor's degree in family history genealogy from Brigham Young University. She also has a professional credential through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogist with a specialty in the U.S. Mid-South region. She has been involved in Native American research in the United States for many years. We asked Melissa about her experiences in Native American research and learned that her interest in American tribes and groups started close to home. 

Q: What got you interested in genealogy and specifically Native American research?

A: My grandmother was the person that got me interested in Native American genealogy when she told me about my grandfather, who I never met. He was Native American and died when my dad was 11 years old. His family line was Cherokee.

That was where I started. My first genealogy research was learning about my grandfather's line and researching his Cherokee ancestry.

Native American Photo

Q: Besides Cherokee, what other tribes do you have experience with?

A: Cherokee research is part of what is called the Five Civilized Tribes (that's just a term that has been used for a long time). I don't love the term, but it refers to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes.

And basically, they have a similar relocation history. A lot of the same records were generated for those five groups, and so they are easier to research.

Because I live in Texas, I've also worked with clients looking for research into Southwest US and northern Mexico ancestry. In most cases, these clients have DNA results that state they have some indigenous ancestry related to that area.

I've learned a lot about the indigenous populations in this area. And, thanks to the wide variety of client queries we receive, I have learned to research other Native American tribes as well.

Q: Can you talk about some of the brick walls you've encountered with Native American research, and how you overcame them?

A: Native American research is interesting because a lot of it is based on oral history and government records that were kept more recently. You can also utilize DNA to some extent. Many brick walls occur when one or more of those resources are not available.

I worked on a case where there were a lot of modern records, as well as early historic records, for this family because of their involvement in the early treaties. But we had a hard time proving the middle generations for this family, so we had to dig into the oral history of the tribe.

We contacted a local historical society in an effort to prove the generations in between. That was how we overcame that brick wall, using oral history to bridge the gap between the government records that were on either side.

Q: How can DNA help with brick walls?

A: DNA can be useful, but it does have limits.

I had a client who came to us from South Texas. The results revealed that 25% of the DNA is from Indigenous Americas of Mexico around Northeastern Chihuahua. It’s a little tricky in that part of the world because the indigenous population and the early European settlers were mixing in the population in early time periods, and tribal affiliations lessened.

Sometimes you can find clues in early parish registers. You can see race indicated in the registers, but it will say, Indio or mestizo, which means “of a native population,” or mixed blood. Sometimes that’s all you can find.

We looked at the records and found what we could, but when a native person in that area of the world converted to Catholicism, they were usually recorded in those parish registers with a Christian name. When that happened, they may no longer be recorded by their native name anymore.

In the case of my own Cherokee history, DNA didn’t help at all. Although my direct line lived in the Cherokee Nation up until the 1930s, there was intermarrying with European heritage. Our Native American DNA is quite diluted, and it no longer shows in my DNA test. The proof of my Native American heritage depends on the paper trail.

Q: This brings to mind our previous interview with Kate Eakman for Indigenous People’s month when we learned about blood quantum. When and where did this concept originate?

A: Historically, most indigenous people – tribes, bands, and groups – mingled and intermarried as they encountered other groups. This would have been through trade, travel, war, exploration, and intermarriage.

Newly incorporated members of their group would simply become part of their tribe and community, and they would adopt the culture. And so, their biological identity was less important than their community and their cultural identity. And of course, I'm speaking generally because there are hundreds of different tribes and groups across America.

So, the concept of blood quantum was introduced later by the federal government, which comes from English law concepts from Europe. It was introduced because the federal government wanted to move the indigenous peoples onto reservations to give them allotments, and it was a way to limit official tribal enrollment for government benefits during that time.

It's a concept and restriction imposed by the government upon indigenous groups, which makes it a controversial topic.

Q: So how is blood quantum used now?

A: Each tribe has had to decide where they stand on the issue in modern times. In some ways, it limits tribal members from being able to mingle and intermarry because their children might fall outside the blood quantum levels that they set for themselves.

But in other ways, it preserves the sanctity of membership and the benefits for those that belong to the tribe. It's kind of a double-edged sword concept. Some groups like the Navajo Nation, the eastern band of Cherokee and some Chippewa bands, still use the blood quantum limits for citizenship.

But other groups, such as the Cherokee Nation that's centered in Oklahoma, do not have a blood quantum requirement for citizenship. You just have to be able to show that you descend from the ancestors that were listed on those original membership rolls.

Q: What goals do clients have in Native American research?

A: A lot of clients who ask about their Native American heritage want to verify family stories that they've heard that happened in their family history. Sometimes they want to confirm the family resemblance of a particular tribal affiliation, or they just want to be able to connect with a culture that they feel might be part of their family heritage.

Q: Tell us about what your Native American research means to you personally?

A: About four years ago, we took our children on a road trip, focusing on family history as much as we could. We stopped at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Oklahoma, and our children loved exploring their Cherokee heritage there.

In fact, they talked about it the entire trip, about the amazing things they learned. They loved the culture. They soaked it all in.

Q: So, Melissa, when is the research complete? Do you ever say to yourself that you’ve discovered everything you can discover?

A: Well, more recently, my daughter had her DNA tested. She's a young adult and her results came back with more Native American DNA percentage than my tests.

I thought, “Wait, what's going on here? This is unusual.” We started to dig in and try and solve that mystery and figured out that her additional Native American DNA percentage came from an unknown parentage line on my husband's side of the tree.

We were able to figure that out that she also had Native American heritage other than Cherokee. The group named in the DNA result was the Indigenous American Great Lakes and Canada group, so that pointed us to where her native heritage was from. This eventually led us to the Chippewa group, which opened a new foray into our Native American ancestry. Now I’m looking into the Chippewa tribe, where I will gain research experience with that tribe.

For most of our researchers, genealogy is in their blood. Their interest in discovering family history started with a personal family mystery they wanted to solve. If you have a mystery that you can’t solve, share it with us and we can help you discover your legacy. Contact us for a free estimate on research.

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Was Your Ancestor a Outlaw in the Wild West?

Legacy Tree researcher Melissa Finlay takes you back to the old west to find your “Most Wanted” ancestors to determine if they were outlaws, bandits, or rustlers. Did your ancestors ride with notorious outlaws or did they obey the law of the land in the old west?

Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid. You may have heard about some of these famous outlaws of the Wild Western United States. But have you ever wondered if your ancestor was a criminal in the Wild West? Or perhaps they were a victim of a crime or a lawman fighting for law and order in the Wild West? There are records available to find out if your ancestor was involved!

Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. Federal District Court

Topographical Map of Fort Smith
USGS topographical map of Fort Smith, 1887. Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin, public domain. (http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/arkansas/txu-pclmaps-topo-ar-fort_smith-1887.jpg)

Men and women living in western Arkansas, the Indian Territory, or any part of the 74,000 square miles covered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas were tried for their crimes at Fort Smith, Arkansas.[1] The fort sat just across the Arkansas River from Indian Territory. The court did not try crimes between native peoples but tried all federal crimes involving non-natives, from larceny to cattle rustling, forgery, murder, and everything in between.

Until 1889, the court's say was final; one could not appeal to any other court—the only chance for a reprieve after a conviction was a pardon by the President of the United States.

Over the years, the court's case files were moved to several repositories, shuffled and reorganized, and a fair number – destroyed. The files that remain paint a colorful picture of the actual frontier and wild west during the period.

 

U.S. Jail Fort Smith
Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. Jail, circa 1890. Courtesy National Park Service, Fort Smith National Historic Site, public domain. (https://www.nps.gov/fosm/learn/historyculture/courthouse-jail-building-c-1890s.htm)

 

The National Archives provides a detailed online finding aid explaining how the case files were created, organized, and interpreted. Although the original filing system was complex, modern digital databases make access easier.

Although the case documents were filed under the name of the alleged criminal, many court papers named victims. A victims' index is available on the National Archives finding aid to assist in finding your ancestor who may have been the victim of a crime instead of a perpetrator.  https://www.archives.gov/fort-worth/finding-aids/fort-smith-case-files#victimindex

Fort Smith, Arkansas, newspapers were filled with daily court notices and stories about the most sensational crimes during this time period. Several websites offer digital copies of the newspapers, including the Fort Smith Elevator, the Fort Smith Weekly Herald, and more.

Search for the newspapers articles about the court case your ancestor was involved in with one of these newspaper sites: 

A Counterfeiter

Fort Smith Criminal Case File
Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S., Criminal Case Files, 1866-1900 (image and transcription), case file for J.W. Shook, 1897, jacket no. 400, Fort Smith, Arkansas, https://ancestry.com, subscription database, accessed April 2021.

All the resources together combine to create an interesting story of the outlaws and criminals, lawmen, and victims of the true Wild West our ancestors lived in. One such story involved counterfeit silver dollars.

On 13 January 1897, J.W. Shook and L.W. Partridge were charged with possessing and knowingly spending counterfeit silver dollars in Yell County, Arkansas. The U.S. Marshals were sent to apprehend the men.

Counterfeiters Arrested
“Counterfeiters Arrested,” Fort Smith Elevator (Fort Smith, Arkansas), 22 January 1897, p. 5, http://fortsmithlibrary.advantage-preservation.com/, accessed April 2021.

During the trial, J.W. Shook volunteered the name of the actual counterfeiter, Tom Rauhong of Pope County, Arkansas, who was also arrested after the counterfeiting materials were found in his home.

Researching your ancestors can be exciting whether your ancestors were famous or infamous! If you want to know if there are outlaws in your family tree, consider hiring a professional. Contact us today for a free quote!

References

[1] “The Good, The Bad, and The Legend of the Fort Smith Federal Courthouse,” Ultimate History Project, http://ultimatehistoryproject.com/fort-smith-and-belle-starr.html, accessed February 2021; and,

“Research Guide to the Criminal Case Files of Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1860-1896,” Archives.gov, https://www.archives.gov/fort-worth/finding-aids/fort-smith-case-files, accessed February 2021.