Background
While researching her family’s history, Karen Kolb learned that not only were some of her ancestors buried at Concordia Cemetery on Walden Avenue, but that her great-grandfather had been a trustee of the cemetery. Beginning in the early 1990s, Karen started visiting and becoming increasingly engrossed in this cemetery that was co-owned by three local churches-- St. Peter’s Evangelical & Reformed Church, St. Stephen’s Evangelical and Reformed Church, and First Trinity Lutheran Church.The Special Collections Department of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library contains a paper copy of the index of individuals buried at Concordia. There is also there a copy of the microfilm created by the Mormon Family History Library, but this is incomplete. The original records were maintained by the caretaker at the Concordia Cemetery itself. Unfortunately, these records became unavailable to the public when the cemetery was closed in 2001. Visit the Concordia Cemetery Association Web Page for background and status of the cemetery and its records.
However, prior to Concordia's closure, Karen managed to obtain a complete photocopy of the almost 8400 Concordia Cemetery records of burials that took place between about 1879 and 1920, depending on the church. (While Concordia Cemetery was opened in 1859, burial records from 1859-1879 -- and some as late as 1885 -- were lost.) Karen initially entered the records into a Claris Database. In the year 2000, she completed an inventory of the visible, legible tombstones at Concordia, comparing what she found there with the written records. When she found a tombstone that matched a record in the database, Karen made the entry bold. This coding, unfortunately, is not yet reflected in this online version of the cemetery records.
Karen then compared the church burial records from St. Peters and Trinity Lutheran (St. Stephens would not allow access to its records) to the database, and when she found a corresponding church record that matched a record in the Concordia index, she made that record ALL CAPS. This is reflected in the records contained herein.
Even so, Karen admits that she may have missed some tombstones and records. Many tombstones are illegible or buried or broken.
Under no circumstances may this information be sold or added to a commercial compilation of records (like a CD). Karen has copyrighted the compilations, although she gives permission for their noncommercial use.
In 2001, Jillaine Smith offered to help Karen convert the Claris Database to something that could be put online. For the time being, Jillaine is hosting these records on her Rootsweb genealogy home page.
Until the original Concordia Cemetery records are relocated to an appropriate agency and made accessible to researchers, this index provides much of the information on those records. However, the following is not original source data and should not be treated as such. Like many of the indices available online, this is an effort to help you find your ancestors and find out where to turn for obtaining a copy of the original source data. Think of it like a soundex to the census. But starting with the original records themselves, human beings entered and edited this data, and humans make mistakes. This data is offered to assist you, but do not count it as original source material.
Karen L. Kolb
December 2002
Last Updated: 26 June 2004
Submitting New and Corrected Information
NEW: Due to the re-creation of the Concordia Cemetery Association, and recent efforts to improve the cemetery, Karen Kolb has the opportunity to make a massive update to this database. Therefore, as of 1 July 2004, no updates to this online database will be processed until that major update is complete. You can still send corrections and additions to Jillaine Smith, but they will be held until such time as the revised update is complete. This update will bring burial information forward from 1920 through 1930, and hopefully provide more accurate information about plot and grave locations.
Another goal of this project is to "recreate" the lost records from 1859-1885 by obtaining documented evidence that individuals were buried there. Such evidence might come from a church record that indicates place of burial. For example, one of Jillaine's ancestors was buried at Concordia in 1863, according to his death record at St. Peters.
Unless you inform Jillaine otherwise, she'll add your name and email address to the "Comments" column for any change/addition you send her. This way we'll keep track of all changes to the originals. (See Fassnacht, Johannes as an example.)
Miscellaneous Notes
- Something to be aware of about these records. Often times (but not always) the name associated with the grave plot refers to the OWNER of the plot, not the name of the person actually buried there. Therefore, you may often see the same name listed multiple times but with different death dates. In cases such as these, it is very likely the case that the name listed is that of the owner. Descendants/researchers who can provide the names of the people actually buried there are encouraged to submit that information to Jillaine who will edit the online version of the index. Unfortunately, these changes will only be made to the online index, not to the actual records owned by the cemetery. [Added 30 Jan 2004]
Table of Contents
(Be sure to check alternate spellings...)
[Editor's Note: Thanks to those of you who wrote to me about getting these file sizes down; warning to others: Excel's "Save as Web Page" feature adds a LOT of blank lines that can quadruple a file's size. -- Jillaine Smith]