by Thomas Clayton Ferguson III
Before I get started, here is what not to do! (MAKE A RUBBING)
This can be very harmful and in some states and towns, it is now illegal to do this. This is one of the most common practices and one that needs to be stopped. The Rubbings are abrasive and damage the headstone or marker. Please, never partake in doing a rubbing!
Ok, now we are ready to get started. The following is me passing on some advice from my own experiences and others that I knew who have visited or gone in search of a grave site of someone.
Planning the Visit
When you are planning to visit a cemetery, there are many things to do. First you need to do a little research. Depending if you have visited the cemetery in the past, will depend on how much research you need to do.
If you never have been there before, you need to find the cemetery and get directions on how to get there. Many a cemetery trip has been ruined by not getting directions before leaving home. It is not unheard of for people heading out thinking that they know the town where the cemetery is located in. They figured, how hard could it be to find it? Then spend hours before finding it, or in some cases, they never find it. The whole day winds up being a total waste.
There is another problem involved when you do not do research before leaving home. Most towns have a couple different cemeteries. Some even have dozens. So by not knowing which cemetery your loved one is buried in, you could spend days walking cemeteries in search of the grave that you want to visit.
So how do you figure out which cemetery your loved one is buried. If you know your ancestor was a member of a certain religion, you can look for churches of that faith. Then write/call to see if they have a cemetery, records for that cemetery and if the person you are looking for is buried. The other place that one can look is in the town’s public cemeteries. You can contact the keeper or sexton of the cemetery to see if they have records of who is buried there, to see if the grave you are searching for is located there.
This way of searching can be long and tedious. Finding who you need to contact can be very hard to do. They also can result in dead ends. The lucky thing is; there are other tricks to finding the info you need. One good place to check is if an obituary is available, it often lists where the person was laid to rest. Another place to look is local historical societies for that area. Often they have records of cemeteries and lists of who is buried there. Often historical societies they have online resources that can aid in your research.
Online resources can prove to be your best resource. Besides local historical societies having websites, there are other sites out there. The best place to start is the “US GenWeb Project” site (usgenweb.org/). This is a free site that divides up into states and then a website for almost every county of that state. These county GenWeb websites often list who is buried in the counties cemeteries. They often provide detailed info such as family plots and cemeteries that are listed no where else. Some of the lists can even tell you where exactly to look.
The more information you gather will only help on your visit. If you can find out the section, row and plat that the grave is in, this will greatly help in your search. In a large cemetery, this will help from having to search hundreds if not in some cases, thousands of graves.
If you do find out which cemetery they are in, you will likely need to get directions on how to get there. Finding the cemetery one can use a map or atlas if you have access to them. The thing with maps is they do not always show details such as cemeteries. Or if they do, they may not show the name of the cemetery. A new and great source is the map services on the internet. There are two places that can assist in getting a map and directions. The first is the Mapquest website. The other is Google Earth, which not only can give you a map and directions, but store info to use later. Another relatively new way is in car GPS navigation systems that can give you turn by turn directions as you drive.
You may find which cemetery your loved one is buried in and did not find exactly where in the cemetery that they are buried. So during your visit, you will need to search the cemetery during your visit in search of where they are buried. There are some tricks to locating the grave site quicker. One is to look in sections where the dates are similar to the grave you are looking for. The other trick is to bring several people with you and divide the areas up to be searched.
Lets just say you come up empty handed during your research. You could not locate which cemetery in the town the grave is located. This does not mean that all hope is lost. It just means that you will have more work to do. You will need to drive around the area that you believe your loved one is buried visiting cemetery after cemetery till you find the grave or run out places to look.
One way to aid in your search so you do not waste a lot of time is to narrow down your search. First off, narrow down which cemeteries that you need to search. If you know the person was a Baptist, you can rule out the Catholic cemeteries. If you know the approximate time that they were buried, you can rule out cemeteries and sections of cemeteries. Lets just say you know that they died around 1860. If an area or an entire cemetery has graves dating from the 20th century, you can quickly rule it out or the area out and move on.
There is also the chance that you may come up empty. The older the grave is, the higher the chance is that you will not find a headstone or marker. One reason, and a very sad one at that, is that the stone or marker was desecrated or destroyed by vandals. The other reason you may not find a stone or marker is the original marker was originally a wooden cross. Often a stone was too expensive and a wooden cross was not uncommon in certain cemeteries. Sometimes you can locate the grave if they were buried in a family plot and you can locate family members in the plot with a stone or marker. And sometimes if you know the location, you can locate at least where they buried.
The Next Step
You have found the grave or are revisiting the grave site and are looking to make a record of the grave site and the visit. As I stated earlier, you should not do a rubbing. They damage the stone or marker. The rule of thumb is to do no damage so others can find what you have found. Nature slowly erodes and breaks things down, we should not speed the process by doing something evasive such as a rubbing. And like I stated in the beginning, in some places the practice is outlawed. Doing a rubbing can lead to a fine and in a few places, it could get you arrested.
Cameras
The best non-evasive method is to take pictures. The best way to record the stone is to take pictures at several angles and varying distances. Shooting at different angles offers the best way to record the different details of the stone. One angle may be the best for reading what is written. Another angle may be better for viewing a carving on the stone. You may want a close-up of what is written on the stone. A close-up up of any carving on the stone can be a good picture to take. I also recommend shots at different angles that encompass the entire stone, and show the stone in relation to its surroundings.
There are several types of cameras that you can use. There is video or movie that you can use. The only problem with video or film is the quality can be less and or more expensive to use. It does capture the visit better as it captures the event of your visit and the time that passes while you are there. A draw back is it is harder to use. Many people use the image for a family book, scrapbook, or website. For these uses a still image is preferred. There are several cameras that can give you a still image that you desire. I will list the most common types of cameras that you can use and their pros and cons.
Film Cameras (35mm is most common)
This is the best traditional way to record the grave site. There are pros and cons to using a traditional camera. One pro is the quality of the image is usually of a high quality. Another pro for using a film camera is that in a pinch, you can buy a disposable camera in grocery stores, gas stations and other large retail stores. The cons are the cost of developing and not knowing if the picture has turned out until after you have left. A small thing I noticed is the cost should be considered in relation to other costs in the visit. Sure it may be expensive to buy film or a disposable camera. But if you are paying out a lot in gas to get there, the cost of the film and developing is rather small in comparison.
Digital Cameras
This is the best way to record the grave site. The only cons are you need to make sure you have batteries with power to take the pictures and some older or new cheap cameras have poor quality. You probably want a 2 mega-pixel or higher camera. I usually recommend at least a 5 mega-pixel or higher to be safe. The biggest benefit to a digital camera is you can see on a view screen if your picture looks like it turned out. This gives you a rough idea if it turned out. The screens on digital cameras are small, so I also recommend taking more then one picture of each shot. That way you have several to choose from later and delete what you do not want. This is a great benefit, as if you took multiples of each shot with a traditional film camera, the film and developing costs can get expensive.
Cell Phone Digital Camera
In a pinch the camera on your phone will do the trick. The only problem with phone cameras is that their quality usually leaves something to be desired. There are some new cameras that are getting better in quality, but most will not give you something that is not that great picture wise. And almost all do not have a flash, so unless the lighting happens to be really good, you may not be able to get a good picture at all. It is probably better to go buy a disposable 35mm camera if you can afford it rather then use your phones camera.
Video Cameras with Still Image Feature
In nearly all cases, the still image camera feature on most new video cameras is still rather poor. The way it works is in most cases is digital cameras can do video, but the quality is not as good as a video camera. The reverse is true for video cameras. They take great video but the still image quality is poor. I would also recommend that you go out and get a disposable camera rather then use you video cameras still image feature.
Other Ways of Recording Visit
GPS
There is something new in visiting a grave site. This is the use of GPS (Global Positioning System). You can use this system to help aid in finding the site using a car navigation GPS. The other use of GPS is to use a hand held GPS to record the location of the grave you are visiting. This can aid you on return visits to find the grave more quickly. If you share this information, it will help others find the grave site.
Take and Write Down Notes
After delving into new and high tech devices to record the visit, there is still some need to use a very traditional approach to recording the visit. Use a pen or pencil and record the visit. Write down how to find the cemetery. You can write down how to find the grave site. Another thing is you can describe how the gravesite looked, such as it was overgrown, or recently visited as there are fresh flowers that someone left recently.
A great thing to write down while you are there is what it took to get there. Things like how long it took you to find it. Write down if you got lost and what that was like. These are things to record, as they are part of your visit that often gets overlooked. Another thing you may want to write down is why you wanted to visit, and how you felt after you found the grave you were looking for. Little things like this are in themselves a story.
Record Your Visit / Share / Preserve
Now that you have gone and visited the grave site and returned home, there are some things that you can do to make/preserve a record of your visit or share what you found with others. There are several different things that you can do.
Book on your Family History
If you are writing and compiling a book of your family history, the visit can be a great addition to the book as well as one of sources of information on an ancestor.
Scrap-book Pages
If you are into scrap-booking, the visit can make a great page or pages in your scrap-book. The pictures, maps, and short writing on the visit can make a great addition to your personal scrapbook or you may add the pages to a scrap-book that you created for your family history.
Upload Digital Pictures to the Internet
You can upload your pictures to the internet to share what you found. One choice is to upload them to a photo sharing site that you are a member of. There are several out there to choose from which to choose from. There are also a few sites out there where you can upload headstone or grave marker pictures. The sites are trying to create virtual cemeteries so those who can not visit the cemetery in person, can still see what is there.
If you use a film camera, you will either have to ask for digital copies of film from your developing lab or scan the prints you get to get a digital image.
Create a Webpage
If you have a website you can create a webpage that is very much like a scrap-book page, but it is digital. This would make a great addition to a family website and give you the opportunity to share your experience with other family members.
Things to Bring With
Your Research
Remember to bring your research with you. Tracking down where in a cemetery the grave is does little good if you leave it on your kitchen table when you leave your home. This includes your map, directions and any location info for where they located there.
Pencil/Pen and Paper
The tried and true method is to write things down.
Camera
This is the best way top preserve what you find on your visit. The type of camera is your own choice. Whatever type you choose, make sure you have film and batteries that allow you to record the image.
Walkie-talkies
This is an old but tried and true piece of technology. If you have several people searching a large cemetery, this is still the best way to stay in contact with each other. Cell phones can work with two people, but the more people you get, the less it becomes practical. Walkie-talkies are the best and fastest way to share your findings with everyone in your group.
GPS
This is a new technology, but one that is slowly catching on. If you have one of these devices, it can add something to your visit. But to do so, you need to remember to bring it and have batteries that make it work.
this is version 1.0 of "Visiting a Cemetery" originally written on 2-26-09 (this is the first draft)