Ellington
Historical Society
70
Main Street PO Box 73 Ellington CT 06029
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Research in cemeteries Ellington Historical Society Jan 27, 2005 Why research in a cemetery? If you already know a persons vital statistic data why go to the cemetery? Why not just use an inscription report or microfilm?
Finding Geographic Locale of Cem. Occurs when you are not from the area and have family records or death certificate to indicate the cemetery name
Action to take - Contact: * gen. soc. -NOT ALL INCLUSIVE To Identify and
Locate a Specific Ancestors Cemetery 1. Call and later possibly write– regarding availability of cemetery index or Obituary index *Local public library, state libraries how
far does their newspaper collection go back. *Historical society *Genealogical Society Ask all about availability & fees *Use internet - I’ll discuss more on this later * In the end if you can not locate the cemetery, ask yourself were they buried on their own property. 2. CT. State Library has the Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions: listing of CT cemetery indexes & the Hale Collection of Marr & Death Notices, the “Barbour Collection” which indexes vital records. Visit 231 Capitol Ave Hartford. 3. Latter Day Saints Library collection
4. Internet Resources 1. Gen Web: began in 1996
for cemetery research, directions are below. There are two paths re. specific for cemetery research: A. At the site go to top of page, click “Projects, click on right side, click “Tombstone Projects”. This will take you to list of states. Select state of interest and click to view any volunteers available in the state who may check local index’s for you or take photos of headstones. B. At www.usgenweb.org go to left column, click link for each state, then click county and/or town of choice. Next check for index’s or volunteer look ups of local indexes. 2. Interment Project: www.interment.net
3. Rootsweb Project: www.rootsweb.com
4. Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness: www.raogk.org
PLANNING A CEMETERY VISIT *Call ahead. If you can’t get phone number, call town halls or local funeral home for info *Get cemetery hours *Get the location of
stone * Best time - spring - not winter – no snow, less vegetation, weeds are flat, you can see stone which are laying fallen flat on the ground *Consider time of year and day due to sun direction *In letter to cemetery - give your name & phone number to cemetery – in case repair is needed. They can write you at their convenience rather than when you happen to call and could better consult others that may be out of the office, and can dig through files at their leisure. *The town or cemetery may have “Veteran’s Registration Card” this includes vets. Regiment, residence, next of kin. Found in place of burial not death. *Bring: paper, pen, camera, extra film, possibly flashlight or mirror or umbrella Photo? Why take one? *For future reference/questions re. data *Stones change – *to help locate stone again if needed * to help read older stones Take at least two photographs
Things to Note during visit
Association of Gravestone Studies: Located in Greenfield, MA. Phone#: (413) 772-0836 This organization
researches and presents information on cleaning, identifying stone materials,
symbolism, other related areas and various books that are available for further
information. Books regarding gravestones: Symbolism on Gravestones, author Jessie Lie Farber Fraternal Symbolism, author Lurel Gabel. This book discusses headstone inscriptions and references. Early American Gravestone Art in Photography, authors Francis Duval & Ivan Ridby Tools & Materials for Gravestone Cleaning, author Fannin Lehrer Transcription: making or reading one Note letters/numbers that are questionable if unsure use (BRACKET). Reminds you data may not be correct. Note if BROKEN - writing may be missing “ QUOTE “ what you are SURE of. 76th year of age means he was 75 years old. Numbers to use caution with: Certain numbers are easily misidentified 4 is mistaken for a 1, crossbars of 4’s erode faster 3 & 8 are confused due to weathering Techniques for Reading Aging/Deteriorating Stones *Using Light – sun or flashlight can be directed sideways across stone causing shadow in hollows of letters
*Too much sun – if sun is directly on stone shade the stone and use a mirror to light it sideways. *Using water – wet bottom to top w/ sprayer, dirt goes into crevices, *Light reflects off higher surfaces *Digital Photo programs – can enlarge, change colors to shade *Film - try using the negative to read, not the photo Previously used Non- Recommended Techniques: Rubbings –
Shaving cream & squeegee -
Resources For Cemetery Research: Ellington Historical Society Jan 27, 2005 US Geological Survey Maps: http://geonames.usgs.gov/index.html Using “Querry GNIS” link, enter state and county. Choose “cemetery” from feature drop list. Connecticut State Library: Located at: 231 Capitol Ave. Hartford, phone: #757-6500 Historical and Genealogical Info. 757-6580 http://www.cslib.org/handg.htm Maintains holding of: the Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions to 1932-5, Hale Collection of Marriage and Death Notices, Barbour Collection of Vital Records – indexed, Connecticut Veterans Death Index. Information on the Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions is available at http://www.cslib.org/halecol.htm#halecem Latter Day Saints Library: Local access at 30 Woodside Ave. Manchester. Ph#: 643-4033 There you can order and view microfilm. The main library is in Salt Lake City, Utah so there is a delay in receiving ordered materials. There is also a small fee associated with each roll of film ordered. You can view the library catalog on the internet at www.familysearch.org At the site , click “search”, click “family history library catalog”, search for locale/place (ex. town, county, state etc) for possible cemetery index’s. Obtain ordering data and go to the church in Manchester to order the microfilm or fiche. Gen Web: The national web site is found at www.usgenweb.org This is volunteer web site offers many diverse services which varies by each town and county since things are all done for free by volunteer. This is an international service but I will not address use of the international system. Regarding use for cemetery research, directions are below. There are two paths re. specific for cemetery research:
Interment Project: This site focuses on cemeteries and has 3 million records of 8,000 cemeteries. You can search for a person’s name, or by state and county. Rootsweb Project: This site focuses on making available a variety of free genealogical resources all done by volunteers. It has a cemetery project that has 3500 volunteers covering 25 countries. Click link for “Hosted Projects”, then click link for “Cemetery Photos”. Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness: A volunteer organization. Click state desired, click county, and make a request to a volunteer if there is one appropriate for your need. www.raogk.org Association of Gravestone Studies: Located in Greenfield, MA. Phone#: (413)772-0836 www.gravestonestudies.org This organization researches and presents information on cleaning, identifying stone materials, symbolism, other related areas and various books that are available for further information. Quite a bit of information is also available on the web site at www.gravestonestudies.org . Books regarding gravestones: Symbolism on Gravestones, author Jessie Lie Farber Fraternal Symbolism, author Lurel Gabel. This book discusses headstone inscriptions and references. Early American Gravestone Art in Photography, authors Francis Duval & Ivan Ridby Tools & Materials for Gravestone Cleaning, author Fannin Lehrer Article on research resources National Genealogical Society News Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, July/Aug 2003, pages 23-37.
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