Take a Cemetery Excursion

Winter has finally gone and now is a great time for a cemetery excursion. Making a personal visit to an ancestor's resting place can reveal a lot of important genealogical data and clues that you may not find elsewhere. You can develop a deeper understanding of where you came from and find a closer connection to your past.

I have found most cemeteries are very peaceful, often very beautiful, and surprisingly interesting places. As you are walking among the markers, in addition to the names and dates you see, you will soon discover many beautiful and unusual carved tombstones and lovely statues and other unique memorials to loved ones. Some gravestone inscriptions can be very intriguing and sure make you wonder more about the person resting there. Others offer clues about heritage and culture if they are in the language of the homeland, and some even have an amusing quote or brief anecdote.

Learn as much as you can about the cemetery you plan to visit. Make contact if possible with the cemetery office or sexton to confirm your ancestor is buried there. Search cemetery indexes, burial registers, plat maps and plot records if available at the local library or historical society. Obtain an obituary and death certificate if you can. The more information you have in advance the better your result will be.

It is important to ascertain if the cemetery is public or private, modern or old, and if recently cared for or unattended and overgrown. Your safety is very important when visiting cemeteries in remote or rural areas. It is possible to encounter ongoing criminal activity or vandals in a cemetery. If you are unfamiliar with the surrounding community and are concerned, check with the local police before you visit. Knowing these details prepares you for any conditions or situation you may encounter. Taking a loved one or friend along for saftey is a good idea and will make your outing more fun.

Modern cemeteries are usually well maintained however older cemeteries, especially those no longer in use, may be very overgrown and quite deteriorated. They are often found in very rural heavily brush covered areas or on farm land. If the cemetery is on private property, be sure to speak to the owner and get permission to visit. He may prefer you only visit during certain hours or on certain days and may wish to escort you to the cemetery during your visit. Make sure you understand any rules and what you have permission to do while there.

You may discover as I did on one adventure, that the cemetery you are seeking is now located in the middle of a planted corn field! With invaluable help from the farmer on how to access the cemetery was I able to make it a most memorable visit. He was a very nice elderly fellow and he enjoyed sharing his extensive knowledge of the all the old homesteads nearby, those now gone and those still standing. I learned a lot from our chat that helped me move forward in my research.

Always follow a cemetery’s rules for visitors. They exist not only in consideration of surviving family members, but to honor and preserve the final resting places of loved ones. Be aware of hours of operation, respect the no pets allowed rule, do not move or lift fallen stones. Be considerate of grieving family members and other cemetery visitors. Respect all graves sites and try not to walk across cemetery lots except for visiting graves. Do not disturb personal memorabilia left by loved ones. If you wish to leave flowers or a memento at the gravesite, be sure to comply with cemetery rules.

What you wear and what you bring with you is important. Long pants, a long sleeved shirt, and hiking boots or good closed-toe shoes with thick socks, a hat, and gloves are strongly recommended. You are likely to encounter a variety of insects, ticks, spiders, chiggers, mosquitoes, and possibly a snake even in a cemetery that is well cared for. Proper clothing will help protect you from briars, thorns, and other plants such as poison ivy in unattended cemeteries. Bring enough water to drink and to pour on tombstones to make them more legible in lieu of making tombstone rubbings. Markers often photograph better if they are wet and water will not cause damage. A nice walking stick can help steady you on uneven ground. It is a good idea to keep insect repellant and a first aid kit in your car as well.

A few small garden tools may be helpful to clear away overgrown brush, and you want to be sure to bring several pencils, plenty of paper or a notebook, a digital camera or video camera with additional memory cards and extra batteries. You will want to take a lot of photos of the cemetery while you are there. Be sure to capture the cemetery entrance, cemetery signs, different views of the cemetery, your ancestor’s graves as a group and close up, and markers in other nearby plots which you may later discover are related.

Be sure to record names dates and inscriptions exactly as you find them on the front, back, and each side of a tombstone. Record any symbols or emblems or other markings that may appear possibly noting an affiliation with a community or religious group. Note the style, shape, color, and from what material the marker was made from. These can be clues to family heritage or the homeland. If you visit on or just after Memorial Day you may discover an American flag placed at the gravesite by a local VFW or American Legion Chapter indicating your ancestor gave military service. Note the relationship of all markers in a family plot. Unmarked small stones may indicate unnamed children who died in infancy. Some genealogists also bring a GPS unit to record the exact position of each gravesite so they may be found even if the cemetery should completely disappear.

A well planned trip results in a fun day and can produce invaluable information to add to your family tree. Spring is here so venture out and make that cemetery visit you have been putting off. I am already making my list of places to visit. Happy hunting!

The Jacoby Church & Cemetery stands on the west side of North King Road, south of 8A Road in Ceter Township, Marshall County, Indiana. In 2007, the Wythougan Valley Preservation Council received a $8,640 grant to rehabilitate the former church. It was built in 1860 and dedicated in 1861 by a German Reformed congregation. The church was used fairly continuously through 1964, but has been vacant and deteriorating since that time. It is now owned by the township. Some of my Jacoby ancestors were founding members of this church.