Finding Cemeteries Made Easy With These 3 Strategies + a Bonus Strategy

Finding the cemetery where an ancestor is buried can be tricky for any number of reasons. Many times, there’s simply no record to indicate where the person is buried so it becomes a guessing game as to which cemeteries to look in.

So how do you begin your search?

Well, first you need to identify what cemeteries were in operation at the time and in the place where the person was likely buried.

Okay, so how do you do that?

In this article I’ll share three simple strategies you can use to track down that cemetery and hopefully find your ancestor’s final resting place.

Strategy #1

Probably the easiest way to find cemeteries in a particular location is to check out either Find a Grave or Billion Graves online. This is where I start because each of these websites has an extensive database of cemeteries, including those that are all but forgotten. For example, the County Farm Cemetery in Bloomington, Illinois, is listed on both websites, even though it is completely inaccessible because it’s on private property. What’s nice about these websites is that you can search by location, such as town or county, to see a listing of cemeteries in that locale.

Strategy #2

My next strategy is to look at maps. You could always start with Google Maps and look for cemeteries located in a particular area today, but in many cases, these are likely already cataloged on Find a Grave or Billion Graves (of course that’s not a guarantee). Instead, though, I like to look at historic maps, to get a feel for what cemeteries were nearby around the time I’m interested in. This is especially helpful when a cemetery was renamed, relocated, or simply so old it’s been forgotten. There are plenty of map resources online that have historic maps, such as David Rumsey’s map collection and Historic Map Works.

Strategy #3

One often overlooked strategy is sometimes the simplest of all—contact the local genealogical or historical society. I usually only reach out when I’m really stuck (or am being a little lazy). Societies can probably tell you about those “hidden” cemeteries or the history of cemeteries in the area. They may have even walked/read all the local cemeteries either by gravestones or cemetery records and therefore may have books, indexes, or databases of burials that they can take a peek in for you. For private or defunct cemeteries, the society may have sexton records or even family papers among their collections that list burial information. In some cases the society may have a contact for private cemeteries that you can reach out to for more information or even permission to visit. Please remember to be kind and thank whoever assists you—and a small donation to the society never hurts.

Bonus Strategy

So, those are three great strategies, but since I like to over-deliver, I’ve got a bonus strategy for you. Well, it’s kind of a two-for-one. I also like to take a look at county or town histories, and even city directories when I’m making a list of cemeteries for a location. County and town histories often include details about the local cemeteries. This is great for the earliest of cemeteries in the area. The history might note the first burial, the specific location of the cemetery, any name changes, any ethnic or religious affiliations, and more. You may even find information on small church yards and family cemeteries. Many town and county histories can be found digitized online for free at digital books websites such as Google Books, Internet Archive, and HathiTrust.

City directories might also list cemeteries. These listings might be found in the general information section usually at the beginning of the directory, or sometimes they’re among the business listings. Some directories might also have a map that depicts cemeteries. City directories can be found digitized online at the digital book sites I just mentioned, as well as other places including Ancestry and MyHeritage, both of which have pretty good collections.

So there you have it! Several strategies you can use to locate which cemeteries might be your ancestor’s final resting place.

Now it’s your turn to take action on what you just learned. Think about a project you’re working on where you’re unsure where a person is buried. Take some time, and, using these strategies, start making a list of relevant cemeteries. For relevant, I mean that a cemetery was in operation at the time of the person’s death, it jives with the person’s ethnic or religious background, and it was near where the person and/or family was living. Once you have your list, you can start working through it to see if you can find the burial place.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that you’re ready to use these strategies and make a list of cemeteries so you can start working through them to find the final resting place of your ancestor If you found this article helpful, be sure to add the Genealogy In Action blog to your favorite RSS reader.

© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Genealogy In Action; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.