Dead Man Talking

ANNOUNCEMENT! Posts for two weeks will be brief with genealogy tips only. When the blogger returns (Oct 28) we will go back to our standard format. As they say: “Don’t go away. We’ll be right back!”

Genealogy tip for today: Dead Man Talking



Have you had the pleasure of visiting a cemetery yet? You may be surprised what you can find out. There are some points of etiquette and tips that will help you and even help those who come after you.

The best time of year to visit a cemetery is in the spring, but sometimes the fall. The reason being, the grass is not up and growing – or the weeds for that matter. It makes it easier to find and read the stones, especially the ones that are level with the ground.  There are also less chances of running into snakes. They like to hide in tall grass. So if the grass hasn’t sprouted, or is dried up at the end of the year, there is apt to be no snakes.

Now that’s not to say you won’t ever find any, you may. Older deserted cemeteries can be more difficult. They can be over grown, stones covered with vines and other brush with a layer of leaves on the ground. So no matter the season, you could still run into snakes.

Another reason to go in the spring or fall is the absence of leaves on the trees. If there are a lot of trees in your cemetery, the leaves on the trees can make it harder to find grave markers or maybe even read the stones once you find them. If you go anytime but summer, the leaves are gone or not back yet and it allows more light. It may not make for the prettiest of pictures, but it will easier to do the work you need to do.

There is the other option of visiting a cemetery, anytime of year, without leaving the comforts of home, especially if you can't go there! Two websites are fairly new but growing fast.

1. www.findagrave.com has been incorporating volunteers from all around the country. Folks will visit a particular cemetery, takes pictures of the stones and get the appropriate information that goes with each stone.

2. www.billionsofgraves.org  is the newer one of the two and pretty much does the same thing. So if you can’t find a grave on one try the other. They are both also adding new information all the time. If you don’t find someone one time – try again later. I have watched “findagrave” especially for awhile and seen their numbers go steadily up for a couple of years now.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about reading the stones.



Happy Hunting.







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ENJOY!

Now You Know!