In my last blog post you may have read about how my interest in genealogy began. This blog is about why and how visits to cemeteries can add valuable information to your family tree.
Even though the above image shows a seemingly funny epitaph on an old tombstone it still has valuable information that one can extract from the cemetery and the possibly the cemetery office. Read on and you may understand how and why.
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There are quite a number of reasons why people may want to visit cemeteries, especially if they are researching their family trees.
That being said, graveyards and cemeteries offer a wealth of genealogical information. A whole host of details about an ancestor’s life may be revealed by a visit there.
Some details that we can learn about a person’s life may be birth and death dates, surnames, parents’ names, children’s names, maiden names, and spouses’ names. Beyond those mostly obvious facts we may also learn about religious affiliations, military service, and memberships in fraternal organizations. Who knew that one could learn so much from a trip to the cemetery?
I have a great book that outlines some facts to be learned. Joy Neighbors’ book, The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide – How to Find, Record, & Preserve Your Ancestors’ Graves offers the following 21 nuggets of information that can be learned on your visit. This information may be learned from the actual tombstones and/or from the cemetery office (if proper records were kept). I can honestly say that this book has been very helpful and interesting to me as a genealogist.
A list of information that cemeteries may provide:
· Date of death
· Cause of death – many years ago cemetery headstones, tombstones often had information about how someone died
· Age at death – this is sometimes written out on headstones in years, months and days giving us a probable date of birth
· Full name, including maiden name
· Address of deceased at time of death
· Location where death occurred
· Name of attending physician or hospital
· Complete birth and marriage dates
· Relationships
· Name of plot owner
· Cost of the burial plot
· Cost of the funeral and/or burial
· Occupation of deceased
· Military service
· Funeral and memorial cards
· Obituary or death notice
· Copy of the death certificate
· Notes from people (funeral home staff, attending clergy, monument company, or stone carver)
· Undertaker’s name (now called a funeral director)
· Grave opening and closing orders
· Fraternal or church affiliations
· Type of grave (single plot, mausoleum, community or family mausoleum, walled graves or wall vaults (think New Orleans), crypts (often referred to as catacombs usually under churches, mainly in Europe)
While all or a small amount information may be learned by the above, it can be a boon when researching ancestors.
Types of cemeteries
· Churchyards and Graveyards – These two terms are used interchangeably today but many years ago they had different meanings. A “churchyard” was a consecrated piece of ground that surrounded or was adjacent to a church. A “graveyard” meant any land set aside for burying the dead.
An image of a churchyard
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Public and Municipal Cemeteries – a local government entity usually owned and controlled where the land was located for these cemeteries. A municipal cemetery must by law remain open to everyone since it is funded by public dollars. State and national jurisdictions maintain burial facilities for veterans and their families. Arlington National Cemetery, as an example, is a government funded cemetery.
At left is an image of the main gate of Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This cemetery has since been lovingly restored by a group of hard working volunteers. In 2019 it had been restored to 50% of its original grandeur. By careful research and help from a kind soul who works with this group I found the graves of my paternal great-great grandparents and one of their sons. With that information I was able to piece together more of their interesting lives.
And, yes, there is a Mount Moriah cemetery in South Dakota, outside of Deadwood, that holds the graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. I've been there also!
Mt. Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, SD
· Private Cemeteries – just as the name implies these cemeteries were private. They may be owned by private organizations, corporations, fraternal lodges, families, or individuals. Sometimes they have been long abandoned by families, individuals or fraternal organizations.
Symbolism on Headstones
I had seen various symbols on headstones and gravestones as a child, but it was not until I was an adult when I came to understand the meanings they conveyed. Some of the most interesting and intriguing symbols that I have found were in the old colonial graveyards and cemeteries of New England. Following are a few of the symbols common in the Colonial period.
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The Winged Death’s Head – this is one of the most common tombstone symbols in Colonial American cemeteries.
· Skull and Crossbones – this symbol was an early interpretation of the gloomy Puritan belief that humans have little chance of entering heaven. Eventually cultural attitudes toward death softened and the symbol evolved into winged skulls representing the fleeting nature of life. Later, more human-looking faces began to take the place of the skull in a symbol called the soul of effigy.
Image of a Winged Death's Head
· Winged Cherub – this symbol replaced the death’s head by the mid-nineteenth century and was often used on children’s graves.
· Clasped Hands – this may be a symbol of marriage if one sleeve has a masculine fashion look and the other, a feminine look. Hands with neutral looking fashion sleeves may represent an earthly good-bye or a welcome into heaven.
Skull and Crossbones Headstone
Clasped Hands Headstone
Some Interesting Words on Colonial American Headstones
Consort of : This is common text on a married woman's headstone, it refers to the current wife of a man
Relic of: This common text on women's headstones refers to the widow of a man
The Victorian Period brought more symbolism. Some are listed below.
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Flowers, leaves, and fruit can suggest an entire language of symbolism. For instance, the lily signifies purity.
· The Weeping Willow and Urn motif symbolizes sorrow or grief, one of the most popular gravestone decorations of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Hand Pointing Upward – may indicate the deceased ascension into heaven whereas a downward reaching hand symbolizes the hand of God.
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Angels – these beautiful and heart-wrenching symbols appear throughout many cemeteries in elaborate forms as well as small, diminutive forms. A cherub is usually a symbol that adorns a child’s grave.
· Lambs – often mark the graves of children and symbolize the innocence of the young. Sometimes they refer to what Christians call “the Lamb of God” and refer to Jesus.
As we moved farther on in history engravings on tombstones were often clues to fraternal organizations.
· AOUW – represents the Ancient Order of United Workmen
· I.O.O.F – are the initials for the International Order of Oddfellows
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Masonic symbol – the compass and the square with the letter G is a common symbol of Freemasons. The all-seeing eye is also another classic symbol
· DAR and SAR – Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution
· Woodmen of America
The headstones of this group have very interesting and at times intricate headstones.
· Workers’ Union symbols
· There are many more fraternal organization symbols that may be observed in our cemeteries.
Religious symbols
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Star of David – or a menorah, Levite pitcher, or Cohanim hands (with thumbs and forefingers touching) are common on Jewish headstones and in Jewish cemeteries.
Crosses – the Latin Christian cross is one seen in many cemeteries, particularly in Veterans’ cemeteries. Other crosses are the Russian Orthodox cross, the Lutheran cross, the Episcopal cross, the Serbian cross, the Celtic cross, the New Apostolic Cross, the Catholic Celtic cross, the Armenian cross, and the Maltese cross. There are many more cross symbols that one may discover on tombstones.
· Many other religious symbols can be found on tombstones, in fact the Veterans’ Administration currently has a list of 66 religious symbols that they will place on veterans' gravestones.
Veterans’ Markers
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Wars in which the deceased fought - In addition to symbols on the tombstones themselves there are also markers that the United States Veterans’ Administration will add to a veteran’s grave such as those referring to the Revolutionary War (sometimes called the War of 1776), the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, WWI, WW II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf Wars, and others. Union Army and CSA (Confederate States of America) markers can also be observed in many older cemeteries. I apologize if I did not name them all. Veterans are extremely near and dear to my heart. Several of my ancestors have some of these markers next to or on their tombstones.
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Military regiments and companies – often the rank, regiment, company, battalion, platoon, or other information will be listed on the tombstone as is the case with my Civil War Veteran great-grandfather.
And, finally, here are some very interesting, odd, different and beautiful headstones that one may encounter in many cemeteries, graveyards, and churchyards.
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