The Family Tree
By Terence L. Day
Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. He welcomes e-mail at genealogy@moscow.com, or regular mail in care of the Tri-City Herald City newsroom, P.O. Box 2608, Tri-Cities, WA 99302-2608.
Browse tombstone inscriptions from comfort of home
This story was published June 11, 2000
I'm sure my six children regale their friends with horror stories told behind my back of the strange activity our family engaged in while they were growing up.
Many is the cemetery they raced through, reading tombstone inscriptions on the fly, in search of progenitors long past. The winner's reward was a quarter, or some other small sum. It's amazing what youngsters will do for a quarter, until they discover the value of money.
What genealogist hasn't tramped through strange cemeteries reading tombstone inscriptions in hopes of finding a marker and some scant information about ancestors or collateral relatives?
What a time-consuming, expensive and often frustrating experience.
Those who haven't engaged in this odd "sport" would be surprised how much exercise one can get, even in a small, rural cemetery.
I hope folks always will gain pleasure in visiting the graves of generations past, but the necessity of doing so in hopes of finding a few morsels of information - primarily birth and death dates - is fast fading.
Recently, while searching the World Wide Web for information on proper cleaning of grave markers, I stumbled onto many Web sites that contain tombstone inscriptions.
I was aware that for several years now, a nationwide organization of volunteers known as U.S. GenWeb has been collecting cemetery burial records and archiving headstone inscriptions on Web sites where they can be searched - free - by anyone with a Web connection. But I had no idea the project had accumulated so much data in such a short time.
Having recently visited the Asotin Cemetery, I checked to see whether its burials have been reported. They have. So I went there on the Web and checked to see whether my great-uncle Maurice's tombstone inscription was reported on it.
I found it quickly in the alphabetical list. It reads: DAY, Maurice 31 Jul 1904-12 Mar 1905, Son of C.C. & A.R.
Maurice died when he put his feet on the table and pushed his high chair over backwards.
The list also contains the entry for Maurice's cousin Francis, who is buried near him. Her marker reads: RICHARDSON, Francis 1 Aug 1908-19 Sep 1910, Dau of J.I. & J.A. J.A. was my great-aunt, Jennie Alice Day.
I know these are accurately reported because I have visited both graves many times.
In visiting the Web site that contains Anatone Cemetery tombstone inscriptions, I didn't find any known relatives, although branches of the family lived there for many years.
But in searching I made a pleasant discovery that will thrill some genealogists.
The Anatone Cemetery lists not only tombstone inscriptions but reports a list of 41 burials for which there are no markers. There are mostly death dates but a few birth dates are listed from research performed by a local historian, the late Bob Weatherly.
This is an instance in which it is better to do the search on the Web than by tromping through the cemetery. Cemetery visitors wouldn't find 41 of the people buried in Anatone. On the other hand, Web lists of burials may be incomplete and someone missed by tombstone transcribers may find an ancestor's head stone.
I don't know how many cemeteries around the country have been inventoried and their vital data posted to Web sites, but it is an impressive number. I would recommend genealogists search Web sites that report burial information every year or so to check for newly added sites.
If you want to know more about the U.S. GenWeb, which offers more than cemetery information, tune your browser to www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/. Here, the archives lists hotlinks to projects in every state. Just put your pointer on a hotlink and click. Your browser will take you there.
Please note, however, that not all cemetery information available on the Web is in the U.S. GenWeb archives.
You might just use your favorite Web search engine (Google.com has produced excellent results for me).
Type in the name of the cemetery you're looking for and see if it's there.
But don't give up quickly if you don't find it. Try several different search engines. Its worth the small amount of time that will take.