Cemeteries....where else would you find your dead relatives?

Guest Blogger, Lisa Rienerth, Library Associate, Medina Reference

Friendsville Cemetery - Westfield Twp.

Woodlawn Cemetery - Wadsworth

Using gravestones and cemetery records can be extremely helpful when doing your family research.  They can provide information on a relative who lived and died prior to the state or county recording vital records; it may lead you to other vital records; and it is always good to have one more source to provide the proof for your research. Plus it is one of the few physical connections you will have with a deceased ancestor.

There are a few hurdles you may need to overcome when doing this type of research. First, the gravestone only provides the birth and death date, but you have to remember, this information, though carved in stone, may be incorrect. Tombstone carvers make mistakes. Also, it may be hard to find the final resting place of your ancestor and even if you do find it, the stone may be unreadable due to age and other damage.

Don't let these reasons discourage you. The following instructions will help with these hurdles.

Let's start with an online search.

Two websites that I use are Findagrave.com  & Billiongraves.com. These sites depend on members to upload memorials and photos.  Finding your relative on one of these sites can be a tremendous help. Even if there isn't a photograph of the tombstone, the information given for the memorial is helpful and it provides a name of the cemetery where you may find even more records. There is usually a map of where the cemetery is located, which is helpful especially with the small and out-of-the-way cemeteries.



Look for other online sources. Sometimes the cemetery is large enough to have their own online database and sometimes the city, county or state may have one. Sometimes I just google the name of the city/county/state with the word "cemeteries" and see what comes up. I just found Ohiogravestones.org, a site for the State of Ohio, the other day.

Different online genealogy sites can also be helpful. The main two I use are FamilySearch.org & AncestryLibrary Edition (through your local library). These type of sites are adding more and more cemetery records to their databases and digitized images. They also will link to other sites like Findagrave and Billiongraves.

If you don't know where or when your ancestor died, you can use the U.S. Census to narrow down your search. This is another source you can find on online genealogy sites like the ones I mentioned above (this type of research was covered in the MCDL Genealogy Blog on 3 April 2019). If you find them in the census records and follow them through the decades, whenever you come to a year they are no longer listed, this may be a clue to where and when they died. For example, George Smith was found in the 1850, 1860 & 1870 U.S. Census in Montgomery County, Ohio. He is not located in the 1880 U.S. Census in Montgomery County, Ohio or anywhere else. This may be a clue that he died between 1870 & 1880 in Montgomery County, Ohio. This isn't a definite answer, but it does zero in your research to a smaller area.

Another online source is Archive.org. This site will help you find transcribed cemetery records and find where the cemeteries are located.

Findlay Republican Courier - Newspaperarchive.com

Obituary and death records can also be found online through genealogy sites and databases.

You can search for obituaries in many of the newspapers that Kathy Petras talked about in her 7 August 2019 Blog. Sometimes the place of burial is mentioned in the obituary.

The more recent 20th century death records are more apt to have the cemetery listed than the pre-1900 records.

 




Cemetery records can also be found in libraries, archives, historical societies or government offices. You need to research the area where you believe your ancestor died and see which repositories are in the area and what types of records are kept there. For example, the Medina Library has a Tombstone Inscriptions book compiled by the Medina County Genealogical  Society. It is nice to have, because some of the transcribed tombstones are no longer readable.








The Western Reserve Historical Society is a local repository that owns not only local published cemetery records, but also out of state records. You can do an online search of their collection to see if they may have what you are looking for.

Trip Preparation

After using the above resources you should have a good idea of where you ancestor is buried. Now it is time to prepare for your visit to the cemetery. You may not be going to the ends of the world, but you need to take a few items to make the visit a successful one.

For more ideas on what to take, check out Your Guide to Cemetery Research by Sharon Debartolo Carmack.

O.k....you are packed and ready to go! Here are a few things to remember when you arrive...

Shaw Cemetery - Lafayette Twp.

• Treat the area with respect and be careful of the markers.

• Do not try to excavate or fix the marker.

• When walking among the stones be careful where you step. The ground is not always level. 

Guilford Center Cemetery

Photograph more than just the tombstone....

Take one of the surrounding area to help you find the stone again if necessary.

Mound Hill Cemetery, Seville 

Take one of the tombstones around the one you found, these could be family members.

No headstone!?

You have walked the whole cemetery and you didn't find a tombstone...yet you know the person you are looking for is buried there....or you found the headstone, but you can't read it due to the fact that it is over 100 years old and the carvings have been worn smooth.

Do Not Fear! There are other places you can look! 

The Sexton, the person who looks over the cemetery and its records, may have the information you need. Even if you find a readable headstone, these records may give you even more information than what is on the tombstone. 

There is usually an office on the grounds of the cemetery. If there isn't one or you don't know if there is a sexton or not, go to the city or county offices. The Parks & Recreations office can usually tell you where those records are located or they may have them. If there isn't a Parks & Rec office, just check with the City Hall, they may at least be able to point you in the right direction.

Fostoria Fountain Cemetery, Ohio

The sexton or cemetery records may give you more than a name and dates. Sometimes it list other family members and sometimes cause of death.

Wilson Family Cemetery
Findagrave.com added by Medina County Graves, ID # 47506344

If the cemetery is affiliated with a church, contact the church to see if they keep the records. If it is a private family cemetery, you may need to get permission to search.

When you get home after your successful cemetery trip don't forget to download, identify & update as soon as possible! If you wait too long you will forget the details.

Searching for my ancestors in cemeteries is one of my favorite types of research. I hope you enjoy it and may all your searches be successful!


Sources:

All Medina County cemetery photographs, unless otherwise noted, were taken by me, Lisa Rienerth.

AncestryLibraryEdition, census records

Solether obituary, Findlay (Ohio) Republican Courier, 3 February 1966, page 24; digital images, Newspaperarchives.org.

FamilySearch.org, Ohio deaths, 1908-1953

Medina County Genealogical Society, Tombstone Inscriptions from the Cemeteries in Medina County, Ohio, 1983 (Evansville, IN: Whipporwill Publications, 1984).

Fostoria Fountain Cemetery, cemetery records, Fostoria, Hancock County, Ohio.


Bibiliography:

Findagrave.com

Ohiogravestones.org

Archive.org

Western Reserve Historical Society catalog (http://catalog.wrhs.org/collections/search)

Your Guide to Cemetery Research by Sharon Debartolo Carmack

CHANGES

Usually, the first Wednesday of the month's blog is dedicated to an instructional topic. This month's topic was slated to be IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION.

But... we've been a little busy and time got away from us.  What have we been up to?

Glad you asked!

If you have not been to the Medina Library in the last two weeks be prepared for some MAJOR changes!

In preparation for the renovation on the second floor, the Reference Staff (including me, Lisa and Lauren) have been moving a few things around.

The eastern half of the second floor of the Medina Library is undergoing a major renovation to make room
for the Family History Center made possible by a gift from Virginia Wheeler Martin.
Read more about that HERE.

During the renovation the materials that used to be in the Franklin Sylvester Room have been moved to the 1907 Room. Because of the delicate nature of some of these materials, Library Staff boxed up, loaded up and moved the materials. THANKS, Collection Development Staff and Lauren!

Local history and genealogy materials used to be in the
Franklin Sylvester Room.

Materials were packed up and moved by Library Staff to assure proper delicate handling.

The 1907 Room, which had been used for meetings and Teen Programming had to be cleared out to make room for
the Local History and Genealogy materials and equipment.
Thank you to our Teen Staff, Sean Rapacki, Rachel Rundle and Kathy Staufer!

The Local History and Genealogy Materials have been moved to the 1907 Room
at the back of the Teen Room

Lauren and the Collection Development staff did a grand job of fitting everything into the 1907 Room.
Our Technology Department got the microfilm machines and computers set up in no time!

 But it is not just the local history materials that are getting moved around. Our staff workroom has been moved up to the third floor, which meant packing up all of work files and materials. A lot went into storage and we each have one small file box for the duration of the renovation.

The Reference Desk had to be moved also.

The temporary Reference Desk has been moved to where the New Non Fiction is shelved near the top of the stairs.

The whole eastern half of the 2nd floor has been blocked off so that the Library can stay open during the construction. 

Since the eastern half of the floor isn't available, many MANY things had to be moved!

The non fiction materials have been squeezed into the area that used to have study desks and seating for reading
newspapers and magazines. 

SOME  of the computers have been moved into fiction area in front of the fireplace.

Thanks to a donation, lap tops have been set up for the teens to play their favorite online games.

 Then, this past weekend we had our biannual Genealogy Slam!  Kelli Bergheimer talked for 4 hours on DNA testing and how to get the most out of it for your genealogical research.

Kelli is a nationally known speaker on the Genealogy Conference circuit. 

Kelli answered questions throughout the talk.

SIXTY people attended the program.

As always, there were dozens of tasks to be completed in preparation. It was well worth it.

92% of the survey respondents gave Kelli an EXCELLENT rating!

For the last 20+ years, the Medina County District Library has hosted an online index to
 local obituaries and death notices. For now, obituaries can still be requested here. But new obituaries,
since the end of February, are not being added at this time.

And as part of updating our services in preparation for the new Family History Center, we are migrating our obituary index to the RBHayes, Ohio Obituary Index. This will give the collection wider exposure and boost use.  Lauren and I have been busy working with the Techy people to handle formatting and data entry issues that have cropped up. And keep cropping up.  But when finished, the database will be a tighter, better product.

The Ohio Obituary Index hosted at the RB Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont, Ohio.
Many Ohio Libraries host their obituary indexes here. And soon, MCDL will, too!

So, in the last two weeks, we have:

• Moved local history materials from Franklin Sylvester Room to 1907 Room. 
• Closed out our staff room and Reference Desk & moved to other side of the building.
• Hosted a very successful Genealogy Slam. 
• Migrated obituary data to a new host at RB Hayes.org

Oh! Did I mention that this weekend is the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference? Lisa, Lauren and I often attend this conference to learn new techniques and sources. And this conference? This weekend?  Lauren will be attending AND presenting a program on Alsace-Lorrain Research?

Busy? You betcha!

Organizing Your Genealogy Research

It's my turn to do a genealogy lesson! This is the second in a series of lessons on genealogy research.
-Lisa Rienerth - Guest Blogger - Kathy's co-worker

Does This Look Familiar?

Then it's time to organize your research! 

You might be asking.."Why should I organize my research? I know where everything is!"

However, if you organize your research, it will improve your chances of successfully finding those elusive ancestors and help you break through those pesky brick walls!

AND.....

 It is going to save you time! You won't be searching through piles of papers looking for that specific relative or old record you knew you put somewhere! You will be able to see what information you have and what you still need and where to find it, in just a glance! Names and places of repositories will be easily found and will come in handy if you need to search for records at a place you have already visited or communicated with.

It will save you money!  If your records are organized, you will be less likely to order a record you already have. It will also help keep you from driving to a far off repository you already visited, but are unable to locate the information you found there.

It will keep your research focused! If you have your families sorted and all of your sources sorted by family surname, it will make it easier to not only record the information, but also to see what is missing. It helps you focus on one surname at a time, so you don't end up jumping from one person to the next and never really finding anything in particular for anyone.







Now that I have convinced you that it is a good idea to organize your research (at least I hope I have), let me show you some easy steps to start your organizing....and no...I won't tell you to hold it up and see if it gives you a spark of joy!

First, If you are a beginner, or you have only been doing your research for a few years, you will need some 2" binders. You want a binder for each SURNAME to keep all of the information that pertains to that family. Put the surname on the spine of the binder, that way when you have them shelved, you can see the name at a glance.

 Use page dividers to keep the information organized within the binder. 

When you have so much information that it will no longer fit in the 2" binder or there isn't any room for one more binder on your shelves, it is time to move up to either a file cabinet or file box.

You will then divide the surnames up into separate hanging files, using file folders to separate the information.  Depending on how much information you have collected on a certain family, you may have to use multiple hanging folders for one surname.  Some researchers color code their files or use color coded file labels to keep the names and information organized.

Keeping separate binders/files for each family and their records is just the beginning of your organizing.

The next step is using certain forms to keep your research recorded and organized. Kathy showed you how to use and how important Ancestral charts and Family Group sheets are. These are just two of the forms you need to keep in your surname binder or file. 

Another important form is the Research Journal. The journal tracks the research you are planning to do and research you have completed. The Research Journal below is one I made in Microsoft Word with the Table tab.

This Research Calendar is from Ancestry.com

You can use any research form as long as it records who and what you are looking for, your plan to get the source, the date you completed your research along with the results. These types of forms help you keep organized in a few ways.

1. It keeps you focused on one person so you don't get distracted and forget who and what you are looking for.

2. It prevents you from repeating research you have already accomplished.

3. It retains information that you may need for future research. For example, ways to contact court houses or archives or how much you paid for a record.



TECHNOLOGY - Another Way To Organize!
                                                       

Please remember....DO NOT throw away any of your hard copies! Technology does not replace what you have, it is in addition to what you have. Things can go wrong with technology and you could lose too much research because of it. However, you can't keep your hard copy safe from a catastrophe either. I am a believer of storing your research in as many places as possible. 

A laptop or a tablet is a good place to save your research. You can scan your photographs and records and save them to files on your device. 

From your device you can save your research to a flash drive. This is a handy device which you can take when you travel to research facilities.  You will have all your information at your fingertips and  most places you can download information to your flashdrive as you find it. Just remember the flash drive is only good for about 8-10 years and will need to be replaced so you don't lose your research. 

External Hardrives are a great place to store your research and scanned photographs and documents. This way if your laptop's hard drive crashes or your USB gets lost you will still have your research.






Software is a wonderful tool to use to  keep your research organized.  Find a software program you feel comfortable with. The website, Top Ten Reviews, is a good place to start. It is a type of online consumer report and will have a list of the different software, a list of average prices and how well they do with certain options. 

Please disregard the prices. This is an outdated image.

Websites are another place you can download your information to. However, please read all the fine print to learn about their privacy settings and if there are any fees. A few websites which you might want to check out are: Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org or MyHeritage.com. There are many more, but please be cautious with which one you use. 

The Mysterious CLOUD!

There really isn't anything mysterious.They work like your email accounts. The information you upload to the Cloud is kept on the company's server and you can access this information from the company's website on any device. 

Just like the websites and software, do your homework. Search for what is available and talk to others who use this as a way of storing their information. A few providers are: Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft Onedrive, and Apple iCloud. Just like the websites, there are many Cloud providers out there, just be sure you know all of the privacy settings and fees.  Most of them give you free storage up to a certain amount and then they start to charge a fee to increase the storage. 

Oh...and just so you know...I am not being compensated in any way by mentioning the different websites and providers in this blog. They were used for example purposes only. 

I hope this helps you begin organizing your research! It may take you some time to put everything in order, but don't give up! Remember all the benefits it will provide you! 

                                                                    

                    

                                  

Medina County History Fair

Join us this Saturday for the second Medina County History Fair. 14 different historical and genealogical societies from Medina County will be on hand to display the history of our county and share what they hold in their collections. 

Ask Questions!

Share Memories!!

Become a member of your favorite group!

This event will be held in the Lobby and the Community Meeting Rooms on the first floor of the Medina Library at 210 South Broadway, Medina.

THANK YOU! To every historical & genealogical society who participated and to the 200 people who came through the exhibits!