How to Make a Gravestone Rubbing

Gravestone rubbings are great way to create a copy of a grave marker and can be part of an exploration about your ancestors.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Crayons
• Drawing Pencils
• Pencil Sharpeners
• Tracing Paper
• Crayons

1. Purchase large sheets of tracing paper.

2. Sharpen a drawing pencil or take crayons.

3. Get information about the cemetery you are visiting so that you know its hours and can learn where the graves are that you are looking for.

4. Find the grave you wish to visit.

5. Hold the tracing paper over the front of the stone or marker.

6. Rub over the entire paper with the side of sharpened end of the pencil, or peel a crayon and rub it on its side over the paper.

7. Roll your paper up carefully so you don't crease it or smudge the tracing.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to always be respectful in a cemetery.
• This method will work only on gravestones that have raised or sunken letters. If you can't feel anything when you rub your fingers across them, they won't show up on a tracing.

[dlawmom]

on 5/7/2009 I would like to apologize to the writer of this article. Grave rubbings should NEVER be done. This over time can break down the headstone rending it useless to future generations. I have been going genealogy for about 15 years and most others in this proffession will tell you the same. Older headstones are very hard to read but you can look online to find alternate ways to read a headstone without doing any damage to it. Using crayons, chalk, tape, all can be damaging to the headstone when different chemicals mix with the stone, could very likely cause it to break down. Spraying the stone with water to read the letters, visiting the cemetary when the sun is out to provide for the best lighting. There are many alternative options that will preserve the headstone.