How to Locate a Gravesite
There are a number of reasons for locating a grave site. Since a grave site is the final resting site of the dead, it is a place where people go to pay their respects to their deceased relative.
Genealogical research is another reason why people might want to locate a grave site. Genealogy is gaining popularity, as more and more people are interested in creating their family tree. Whatever your reasons for locating a grave site, there are several sources that you can employ to facilitate your search.
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Things You'll Need
- Newspaper obituary
- Computer
- State and governmental records
- Official documents or letters
- Family bibles or scrapbooks
Instructions
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Collect information such as the full name, date of birth and death, the city and state where the person resided before death.
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Seek out information from the family of the person whose grave site you are trying to locate. Information about the burial site, the name of a cemetery or even the name of a city will make your search easy.
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The family bible or scrapbook, family records, official documents, letters and diaries can yield information about where a person might have been buried.
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Most cemeteries maintain written records of the families that are buried there. A search through these records can be useful in locating specific grave sites.
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Browse through online grave registries, such as Find A Grave, which provide comprehensive search options to locate graves.
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Conduct a search at your local library if it has a genealogy section. Many libraries also maintain a town or city historical archive section about the local population.
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Browse through the obituaries section in old newspapers. You can do this either in a library or newspaper archival offices.
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Contact the state health and vital statistics department for records of birth and death of the person whose grave you want to locate.
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You can also enlist the services of a professional researcher to help you in case you have incomplete information about the departed. The genealogyPro website provides a directory of professional genealogists.
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If you are looking for the grave site of a US military veteran, contact the Department of Veterans Affairs which can provide you details about when the person served, his branch of service, date of birth and date of death, and the cemetery where she has been buried.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Old Grave in Front of Country Church in Spotlight Mode image by Chuck Alexander from Fotolia.com
