How to Find a Person's Grave
Finding the grave of a relative or other important person can be a tremendously satisfying experience. It gives you the opportunity to pay your respects and find closure after a loss. If you're researching someone's life, grave sites also can be an important resource. Headstones can provide valuable clues, and in finding one relative's grave, you may find others as well. If you don't know the location of a person's grave, there are a number of tools you can use to track it down.
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Instructions
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Order the death certificate. State laws vary widely in terms of legal access to death certificates, but if you can get a copy of this important document, it will list the final resting place of the deceased.
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Locate the obituary. Some obituaries will list the burial site of the deceased, especially if there was a graveside service. You may be able to find obituaries on local newspaper websites or memorial sites; if not, local libraries often have them available on microfilm.
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Contact the funeral home. Write to the funeral home and request a copy of the records for the deceased. Some funeral homes keep records for as far back as the early 1900s.
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Search grave-site databases. These are free websites that allow you to search millions of graves at once. Some even include a picture and other genealogical information provided by volunteers.
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Check local cemeteries. A growing number of cemeteries list their burials online, and those who don't generally will provide information if you write to them and ask for help. If you know the town where the decedent lived, contact all of the cemeteries in that town.
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Inquire with houses of worship. Church record collections often include burial records. In larger cities, it may be more efficient to contact the governing office to search all records at once. These records may even be online in some cities; for example, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis has a searchable database for all Catholic cemeteries in the St. Louis area.
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Explore the records of local historical societies. These often-overlooked organizations can provide a wealth of information on cemeteries that may no longer exist or are hard to find.
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Ask landowners. If the deceased lived on a farm before the early 20th century, it's possible he or she is buried there. The farm's current owners may know where the graves of previous owners are located.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don't know the deceased's date of death, you may be able to find it by searching the Social Security Death Index.
If you're writing to request records, be sure to include a few dollars to cover copying costs, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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