Your Guide to Cemetery Research

Let me begin by saying that I'm by no means a genealogist (not even an amateur genealogist!). In fact, I'm not even all that interested in my family's history. Rather, I'm just someone who loves snooping around cemeteries, the older and more obscure, the better. This is the first genealogy/cemetery research book I've read, so I can't really compare it to any others. That said..."Your Guide to Cemetery Research" is a valuable tool for genealogists and graveyard enthusiasts alike. Sharon DeBartolo Carmack begins by explaining how to locate your ancestor's vital records, including death certificates, obituaries, death notices, wills and probate, prayer and memorial cards, and mortality schedules. She then illustrates how you can use this information to find out where your ancestors are buried (and also tells you how to go about locating the cemetery itself). She describes the different types of cemeteries, as well as what sort of records they may have kept. The reader will also learn how to search a cemetery for the desired grave or plot, and how to read, record, and interpret the information on and around the marker. Especially interesting is her discussion on how the aggregate information in the graveyard can give you a picture of what the community was like when your ancestors were alive. DeBartolo Carmack provides tons of helpful, hands-on, how-to advice for use inside the graveyard. She explains how to make a rubbing or cast of the tombstone, and offers ideas for different types of crafts to get the whole family interested (reunions in cemeteries, cemetery scrapbooks, and cemetery quilts, to name but a few). Her section on photographing markers and tombstones is particularly enlightening. Additionally, she offers tips for those wishing to undertake cemetery preservation or transcription projects. She includes a few chapters on funerary customs throughout time and across cultures as well, but I thought these chapters were the weakest; they struck me as somewhat superficial and out-of-place. Then again, funerary customs is a topic I've done extensive research on; maybe newbies will find it more helpful or informative. Perhaps my favorite part of "Your Guide to Cemetery Research" are the appendices, which include a lengthy list of gravestone artwork/symbols and their meanings; a time line of deadly epidemics and disasters in the U.S.; and a sample cemetery transcription form. The next time I go strolling through a graveyard, I'll be sure to have this guide in tow. It increased my understanding and appreciation of graveyard art exponentially. Instead of just admiring the aesthetic aspects of the markers, now I can use "Your Guide to Cemetery Research" to interpret the inscriptions and artwork. ["What's that over there? A child's headstone, with a lamb lying down? Let's see, we're in New Orleans, and the death date is 1878, so perhaps the baby died of yellow fever!"] Above all else, it's reassuring to find that I'm not alon

I never thought I needed a a book to tell me how to walk through a cemetery and gather information on the stones. Once I began reading this book and taking it with me on my cemetery walks I discovered that it was one of the most helpful genealogy books in print. I began to understand the meaning behind a lot of the stones and the carvings on them (which I always thought was purely decorative). The only problem is, now I must go back and search through cemetery's I have already covered in order to decipher the etching 'codes.' Those that do genealogy research in cemeteries will understand when I say that it should be great fun!

Betterway Books started out publishing mostly craft and hobby guides, which led them into genealogy, and, under the editorship of Carmack herself, they have become one of the most reliable publishers of high quality methodological volumes in our field. Carmack, who is also a Certified Genealogist, has written two volumes in the "Discovering Your . . . Ancestors" series (on women and immigrants) and the very practical _Organizing Your Family Research,_ as well as a number of compiled genealogies, all of which have been well received. This new book maintains her high standard. Non-genealogists generally look askance at anyone who likes to hang around graveyards, but since that?s where the majority of our ancestors are to be found, we family researchers approach the subject differently. Carmack has had a particular interest in cemetery research for years (and has published other works on the subject), and she leads the reader expertly through the many research steps necessary for success. First, there are the records created when someone dies -- not just the death certificate and obituary, but coroner?s reports, prayer cards, funeral home records, and census mortality schedules. Then you have to figure out where the interment took place, which means understanding the records cemeteries themselves create, whether municipal, commercial, or church-connected. Once you know where to look, you have to know what to look *for* -- not just the grave marker itself but (as in all genealogical research) the context in which it exists. And that?s only the first quarter of the book! There?s a great deal more to learn regarding tombstone rubbings and photography, ethnic and regional burial customs, cemetery preservation (a growing problem in the U.S., unfortunately), and how to organize and carry out a cemetery recording project. Cemeteries used to be gathering places for the whole family, so the final chapter even makes suggestions on how to picnic respectfully in a cemetery. One appendix provide clues on the meaning of symbolic gravestone art and initials, while another gives a timeline of significant epidemics, disasters, and other causes of multiple deaths in America, and a third explains causes of death which you?re likely to find listed on death certificates. There are also forms for use in cemetery surveys and an eight-page bibliography. This is easily the most comprehensive guide I have seen on the subject.

I ADORE this book--it got me interested in cemeteries, and now I'll be creating my own index for a local cemetery that hasn't got a good index available. Filled with interesting facts, anecdotes, and do-it-yourself fun, this is a great book for the curious and historically inclined. In addition to the cemetery index, I've taken up headstone photography, and I'm making a beautiful (and fun!) cemetery scrapbook [one of the suggested projects in the book.] A must-have for all cemetery enthusiasts.

YOUR GUIDE TO CEMETERY RESEARCH is a must read for all of us who take great pleasure in hanging out in cemeteries, clipboard and camera in hand. This book shares information on locating death and cemetery records that was new to me and may be new to you as well. Beginning with "Records of Death", Sharon outlines a variety of sources for death information. Autopsy records, Family Bibles (and lots of ways to find these!), Bodies in Transit records, Burial Permits, and Coroner's Records are only a few of the topics included. In discussing death certificates, a contribution by Katherine Scott Sturdevant proves that our belief that death certificates are primary proof of the cause of death may often be wrong! (See pages 22-23.) I also learned in this chapter that rural dwellers without access to a stone carver could order a tombstone from a mail-order catalog, Sears-Roebuck being one example! Since summer is one of our favorite cemetery visiting times, the chapter on "Searching A Cemetery" is very timely. From the necessity to take along bug repellant to ways to analyze headstones, this chapter will help you get the most from your cemetery visit. Sharon also gives safe methods for making tombstone rubbings and casts. Very helpful chapters are included on ethnic and religious burial customs which are critical in understanding the burials you encounter. American burial customs are also covered. Appendices offer great information on gravestone art, epidemics, and medical terms. The book is also very entertaining. Betterway Books are always well put together with lots of tips, reminders, quotations, and "this happened to me" stories. The photographs and illustrations are excellent, presenting a variety of tombstone styles and examples of records. Throughout the book, you can hear Sharon's voice, and the voices of contributors, sharing the joys and tribulations of genealogists on the hunt. This is a first class book and well worth owning.