Cemetery Formerly Known As?

Just like humans and other geographic features, cemeteries can change their names. What was used on a death certificate as the place of burial may not be what the cemetery is known as today or even several years after the burial took place.

Local libraries, county historical/genealogical societies, and long-time natives of the area may be familiar with older names for cemeteries. County atlases or plat books may also refer to a cemetery by the name it was called at the time the atlas was published. A search of old newspapers for the name of the cemetery may not provide the new name but may help pinpoint the area in which it was located. A search of county histories or other out-of-copyright material on books.google.com or www.archive.org for the name of the cemetery may also locate references to the location.

Searching for the gravestone on FindAGrave, Billiongraves or other cemetery transcription sites may result in a reference to the grave. That’s what happened in this case. But it is worth remembering that the grave could have been moved or there was never a stone. And when using a tombstone website, remember that they may not be complete and that you’ll have to make certain you really have the same person.

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