Posts in August 25, 2025

A transcription of a tombstone should only include what is on the tombstone. That’s what makes it a transcription. Any parenthetical information preferably needs to be entirely separate from the transcription itself and clearly indicated as material that is not on the stone. Brackets should be used to indicate there’s a portion you cannot read or a part of the transcription at which you are guessing. Stone pictured is that of Belinda Newman in the Dunkard Cemetery in Linn County, Iowa. Save 50% on our new full-text search webinar–with extensive handout/workbook included.