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I go to Find-a-Grave all the time, but I only truly trust the birth and death date if it is shown on the headstone. I keep finding people who will post the birth/death years, but no photo of the grave (maybe a photo of the cemetery entrance). How do I know that is really what is displayed? Any relationships that are marked with the * have to be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes I will see someone indicated as a spouse and they are really a child of the person. I used to try to contact the contributor but none want to make corrections...so far.
I go to Find-a-Grave all the time, but I only truly trust the birth and death date if it is shown on the headstone. I keep finding people who will post the birth/death years, but no photo of the grave (maybe a photo of the cemetery entrance). How do I know that is really what is displayed? Any relationships that are marked with the * have to be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes I will see someone indicated as a spouse and they are really a child of the person. I used to try to contact the contributor but none want to make corrections...so far.
Those dates are probably taken from town records. I agree, ideally you want to see the actual picture of the stone but in so many cases there aren't enough volunteers taking pictures or in some cases the stone has been destroyed.
As for getting one changed, I did get one changed last year by contacting the contributor. However, it was the person from the Historical Society who had made the discovery that Find A Grave had the wrong person. So I was able to say--if you don't believe me, contact Mr. So and So of the Historical Society. You would really have to provide proof to the contributor before they will change something if they think they have it right.
Those dates are probably taken from town records. I agree, ideally you want to see the actual picture of the stone but in so many cases there aren't enough volunteers taking pictures or in some cases the stone has been destroyed.
As for getting one changed, I did get one changed last year by contacting the contributor. However, it was the person from the Historical Society who had made the discovery that Find A Grave had the wrong person. So I was able to say--if you don't believe me, contact Mr. So and So of the Historical Society. You would really have to provide proof to the contributor before they will change something if they think they have it right.
But the information that's not shown on the stone ... it's no more accurate than using an online family tree. Some have good information and are carefully done, and others are not. There's just no way of telling unless you check it out, and research it for yourself. They only provide a hint of where maybe to look.
But the information that's not shown on the stone ... it's no more accurate than using an online family tree. Some have good information and are carefully done, and others are not. There's just no way of telling unless you check it out, and research it for yourself. They only provide a hint of where maybe to look.
Yes, you do the research yourself but it's nice to check Find A Grave because it can provide another source--and the more sources the better---and often a picture of the actual stone for your records. In my town the names and dates have been checked by the Historical Society and any mistakes have been corrected. I don't know about other towns though and I don't know where Find A Grave got their original information.
I put pretty good faith in a stone that I find and can see for myself and Find A Grave is just about like being there if you can see the actual dates in the stone.
I use it a lot and have been a contributor for a few years. I enjoy poking around old cemeteries in the spring, summer and fall. I have found not only birth and death dates, but also marriage dates engraved in stones. Also, some of the memorial pages for the graves have obituaries on them, this gives up a lot of info.
Please everyone, use it and contribute to it also.
Just be aware that even if it is engraved in stone a date may be wrong.
I have a 3 times great grandfather whose stone says he died Feb. 1, 1880. After I found him alive in the census later in 1880, I traced his obituary. He actually died Jan. 31, 1883. His stone and his wife's appear to have been carved by the same person, and I suspect whoever gave the information to the stonemason just did not remember. It looks like both stones were ordered and placed at the same time.
My Dad's death date is off on his stone by one day. My brother told the monument company the wrong date.
I'm Australian and I was lucky to find this site which has pictures of graves from many cemeteries, including the one where my bmother and her parents were buried. I did have to look through 400 pictures of graves to find the ones I was looking for - for each grave, there was a picture of headstone and full length grave. It was nice to be able to check out the graves before contacting the family - it was nice to see they looked well looked after. I am now in contact with the extended family and have visited the graves with them.
It is a good resource for those from Southern New South Wales or have ancestors from that region:
Just be aware that even if it is engraved in stone a date may be wrong.
I have a 3 times great grandfather whose stone says he died Feb. 1, 1880. After I found him alive in the census later in 1880, I traced his obituary. He actually died Jan. 31, 1883. His stone and his wife's appear to have been carved by the same person, and I suspect whoever gave the information to the stonemason just did not remember. It looks like both stones were ordered and placed at the same time.
My Dad's death date is off on his stone by one day. My brother told the monument company the wrong date.
I second this -- I FINALLY found out when my great grandmother died. In 1896. Her headstone was created and placed at the same time as her husband's, in 1909. They used his dates.
I did note this and cited my source at Findagrave.
I have more than once found information carved in granite to be incorrect.
I had one greatgreatgrand with a stone spelling that had been misidentified in the sexton's record. The records had been made not with burial records but by walking the old cemetery. In middle of last name a G had been misidentified as a D.
I emailed the sexton and she actually went down to the cemetery and ran her hand across the well-worn letters. She traced out the letter G. She apologized all over the place and changed all her records to reflect it.
I was just happy to finally locate my ancestor. So the moral is to seek spelling of last name in gravesrus index by using just first three letters, if you can't find the name you believe should be there.
Just be aware that even if it is engraved in stone a date may be wrong.
Dates of birth and death are all too often wrong on headstones, I consider them a supporting and never a primary or reliable source for dates or names. My grandmother's birth year is wrong. And - this is embarrassing - when I submitted the order to engrave my mother's stone, I first gave the wrong date of death. Luckily realized it before they did the work.
That said, I love Find A Grave because it'll be years, if ever, before I get to visit some ancestors' graves and it's great being able to access the photos. Sometimes they're the *only* image other than a census record that I have for an ancestor.
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