Hi again, This came in on another list, & is just loaded with some great tips/explanations for finding (or not finding) your ancestor. Enjoy, Momma Walton <>< PS Thanks Sandi for allowing us to use it! ----------------- TIP #276 - WHY CAN'T I FIND WHERE GREAT-GRANDPA IS BURIED? Now perhaps this topic is far too basic for many readers, but if we will admit it to ourselves, many of us have floundered at times with the question. I remember back almost 30 years ago when I first started digging for the roots of our family, that I gave up too easily. If I was fortunate enough to get to a library large enough to have any records at all on the area of the country in which I was hunting - and was doubly excited to find a cemetery book on that county ... and ...... no. No burial record so he must not have died there. I gave up and figured that they must have moved or maybe wasn't there anyway. As the list owner of other lists, I receive many queries about doing a look-up in the published cemetery records of the counties with which I am familiar and when I tell the individual that there is no record of the burial location of their illusive ancestor here - I also try to explain the possible reasons for this. I've also had recently a query about our local cemetery book "are all the burials before 1820 in the book?" No, of course not, and here's why. 1. Maybe Kentucky is unique, but I really don't think so. The land is not flat and wide open where one can see for miles. The landscape varies from area to area, but most the state is hilly and densely covered with tall trees and lush undergrowth. Of every cemetery that has been recorded in the various county books, there is the possibility of 10 that haven't been found. Cabins long gone with little family cemeteries nearby are now covered with timber, grasses - "back to nature." 2. Deserted cemeteries vs cattle pastures. Sorry to say, but a reality of life, is the fact that as farms have changed ownership over the years, many newer owners have not preserved the cemeteries. They have been plowed under (with the stones sometimes moved), or have been opened to the livestock who have knocked the stones down and trampled them into the ground. We have discussed the laws concerning cemeteries before, but sadly, these laws are not always obeyed. 3. Inadequate early record keeping. Birth and death certificates were not issued in Kentucky until 1911. From 1852 through 1910, there were years that the legislature required the recording of these vital statistics but many didn't make it to print: a. The physician/midwife forgot to turn the events in to the County Clerk b. The county clerk forgot to enter them c. The State didn't require them on the year of your ancestor's death d. They were recorded but the physician/midwife got the date wrong e. They were recorded but the county clerk misinterpreted the physician/midwife's handwriting 4. Family couldn't afford a stone. This happened many times. Unable to financially to afford a stone or the inability of locating someone to carve a stone, many of the old graves were marked merely by wooden crosses or later, funeral home metal signs. These have deteriorated or been knocked down over the years. 5. No funeral home records. Most funeral homes didn't come into vogue until the very late 1800's or early 1900's. People were not embalmed; most were buried within a day of their death by family and friends in the family cemetery on their property. Perhaps the only record is scribbled in a family Bible which no longer exists. 6. No newspaper obituaries. Prior to the Civil War, most smaller towns either didn't have a paper or they were destroyed during the war. Many papers ceased operation during the Civil War also so all those dying prior to the Civil War may never have had a paper to be recorded in. Early obituaries were found scattered throughout the paper between the hog reports or in town happenings written by local "correspondents." These local happenings were dependent on one individual to remember who had been born or died, their getting them to the newspaper office and the editor running the column - many times much after the person had died. 7. Inability to read and copy the stones in the cemetery. Perhaps we have been fortunate enough to locate the cemetery - a little family cemetery. In all probability, unless there are family descendants still in the area who have taken care of the cemetery, it is one mass of briars, poison ivy, ticks, groundhog holes, broken trees, beer bottles and snakes. Hacking you way through with a machette and pulling out weeds may reveal stones, but many are missed unintentionally. We have re-catalogued cemeteries that are already listed and found errors in transcription and new stones. We just happened to be there perhaps during a different season when the weeds were down or using a pry bar (tapping into the ground) found another stone buried under the dirt. In most of these cemeteries one can find evidence of many more graves from indentations (and we so indicate), but no stones to identify. Cemeteries are littered with field stones - natural rocks and stones that are in the area - which just happened to be used by many early settlers to mark the graves - we try to look at each one to see if there is anything carved into it with a pocket knife - or if it is just that, a field stone. 8. No caretakers. Many people seem to assume that every cemetery has a caretaker. Absolutely not. It is the exception not the rule in the small cemeteries that are not municipally owned, or church owned. And both of them can be "iffy." Many municipal cemeteries have started out as private cemeteries and when the city takes over, the record keeping leaves much to be desired. At our large municipal cemetery we have found a possible 100 or more burials that were not recorded, and the caretaker has many plots sold over the last 100 plus years and doesn't know if anyone was ever buried there. Church cemeteries may or may not have records kept by the church. Some churches kept excellent records of the deaths of church members, but seldom indicated where they were buried. In the smaller communities, many of the pastors are part time and the clerk of the church may or may not have all the old church books. Maddening, but true! 9. Epidemics, wars and other disasters often resulted in burying the person where they fell. Cholera epidemics and other contagious (and often incurable diseases of the time) resulted in the person being hastily pushed into a hand-dug grave next to where the body lay. So many died that no official records were kept. 10. People not buried where they were supposed to be. In many old funeral home registers, the place of interment is shown, but lo and behold they are not found there - this being in more "modern" times. Why? Well - high creeks and rivers blocking the old horse drawn hearse from crossing; cold weather resulting in the ground being frozen and the body having to be kept in an "ice" house for months; changes of mind by the family - many reasons. In conclusion, many times we have to work on the supposition that the person did die and was buried where family tales have said they were, but we may never find the grave or any written documentation. (c) Copyright 27 Jan 2000, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin, 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 - E-fax (707)222-1210 - e-mail:sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Member: Glasgow-Barren Co Chamber of Commerce Publishing: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html Barren Co: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kybarren/ TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios