In todays mailing of the MO-Cem Vol #1 No 15 a couple of problems were presented. 1. Some people on the list did lookups for others and I assume they were doing these lookups from various surveys published both by Genealogical/Historical Societies and lists on various web sites.. I have posted the following statements many times but for various reasons the same "Final" answers are given, "Joseph Such and So wasn't found". Why wasn't this person found? True he may not have been buried there, but you must must must remember: A. Not all burials have tombstones. It is estimated that something over 40 percent of all burials in cemeteries do not have tombstones. B. These cemetery surveys you are using, in most cases, are done by persons walking the cemetery and copying the information from tombstones. C. Do you have the correct spelling of the surname? Are you looking for a BUCHHOLZ and the cemetery only has BUCHOLTZ or BOCHOLZ burials, is it SMITH or SMYTH, CASSIDY or CASSADY. D. In the case of a female. Is she buried under her Maiden name? Married name (which one?) my great grandmother was buried next to her first husband and the tombstone carries his surname, however the office has her listed under the name contained on her death certificate (her second husband's name). E. These name mix ups may also apply to an adopted person, which name were they buried under??????? F. Just because the publication you have in your possession states that it covers the Cemeteries of Some County, doesn't mean that all cemeteries in the county are contained in the book. G. There is a cemetery in New Baden Illinois which has been surveyed and is on the net as such. Unfortunately it is incorrect. It is actually 3 cemeteries, Public, Catholic and Family. H. Another example, here in St. Louis a cemetery in South St. Louis just demolished a family mausoleum, how are these surveys going to handle that situation. I. There are at least three cemeteries in St. Louis that in recent years have removed tombstones due to nonpayment of perpetual care there were over a 1,000 destroyed in one cemetery. J. Cemeteries are relocated, daily, I participated in the relocation of over 7,000 burials in the past 7 years. Half of the cemetery is still there. Half is gone, how good would some of these cemetery surveys be in this instance? K. There were at least 3 religious cemeteries relocated in the St. Louis area in the last couple of years, convents are closing. L. Cemeteries continually relocate bodies within their boundaries, families consolidate their families. The one and only place that you can verify that a person is buried in a cemetery is to check the written record in the care of the office. And, even then there is no assurance that the person's remains were not interred. I had a relative who was cremated, the monument company salesman said the family could save a couple of hundred dollars if they just placed the stone and included the Cremains in the concrete base. The problem here the name of the person would not be recorded in the written records. Again, even if you see a tombstone, it doesn't mean that there was a burial. Every cemetery has Memorial Stones. This is especially true in the case of persons killed during a war or various other military situations. Every veteran is authorized a tombstone, it can be given to the family for placement or it can be placed in a National Cemetery. So when some gracious person tells you that your person of interest isn't buried in the county, they are really telling you that their name was not in the book they own. Finally, the tombstone is historically one of the least accurate of all sources of information. It may not have been placed for many years after the date of burial and just because it is in stone doesn't make it correct. Do yourself a favor check the site below for some other general comments relating to cemeteries. Bill Some Data on cemeteries and funeral homes <http://genealogyinstlouis.accessgenealogy.com/buchholz.htm> Surnames of Interest: BUCHHOLZ anywhere -BECKMANN-CASSIDY-DeL0NJAY-DREES-NENTWIG-NEUTZLER-PONCOT-RENSING-STAUDER- STIEFFERMANN