I am glad to see that we are discussing the Grave Register Books, published by the Pendleton County Historical Society and still available from them. I also encourage known corrections be sent to this list. In the interests of the integrity of our data (for those of you who are new, this lists supports DOCUMENTED data, not unsupported statements based upon what someone else said, but they have no idea where it came from.) Gene, thank you for starting the discussion. Obviously, Gene knows his uncle and his response is based upon a personal visit to the tombstone. The first grave register was published in 1977. The Homemakers groups of Pendleton County assisted by visiting every cemetery they could identify and read the tombstones as best the could. Stones were weathered and hard to read. Hand writing with gloves in the cold was misread when someone tried to type the manuscript. All the normal possibilities for errors when facts and copied and re-copied. However, the stones were read surprisingly well so do not automatically assume data is wrong without further evidence against it. Today, the stones have weathered another 23 years and are even harder to read accurately. Unfortunately, as Gene described, the compilers used some "editorial license" between what is actually inscribed on stones and what is published in the books, and this is not always limited to the notes field. For instance, many stones record "Died Feb 1 1888, aged 77 yr, 7 mo, 7 dys, as an example. Prior to publication, this was computed and the book shows a birth date but not the age at death. While, yes today we have formulas to use to compute this birth date, neither the family nor the stone cutter of 100 years ago had this same formula! And, we have all seen the stones where the age was computed backwards around the calendar with 5 months instead of 7. Also, there is the problem of people being placed in a cemetery because someone "knew" they were buried there. The book makes it look like they have a tombstone full of information. Be particularly skeptical of names that has no dates, although there are indeed some stones that have only a name. Volume 2 of the Grave Register, published in 1980, contains an index to Volume 1 (it has none)!!! The next section contains abstracts of the Pendleton County Death Register 1853, found in the County Clerk's office. Remember, this was voluntary and not everyone who died had their death recorded. Death records were begun to compile statistics on diseases and causes of death, not to help us find ancestors. (I think the most frustrating are the infants whose parents are "unknown.") Section 3 is a full name index to these death records. Incidentally, the original Death Register has no index, not even to the decedents, so this is better than the clerk's office, but does have errors in mis-reading handwriting. Then Additions and Corrections to Grave Register 1, which is primarily graves that were missed in the first volume, Additional Cemeteries that were missed in GR 1, burials since GR 1 (hence 1977 until 1980 was compiled), and a final sections of everything to add at the last minute. With all of the "imperfections," these grave registers are wonderful resources. And, certainly a real bargain compared with the costs of most genealogical reference books. Nedra Nedra Dickman Brill, Certified Genealogist brillnd@pacifier.com Historian, Henckel Family National Association Coordinator Pendleton County, WV, wvpendle-l@rootsweb.com CG is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license after periodic evaluations by the Board.