Discovering the burial location of your ancestors is an important part of genealogy. It can be easy to find and often is. This is a commonly overlooked way of finding the burial location of an ancestor if you didn’t previously know where it was. Your email address will not be published. You can find records pertaining to veterans of the United States military who are buried in National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, and other government cemeteries. Some countries also have organizations dedicated to creating indexes of cemeteries in their country (just like with our popular US sites). Make sure to look at the front and back of your ancestor’s tombstone so that no important information etched into the stone is missed. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Once you get that, you can use the cemetery records to locate the actual graves. If not, a local parish or diocese may have archives that can be researched upon request. Gently wipe stones or cut away weeds or grass to get a clear picture. wikiHow's. The first step in locating your ancestor’s burial place is to know which records can reveal this information. Family Tree Building Basics for Beginners Book, Use DNA to Trace Your Mexican Family Tree Book, Example of Family Tree DNA Family Finder Results, American Battle Monument Commission Memorials and Burials. Many of these sites require a fee to use all of their features, although you may be able to sign up for a free trial in some cases. Thank you for the reminder that we can all contribute to helping other researchers in our own small ways, Joseph. How can I find a grave site if I know a person's full name? Have cemetery name and plot number, how do I find out who is buried there? Our reviews are unbiased, and our opinions are our own. There is no name on the burial plot and I believe there is more than one person in the grave. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 267,522 times. window.fd('form', { There should be burial records somewhere. Classroom is the educational resource for people of all ages. If the cemetery is quite large, you will need help locating your ancestor’s grave. Find out what newspapers existed for the time and place where your ancestor lived. All of the websites listed in this post are free, searchable, online resources where you can look to try to locate information about where your ancestor is buried. By following the steps above, you will be well on your way to “unearthing” where your ancestors are buried! Some pre-20th century newspapers also printed year-end listings of local births, deaths and marriages, so this is another option to look for. Often they will provide lookup services, perhaps for a small fee. Contact the cemetery for information pertaining to the exact location of the grave within the grounds. If this is the case, you must be sure to call ahead to know where to go to obtain the needed assistance. In cemeteries across the country, tombstones and headstones serve as an historical record of the people buried there. If you have all the information the site needs, you should get an exact match, but you may have to scroll through a list of people to find the person you are searching for. However, if you don't know exactly where the person was buried, it might seem hard to find the gravesite. Call ahead and ask for office hours so that you can obtain assistance from someone at the cemetery office. You can often get the exact burial location, whether it is marked or not, just by calling the entity that manages the cemetery. The Missouri Compromise: What Was it and How Did it Contribute to the Civil War? An entry is created in the index when family members file for death benefits. To find a person’s grave, check online or in the cemetery entrance for a map of the graves. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Once you find it, you can either go visit it in person, or look it up on FindAGrave.com and see if there is a photo of it on the site. Since some combinations of first and last names are more common, having the person's middle name will help narrow down your search significantly. If that doesn't pan out, you could go on ancestry.com. If you don't know the person's exact date of birth or when they died, at least try to estimate when they would have lived. Conduct some local history research to determine which funeral homes existed at the time your ancestor died. Analyzing the evidence is a critical step to ensure you have found burial information for the correct ancestor- especially if that ancestor had a common name. Society volunteers are often the best people to contact to get valuable information on your ancestor’s burial place, so be sure not to overlook this offline resource. Print off original register scans, memorial photographs and maps for your family scrap book. If this is the case, it is not a good idea to try and fix the stone or attempt to take a gravestone rubbing, as this can cause further damage. Required fields are marked *. I appreciate your comment! A grave marker has been found, but the cemetery staff cannot find the grave. How can I find out if a person has a criminal background?→, How Do I Look at a Profile Anonymously on Match.com?→. Many people never have obituaries written about them. To locate a death certificate, you will need to know where your ancestor died. Here are three tried and true techniques for tracking it down. Many of them will. Before reaching out to a county clerk, archive, or local cemetery, you must know who to contact, what information is needed, and what fees are required for research requests. Once located, the cemetery can likely provide or directions to where your ancestor’s plot is located, and perhaps other information regarding their burial. When sending a request via email or “snail mail,” keep it simple, just the facts- the clerk’s office does not need to hear the whole story about how you discovered poor old Great-Aunt Margaret was buried in the township cemetery. How do I find a grave without a tombstone? Most gravestone pedestals have engraved numbers on them that indicate the section and plot. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Along with a burial place, look in these records for other valuable information that can confirm the ancestor’s identity, such as dates and places of birth, marriage and death, and names of family members that could potentially be buried alongside your ancestor. This means going beyond immediate family and asking cousins, uncles, great-aunts, etc. If you don’t live close to the historical society, you can call them and see if they will do a lookup for you. Visiting the grave of someone who's passed away can be a great way to pay your respects and get closure, or just to learn more about a historical figure. If you have ancestors in Belarus, you may want to check out this site: If your ancestor was buried in Canada, and you can’t find them on the websites that I listed at the beginning of this post, the following index is a great place to start: Chinese grave stones often contain a treasure of genealogical information. Those mystery burial locations don’t have to remain mysteries. Children that died young and children that did not marry are often buried in a family cemetery plot, so this may provide additional clues. You may discover that there were several “John Smiths” buried in the same cemetery as your John Smith! Failing that, locate the sexton, who might be able to help you find the grave. Many old newspapers are now online, both on free and membership genealogy websites like GenealogyBank.com, Newspapers.com, and others. Are you searching for the burial location of an ancestor and can’t seem to find it? She has made it her mission to help as many people as possible understand their DNA results and learn how to build their family tree. Sometimes they might ask your relation to the deceased. Remember that information provided in records for your ancestor’s family members can also be valuable. Two of the most popular genealogy websites are. Talk to someone you know who was close to the person who passed away. With the right information about the deceased, it's easy to identify the cemetery in which someone is buried. Also check newspapers from the city or area they lived in, as it's probable there is a death notice that names the cemetery. https://www.dutchgenealogy.nl/online-cemeteries/, https://www.vets.gov/burials-and-memorials/find-a-cemetery/, https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Find-a-Grave, https://familyhistorydaily.com/genealogy-help-and-how-to/planning-a-cemetery-visit-important-dos-and-donts-to-read-before-you-go/, https://careertrend.com/info-8083938-duties-sexton.html, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/fashion/04genb.html, https://familyhistorydaily.com/genealogy-help-and-how-to/find-a-gravesite/, https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/tips-sleuthing-cemeteries-ancestors/, Das Grab einer verstorbenen Person finden, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow, Since you'll be walking around outside, bring along a bottle of water, and. Below, I have listed a few websites for select countries where you may be able to locate your ancestors’ grave sites in those locations. Although sometimes only the year is indicated, that is still a … Compile a list of all the information you know pertaining to the person whose resting place you are searching for. If not, move on to Step 2. It's easy to lose track of people over the years. Check online databases such as Family Search to see if any death certificates have been digitized or microfilmed for the state and/or county of interest. If the cemetery is a really old one and is no longer managed by any entity, you may still be able to get burial records for it by going to the local archives or historical society.