Tombstone Tuesday ~ Find A Grave

This Tombstone Tuesday I wanted to share something a little different than a tombstone picture. Recently I commented that I have belonged to Find A Grave for about a year now. This is a wonderful site to belong to. I belong as a contributer, and because I belong as a contributer there is something that has been bothering me.

The reason I joined Find A Grave was to CONTRIBUTE! For over a year now, I have not contributed. Guess it bothered me enough to bring it to the top of my priority list because I have now finally made some contributions!

I think what prompted me more than anything was that I met a cousin online who contributes regularly to Find A Grave. She gave me the encouragement to start. For some reason I was nervous about it, and I have yet to figure out why! Anyway, before I even made an actual contribution, this cousin turned over two of her entries to me to manage! She gave me my grandparents entries. I had no choice but to make some entries so I could learn how everything worked. If I were to manage my grandparents entries, I had better know what I was doing!

Of course the first few I entered took a bit of time to make sure I did everything correctly, but honestly, it was a piece of cake. I still have no idea why I was so gun shy to do this. I have now entered my first ten entries and all with pictures of the grave sites to boot. I was able to add photos of my grandparents grave sites as well.

Sure can't say enough about Find A Grave. Have you found information on a family member at this site? If you aren't a contributer please think about becoming one. If you are a contributer, please leave a comment and let me know. I would love to see who you are!

Contributing to Find A Grave is one way I figure I can give back.

Thanks for stopping by!

 Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!






 Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Comments

  1. Your experience echoes mine, Cheryl. I was hesitant to try it, but once I did, I found out how easy it is. And it is fun!

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  2. Hi Cheryl!

    I've been a Find A Grave member for over 2 years now. My profile page can be found at:
    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46985338&MSid=46985338&
    Be sure and friend me!
    Lisa

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  3. Hi - I too am a "Find-A-Grave" contributor. I've had the good fortune to have some very kind people obtain pictures of tombstones that I would never be able to get otherwise. I have 94 contributions so far. I'm hoping with summer coming that I can take more photo's as a volunteer.
    Good luck with your work!

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  4. Thank you Greta and Lisa for leaving comments. Greta, I looked for you on the site but can not find you. Are you under another name? Lisa I did friend you!

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  5. One more thing, I see Lisa Ellam left her profile page address - here is mine.
    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46954899&MSid=46954899&

    Terri

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cheryl, I've used FindAGrave SO MUCH and have found hundreds of listings, literally, of headstones, grave locations, obituaries, family member links...so much of value. Like you, I found it was easy to add my family and felt so proud when I put my mother's memorial up. I've also photographed many headstones and posted them for others. It's good that you wrote this to bring it to more peoples' attention!

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  7. I am a new contributor to FindAGrave. in fact, one of my first requests turned out to be an old family friend which I posted about a couple of days ago. One of the things I have found surprising is that I really get into the stories behind the requests.

    Thanks for your post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cheryl,
    So glad you overcame your phobia! I see I left you a welcome message on your FindAGrave profile just two days short of a year ago! (See how time flies?) Thanks for spreading the word about how great Find A Grave really is.

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  9. Thanks for the reminder, Cheryl. I have an entire Cemetery to upload, but so far my average seems to be 3 a week! I'm listed under "Jo Graham"
    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&GScid=2349445&GRid=50754431&MRid=47267037&

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cheryl,

    Find-A-Grave can be a very helpful research website, for those of use who do family research. As a contributor, I have been able to take pictures for other researchers who live in other parts of the country, but whose family / ancestors lived and died in my part of the country. I don't mind taking a couple of hours to get some fresh air, walking through a cemetery to find that headstone, and posting it on Find-A-Grave.

    In some cases, the photos on Find-A-Grave may outlast the actual headstone. In fact, one cemetery I visited and photographed, The Find-A-Grave cemetery page will outlast the cemetery, as it is in a state of dis-repair.

    Thank you for your blog post.

    Russ

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Becky, you are so fortunate to have found so many listings on Find A Grave to help you!

    Hi Joan, isn't it amazing how caught up we can get with other's stories? What a small world for you and the family friend!

    Hi Scottish Genealogist, you are busy, and can't complain you are entering! I looked you up but didn't find you, I will try again.

    Hi Russ,

    Yes, Find a Grave has been a wonderful site for so many! Thank you for explaining more in depth what contributers do. Most of us who do genealogy love cemeteries so taking pictures others can appreciate is an added bonus to me! A great point about the information outlasting the headstones, in many cases that will unfortunately be so true.

    I applaud each and every one of you who volunteers at Find A Grave! Your work will make at least one someone's day! Thank you all!

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  12. I used to refer to Headstonehunter.com but have not been able to find this site lately. Maybe it merged with FindAGrave. Does anyone know what happened to headstonehunter.com?

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  13. So glad you are promoting Find A Grave. I have been a member for over 8 years and find it a good place to "give back". We all live near cemeteries where somebody's relatives are buried. I love looking for tombstones for others and I have found so many pages for my relatives!!

    Kathy http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46526121&MSid=46526121&

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Thor,

    I have no idea what happened to headstonehunter.com. I would love to know if you find out!

    Hi Kathy,

    FAG is the best, there are so many people who have been donating for such a long time. Thank you for including yourself, I will look you up on FAG!

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  15. Just be sensitive to families when you do your postings. I think it is cruel to put up something when a family is still in a period of mourning, unless the family decides to put it up. My mother had her tombstone up in advance. Some stranger posted a memorial page for my mother a year before she even died, and I just found it yesterday when I decided that I wanted to post a memorial up for her. I am very hurt and now I want NOTHING up for her. Grief is a serious and private thing, and if people treat it as a hobby or a pasttime, grieving people WILL get hurt. I did.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Anonymous,

    I am so sorry for the pain this has given you! I am very appreciative of the reminder, I certainly wouldn't want to affect any family member that is in mourning. This is something that should be reminded to all contributers. I have, so far, mainly entered my own families grave sites. I have hundreds to enter that are OLD grave sites, which is what I will be working on next. I am sorry someone has soured you to want your mother's grave site posted, what they did is totally unexceptable in my books. I hope you made a comment! Try not to let one bad apple spoil it for you and your mother, there are others who will be very appreciative to have her info posted, hopefully on your terms and when you are ready, no matter how long it may take.

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  17. Anonymous,

    Thank you for the reminder. I have struggled with this issue a couple of times. I have a number of photos that I haven't posted because there isn't a death date on the stone, when the headstone is a husband and wife stone. One side is filled out, the other isn't.

    What I have concluded, so far, is that IF I am requested to take a picture of a headstone, where this is the case, I'll take the picture and post it. But, if I have a photo of that stone and do not have a request, I won't post it.

    Thank you, again, for the reminder.

    Russ

    ReplyDelete
  18. Russ,

    Good idea, I was trying to come up with a plan to follow regarding this issue, I was thinking more on a time frame though.

    ReplyDelete

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