06/09/2023
Recently, I was talking to one of my assistants who was sharing with me a few photos they had taken while on a recent trek to a cemetery. They were asking me to compare an image that they took with an image that was on FindAGrave - and the weird thing? The two tombstones looked completely different, even though they were the same one. My assistant remarked, "Wow, I wish I had taken a few more images of the gravesite so I knew more about what had changed and what hadn't since that FindAGrave photo had been posted." I smiled. Then, after a slight pause, they exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, I should have looked at your blog post before I headed to the cemetery."
I'm sharing this story (with their permission) because I often find that this is one of the key things that genealogists miss when we head to cemeteries. Most of the time, we think, "I’m going to find my ancestor’s grave, I’m going to take that photo, and then I’ll leave." You may walk around a little, you may see what's in the vicinity but - and this is a big but - you're not doing everything that you can at that moment to provide your research (and future questions you may have) with answers. We often remember our ancestor’s grave, or how beautiful a cemetery was - but not all the details we need.
When we go to cemeteries, there is more that we need to look at other than just the headstone. This doesn't discount the importance of the monument itself, but in my assistant’s case what they needed was an actual photo of the gravesite to help confirm a few things that they were looking for. I find that this is incredibly common because we think all we need is that single photo – and it’s just not the case.
But! Remember that blog post that I mentioned earlier? It's my guide to showing what photos you can take at the cemetery - so you don't run into this problem the next time you’re doing research.
Learn more here: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/5-photos-you-should-take-at-the-cemetery/
