Most genealogists are aware of and familiar with Find A Grave. It’s essentially a site that helps you find the graves of people, as the name might suggest. For a website that was not originally created with genealogy in mind, it is incredibly useful for genealogical purposes.

I discovered it about two years ago, and I have been happily adding memorials for all of my ancestors for which I have burial information. I’ve also requested several photos to be taken, particularly for tombstones that might yield some helpful information. Various volunteers have been willing to take photos for me, and I have also taken a number of photos for other users of the website.

Just to preface, FindAGrave is not the be-all, end-all of genealogy sites. It doesn’t have anything close to every tombstone in America. It’s comprised of user-submitted data, so there can be errors in the information. As a general rule, it’s unlikely that you will find a person on the site, but when you do, it can often be very helpful.

I was recently researching an odd case. The client was researching the origins of a woman who purchased a plot of land in New Mexico. She had purchased the land from a man who shared her last name for only one dollar. This suggested that the two were related somehow. The land deed also stated that the two were from Henderson County, Texas. Their land transaction occurred in 1928. I did a thorough examination of resources without finding a single clue about these two people. I was unable to find them in any records, but I did find them on FindAGrave. A user had even submitted the photos of their headstones, which was particularly useful to me as their tombstones matched exactly in style, suggesting that the two were married. From there I was able to find a bit more information on the couple.

I find that the cemeteries in FindAGrave are really hit and miss. Some cemeteries have been thoroughly indexed. Others have been thoroughly photographed. Sometimes this is done by a single person, and other times it is done by a genealogical society or group. In some cases, but certainly not all, the descendants of an individual may put up more information about the ancestor that he/she has done from his/her own research. This can be very helpful, but it needs to be checked carefully since FindAGrave doesn’t have an option of any kind for citations. Users can also leave comments on memorials. This, too, can be very helpful, but it also must be regarded with some skepticism until the information can be verified.

As time goes on, FindAGrave can only get better. The more that users contribute memorials, photos and information, the more useful it will be. If you haven’t tried it before, I recommend it. If you haven’t added memorials before, I also recommend that. It’s a great way to help other genealogists, and it takes very little time to create new memorials. You don’t need photos of the tombstones. In fact, all you need to know is where the person was buried. (You can even add memorials for people who were cremated.)