New Clues from Old Headstones

They stand there behind those gates: marble and granite memorials to those who went before. The stones in those cemeteries and the stories they tell for our families are of crucial importance to genealogists. How can we best get access to the land where they stand, and photograph them to capture the stories they tell?

The presentation will cover Polish cemetery online databases - portals and websites that include information about burials from all over Poland. Kinga will show you how to use these and explain what is the most common information that you may find there.

Genealogists use gravestone information to document death information, but oftentimes, a burial marker provides more than biographical information. Gravestones, like any record, should be analyzed but to do so requires one to think beyond genealogical research. In this presentation, we will explore types of cemeteries, the anatomy of a marker, and the “hidden” information the marker provides.

Segregation extended into death for African Americans, especially for those in the Southern United States. What led to the development of separate funeral homes and burial grounds? This presentation looks at burial practices for African-Americans from the 16th to the 20th century.

If headstones could talk, they would have a lot of stories to tell. But they can't, so BillionGraves is the next best thing. BillionGraves is the world's largest GPS-linked cemetery data resource. As you take photos with the BillionGraves app on your phone, each gravestone is automatically marked with a GPS location. The data is then transcribed by volunteers, plotted on cemetery maps, and preserved on BillionGraves, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage websites for millions of families around the globe for generations to come.

Churchyards are one of the nation’s priceless and unique heritages – a light-hearted review of our forebears’ commemorations, and how to locate and explore these storehouses of history.

BillionGraves.com strives to preserve precious records found in cemeteries throughout the world. Using modern technology to capture images of headstones with their GPS locations, the site provides access to these records. This webinar will discuss how to use the site, the technology, and how you can help.

In order to find an ancestor's tombstone, the burial ground must first be found. Tips are given on how to find the different cemeteries depending on the time period, type (church or commercial), and economic condition of the deceased. Tombstones are the last monuments to our lives on this earth….

Ever wonder what various gravestone symbols mean? Is everything "set in stone" completely accurate? Gail will walk you through cemeteries all over the country with tips on how to use cemetery and associated records in your genealogy quest.