Webtember 2025 is here! Watch the replays here. Save 20% on a webinar membership through Sep 30 here.
Webtember 2025 is here! Watch the replays here. Save 20% on a webinar membership through Sep 30 here.
Webtember 2025 is here! Watch the replays here. Save 20% on a webinar membership through Sep 30 here.
Webtember 2025 is here! Watch the replays here. Save 20% on a webinar membership through Sep 30 here.
Using gravestone clues to grow your family tree may be one of genealogy’s best-kept secrets! Gravestones function as a journal of sorts – one written in stone. Do you have some brick walls in your family tree? A trip to the cemetery may be just the thing to help you break through! In this webinar, you will learn 12 ways to use gravestone clues to grow your family tree.
Genealogical research often relies on records, archives, and family stories—but one of the richest and most underutilized resources lies in cemeteries. In the webinar “12 Ways to Use Gravestone Clues to Grow Your Family Tree”, Cathy Wallace of BillionGraves demonstrates how gravestones can unlock surprising details about ancestors. From GPS mapping to symbolic carvings, gravestones offer insights that can bridge gaps, confirm identities, and even open entirely new research paths. This engaging session blends practical tips with real-world examples, showing how every trip to the cemetery can advance your family history work.
Key Insights from the Webinar
Beyond Names and Dates: Gravestones reveal much more than basic information. Clues such as nicknames, prefixes and suffixes, causes of death, occupations, or even fraternity affiliations can lead to new records and family connections.
Mapping Family Networks: Through GPS-enabled tools like the BillionGraves app, genealogists can identify entire family plots, trace nearby burials, and connect gravestones with broader historical databases. These features transform cemetery visits into powerful research opportunities.
Symbolism and Social Context: Symbols carved into headstones—whether lambs for children, wheat for a long life, or military insignia—offer cultural, religious, and social clues. Even the size or craftsmanship of a monument can reflect status, community ties, or historical events affecting the family.
This webinar is a reminder that gravestones are more than memorials—they are evidence, context, and storytelling tools that meet genealogical proof standards. Viewing the full webinar provides the opportunity to see practical demonstrations, discover research strategies tailored to different gravestone clues, and learn how to maximize free and premium BillionGraves features for deeper family history discoveries.
To take your research further, be sure to explore the additional resources included in the syllabus. They offer extended guidance and references that can help you apply these gravestone strategies to your own family history journey.
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Had no idea there was so much information at Billion Graves! Very well done presentation!
I’d give this webinar ***** Stars! It will make me look more deeply into Billions of Graves, rather than just a simple research tool. The presenter was excellent! I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in Webtember’s webinars!
The Gravestone webinar was Brilliant! Cathey in-a-word was “Captivating!” The content of the webinar and the video presentation was 100% synchronized to the attendees’ level of understanding which allowed for easy translations. I was able to upload the application, A BillionGraves, as described by the presenter and began using it immediately, as described. Thank you for the afternoon of delightful education.
What an absolutely amazing webinar. Cathy is just so knowledgeable and presents the information in a plain and simple way so that we can all understand every point she makes. So much terrific information, walking through a cemetery from now on I will be taking notice of every headstone. Thank you so very much Cathy.
I appreciate learning about all of the features of BillionGraves, and of the efforts to marshall volunteer photographers and transcribers of sites!
I have watched well over 40 webinars, and this was the BEST OF ALL of them. It was wonderfully organized, beautifully illustrated, clearly indicated items being highlighted in the narration, clearly indicated various areas, buttons, and links being referred to in the narration, and was so very clearly narrated by a pleasing voice. THANK YOU for a presentation that was so informative and useful.!
Very easy to follow.
Don’t forget to add that there is A Billion Graves spot on the Legacy program also.