January 2015 Cemetery Challenge Week 1 - January 1-7 - Post your updates here!

Question

Welcome to the Global Cemeteries Project's January 2015 Free For All Challenge! (For those of you who haven't signed up, you still can, even during the challenge!) It isn't quite 2015 yet in the western hemisphere, but it is in Australia, so I thought I'd get this post up early in case any of the Australian Cemeteries project members decide to join.

For this challenge, we're all tallying up our own points (though I'm here if you need help with that!), but I wanted to have G2G threads each week like the Note-vember Challenge had, because I liked the community aspect of it. So share your updates here! We all want to see who's working on which cemeteries, which cemeteries have been completely photographed/transcribed/added to WikiTree, etc.

You can also use this thread to coordinate cooperative efforts in the challenge, eg. with one person uploading their photographs to a cemetery free-space page and another person transcribing them, or one person creating profiles based on another person's transcription, etc.

I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish over the next month! :) Also feel free to post here with any questions about the challenge or the Global Cemeteries Project in general!

Update: The week 2 thread is up! Please post updates over there now.

Comments

Hello Lianne,

Just found this thread by accident via google search-didn't see anything about it on the challenge page, but may have missed it.

I sent you an email message via wikitree about two weeks ago, but haven't heard back and was looking for an answer as to the points.

 

If you take a photograph, transcribe it to a cemetery here on wikitree, create a profile for the person and link it to the cemetery transcription and add the tombstone photo to the persons page then link that to the transcription, how would that total up for points please?

Thank you!

Lisa

 

PS-I did about 16 hours this week adding photos, profiles and transcriptions.  When this is over I will ha ve Magnolia cemetery completed in it's entirety, which was my big motivator for joining in..I've needed to finish it up! It's a rather large, old cemetery and I have a lot of info to share on it's 'inhabitants'. :)

---

Hi Lisa. Sorry, I must have missed that email.

For your example, you'd get 4 points: 1 for taking the photo, 1 for transcribing it, 1 for creating the profile, and 1 for adding the photo to the profile. In addition, you can get a point for each profile you connect to the global tree (as tested with the Connection to AJ tool).

---

Ok, so I have signed up but I don't know where on wikitree to put my cemetery entries.  Please fill me in or show where in the FAQ is the link to go to the cemetery pages.

---

Kathryn,

sent you an informational email. :)

Lisa

---

Thanks.

Now I just need to learn how to make a wiki table and add photos etc.

Answer 1

So when we add profiles we list them? If I work on a cemetery it can be 100's of profiles added. Do you really want the people all listed here? (want to make sure i understand).

Comments

No, you definitely don't need to list every person you work on! :) This is just for us to keep each other in the loop and share our accomplishments. So rather than listing 100 people you could just say you'd created profiles for 100 people in Such and Such Cemetery.

Answer 2

Day 1 - Jan 1

Loaded 43 new profiles for Appin

http://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Space:St_Bede%27s_Catholic_Cemetery%2C_Appin&public=1

[[Category:Appin_Catholic_Cemetery]]

Comments

Hi Kirsty,

I saw that you had not yyet added your name to the Challenge page at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Global_Cemeteries/January_2015_Free_For_All_Challenge, so I added you, listed this cemetery, and recorded the number of profiles you added.

You're off to a great start!

Star

---

Thank you :)

Answer 3

I worked all day, but managed to get a little bit of a start on the challenge, anyway! I created 5 profiles for St Boniface Oblate Fathers' Cemetery in Winnipeg, and added photos to them, for a total of 10 points!

So far I haven't added family to any of the priests buried here; they aren't easy to research! But I have at least added some additional sources to each of them relating to their lives with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Answer 4

Day 2 - Jan 2

Created 152 profiles on 3 different cemeteries.

Answer 5

I have transcribed 122 markers in the Hopewell Cemetery, in Hampton SC, I have added 5 new profiles to Wikitree from the Black Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, I have confirmed a connection to the Global Family Tree (although i am not sure how to show that it is a connection on said profile!)  and have tried up loading photos to cemetery profile, but my Computer seems to not want me to do it so, I am still working on that!  Oh yea and also photoed an entire cemetery, St Paul Cemetery, Allendale, SC, which was not very big.  I believe it has 19 visible marks that actually had names on them.  All of this was done on days 1 and 2 of the challenge!

Comments

Nice, Liz! I can't believe how much we're accomplishing in just the first few days of this challenge! :)

---

I have a question.  When adding profiles, do they count in the challenge if they are not in the cemetery you are working on but happen to be siblings or children of?  They are in cemeteries that I plan to work on in the future, just not sure if I will get a chance to photograph the cemetery before the challenge is over, although I hope that I do!

for example, I have a Mr & Mrs Hall buried in the Black Creek Primitive Cemetery along with one of their children.  While researching the family I have come across another child in a different cemetery with her husband.

---

Good question, Liz. I'd say they should count as long as you have a reliable source saying what cemetery they're buried in, and you put them in the category for that cemetery. Because in that case, even without photographs, you're working on that other cemetery.

Answer 6

Today I created 5 profiles and added photos to 6 profiles for St Boniface Oblate Fathers' Cemetery, and then I transcribed all of Union Point United Church Cemetery, 47 names! So all together that's 58 points for today! :)

Answer 7

On Friday I finally added photos for the Salem United Methodist Church Cemetery in Pennsylvania.  I had transcribed the photos last summer, but only uploaded the photo for my parents.  It took this challenge to get me in gear to upload the photos.  I also want to thank Kirsty Ward, who created all the profiles.  That's one small cemetery completed.

I just finished transcribing another small cemetery today and will post that one after I post all my photos.

Comments

I'm so glad this challenge has motivated you! That's a big part of why I do these challenges. I know it's helping me finally create some profiles.

Answer 8

Transcribed all 56 tombstones  in Cowbell Cemetery, Big Hill, Kentucky, from photos I took in November. Profiles are taking more time -- so far, I've only done 13 of them, but as Liz Parker says, sometimes the family trail leads to other cemeteries, so I've done 6 extra ones without photos.

Answer 9

Another 5 profiles created today with photos added to each of them, for 10 points total. At this rate I should be done this cemetery (except connecting them to the tree) in about a week! St Boniface Oblate Fathers' Cemetery was the first cemetery I photographed when this challenge started back in June.

Answer 10

I was only able to do a few before I zonked out.

1/2: I added 17 profiles to St Michael's Cem in Tilden, PA while trying to hunt down source information for the names that I had.  Never found the source,

 

1/3 I transcribed 43 names from 36 photos from Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland.  I created 38 distinct profiles with what little information I had then uploaded 43 photos (one per profile).  I also created and edited a couple categories of interest as well as some pages for particular cemeteries,

 

I hope I'll be able to find time to do more, soon.

Answer 11

I spent about 4 hours yesterday trying to connect the people in my cermetery to the family tree. They connected to each other, but not to the big family. At last, I traced it back far enough to find a link! Yay! So over 20 profiles were instantly connected at once. That was fun!

Comments

That's awesome when that happens! I've got a pretty good chunk of Manitoba profiles from a couple of cemeteries (plus family branching out from there) connected to each other, but not connected to the global tree yet. I'm actually curious to see how big I can get it before finding a connection! :)

---

Thanks for the inspirational comment, Martha. I think I'll take a break from transcribing photos to do some research on the profiles - which is much more fun!

Answer 12

okay for day 3, I transcribed 52 in a cemetery, added 7 new profiles; day 4 transcribed 159 in cemetery, and on day 5 finished the transcriptions for the Hopewell Cemetery with 79!  This means that Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery has been completely transcribed! And it only took me 5 days!  There is a total of 412 names that now I will started adding to the Wikitree!

So this gives me a total of 443 points!  Still working on uploading photos with no luck!!!  Tomorrow, or later today :), I plan to start connecting or adding profiles to my cemeteries!

Answer 13

Finished work on the tombstone photos for 109 people buried in the Hyattstown United Methodist Church Cemetery in Hyattstown, Maryland.  This is not a  complete survey of the entire cemetery. All photos are transcribed, attached to their profiles, and attached to the table on the cemetery free space.

I'd like to thank Kirsty Ward for creating profiles from all the photos for this cemetery.

Answer 14

Oops!  I just revised my numbers on the January 2015 Free For All Challenge page.  I had listed the number of photos I took, but that was work I'd done long before January.  The work I'm doing for this Challenge is transcribing photos I took earlier, entering the data on the cemetery free spaces, and attaching them to profiles.

Answer 15

Just another 5 profiles created and 5 profiles added today. Slow and steady gets me through the priests of St Boniface Oblate Fathers' Cemetery and on to people whose families are easier to find! :)

Answer 16

Quantity vs. Quality – what an issue for me! 

I have started and completed Coat Cemetery with 63 graves.  Since there were only several surnames, I knew they had to be related.  So off I go figuring out who’s who.  In the process I see that they interlace with my own family tree.  Which by now does not faze me as people in Simpson County, MS tend to all be related.

After entering one profile within an hour, I received an email from this person’s relative sharing information with a link to his web page.  Wrote back asking for permission to use this website as a reference, he responded with an enthusiastic “Yes please do”.  This was his first contact with WikiTree!

Then another headstone has a young boy coming out of the water with outstretched hands to a person (i.e. Jesus).  Having access to newspapers online, I learned he drowned while swimming in a lake.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Coat_Cemetery%2C_Magee%2C_Simpson_County%2C_Mississippi

I am continuing to add profiles and headstone photos for other Simpson & Smith County cemeteries.

Myrtis

P.S. Also a challenge to keep track of the points.

Comments

I know what you mean cuz!  It can be quite amazing and for those of us who are 'hooked' on genealogy, quite fun to go 'off on a tangent' to research a profile if you are adding it new. I know I've done it quite a bit this week myself! LOL  I always find it interesting and a learning experience to find connections amongst the burials in a cemetery!  I added Byrd Cemetery to Smith county, but wanted to let you know that is the only one over there I will be doing, so no chance of us duplicating anything. I'm sticking with Bama cemeteries for the month now.  I visited Solomon Cemetery recently--just discovered that my Feaster ancestors are buried there! Found a living great grandchild! WOW!

AND I want to add that I too have had a LOT of positive feedback and found at least a dozen new cousins this past year due to posting on the wikitree--YAY!  And some are now working with me to sort out lines that have questions on them, which is super!  My Adams line has had some MAJOR discoveries this past year due to working with two cousins in Alabama that I didn't even know about and I've now got to meet them both in person to boot! YAY!

Hugs,

Cuzzin Lisa

Answer 17

FINALLY!! Got 1 photo uploaded!!! and transcribed 36 photos in a cemetery!  this completes the Ayer Family Cemetery.  I have connected I think 7 or 8 profiles to this cemetery that were already on Wikitree!

Answer 18

I don't think I officially entered into the contest, as I'm going to move slowly in this process, but I've got a new cemetery established and have about 10 profiles added. Problem is that while I started with this location because my Uncle H is buried there, the cemetery has about 74,000 graves in it and when I look at what it will take to get to 1%... I have to laugh. (at least .6 rounded up, or almost 450... whew).

Plus the weather has been awful lately and my picture taking opportunities are kinda rotten right now. Maybe by the weekend, things will improve.

:)

Comments

Well, it's not too late to join the challenge if you want to! :)

I've got some cemeteries like that here in Winnipeg. I haven't started on any of those yet. I'm overwhelmed enough by the ones that have just a few thousand, and still take me ages to get through!

Answer 19

I needed a change of pace today, so I transcribed 47 names from Pine Ridge Cemetery in Birds Hill Park, R.M. of Springfield, Manitoba.

Answer 20

Going cross-eyed as I traipse through my genie software and find cemeteries.  I only entered around 20 in 8 hours today... but also made a few small cemetery pages.  Lots of back and forth.  Little forward movement.

 

Must. Sleep. Now.