Are you a Tombstone Tourist?

Question

Do you like to photograph tombstones?  Do you know the history of a cemetery?  Perhaps you like to transcribe tombstones?  Maybe you want to create more profiles and you are looking for a good source of birth and death data? 

If so, the Global Cemeteries Project wants you!

This project is looking for volunteers to photograph tombstones, create free-space pages for cemeteries, and write profiles for people (or link to existing profiles) based on the tombstone photos.

It’s Spring!  A lovely time to visit cemeteries.

Comments

Join us, people! It is so interesting and satisfying. I am addicted. I love taking the photographs, setting up free space pages for the cemeteries, and researching and developing profiles. It's especially fun to connect the family members and find sources.  You will be helping Wikitree grow and putting information out there for future descendants to find.  Plus, for you older guys and gals, it keeps your brain active and healthy!

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This is something I find so fascinating and even more exciting to discover the stories within.

I live in Louisville, Kentucky and I have visited many surrounding Cemetaries and photographed headstones. I must discover the oldest cemetery, national cemeteries also.

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Could l make a page for all the tombstones photos i have of Millers Cross Roads United Methodist Cemetery. In Northumberland Co Pa have photos of family but have other ones also and going down tomorrow to get the rest

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That would be a great idea.

Just a suggestion: Is it possible to somehow group them together? Maybe by a grouping of years? Families? Eras?

Let me know what you decide as this will help me also.

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Jennifer -

I created a page for Millers Cross Roads United Methodist Cemetery.  There is a table where you can list the interments.  When you create a basic profile based on the tombstone data, you can add the tombstone photo to that profile.

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Darla, I'm not sure what you're trying to group?  Take a look at what I did for Salem Cemetery, as an example of what we're doing with this project.  The goal is to create a profile from the information on each tombstone, then add the tombstone photo to the profile, then link the profile and the photo to the cemetery page.  The sortable list of interments allows someone to search by last name.

Answer 1

Star I will join after I get settled in after moving. I have cleared off a few abandoned cemeteries years ago. When I get back down to So. IL. I will take photos of tombstones.

Answer 2

I'm on Cape Cod and ITCHING to get to a cemetery, but my husband is not hearing of it. I shall prevail. Hitting Martha's Vineyard by bike tomorrow, so I know I'll pass a cemetery. WIN!

Comments

How did your bike trip go?

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It was fab, thanks for asking. Snapped a few pics, but none of the actual cemetery. My hubby was itching to move on!

Answer 3

I have a bunch of photos I took last summer in my hometown in NW Pa. Mostly of my family, but will be back there again in 10 days for a couple of months this summer. Would like to join but I was waiting till I had been a member of wikitree for 30 days as was listed in the project requirements. I just joined on April 30, 2016 so still have a few days to go. Am definitely interested though. Will be in touch.

Comments

I see you joined, Larry - Welcome!  What cemetery are you starting with?  I can help set up the page for your cemetery to get you started.

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Hi,
I'm starting with Waterford Cemetery in Waterford,  Erie County, Pennsylvania. I found the cemetery already had a page,  but I did have a couple of questions. Under Erie County Cemeteries, Waterford Cemetery is not listed under "W" but rather all by itself at the top of the page. It also had a table and I added a few persons (family members) to it but not sure if it was set up correctly. Also wondering about the pictures. Do I upload those to the person 's page rather than the cemetery page and how to link the persons page to the cemetery. Guess I just need a bit of guidance before I find out I'm doing it wrong if you know what I mean. Examples would help me understand better than just reading something. I did look at the cemeteries you mentioned but when I tried to copy some of the links, etc. , it didn't seem to come out looking the same so not sure what I did. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Larry

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Larry, I made a few edits to the Waterford Cemetery page, adding the GPS coordinates, a link to the cemetery on Google Maps, and a link to the Find A Grave website.  I also made a few changes to the table of interments.

• I listed the last names first, so that it will sort correctly as your table grows.
• I linked Hazel Whipple to her profile.  If you follow that example, you should be able to link the others to their profiles.
• I changed the last column to a Photo column, and listed a sample link for Hazel.

You can add each tombstone photo to its associated profile.  If there is a tombstone that includes multiple names, add it to one of the profiles, and then add the other person's profile number to that image.  After adding the photo to the profile, you can link to it from the table of interments.  You will see that I listed the image link as "Image:Xxx.jpg".  Change the xxx to the image name, which is usually the profile name where the photo is linked, such as Smith-102378.

I hope this helps.

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Star-Thanks so much for the help and info. It was very helpful and easy to follow. I just have one more question. Not sure what I did,  but Waterford Cemetery is no longer listed as a subcategory under Erie County, Pennsylvania, Cemeteries. Could you please take a look and see if that can be corrected?  Thanks.
Larry

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I think it's corrected now.

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Thanks again for your help.

Answer 4

I'm still processing photos and looking up family members for things I did last year - so still working within the project, slow and steady...

Comments

I'm in the same position as you, Scott.  I still need to create profiles for LOTS of photos that I've already taken.  But I keep joining other interesting projects, and participating in new monthly challenges, etc.  There are just too many interesting things to do on WikiTree!

Answer 5

I am trying to join the USA project, I live near the oldest The oldest burial ground in Missouri."

Comments

I saw you got your Cemeterist Project Badge - Great!

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Would that be the Ste. Genevieve Memorial Cemetery, or some other cemetery?

Answer 6

Oh this would be a blast, and not difficult with my broken wrist and wired finger. I should check with the local historical society and see if anyone is doing this or if they'd allow the info on their page. Great project idea!

Comments

Sorry to hear about your wrist, Karyn.  You may want to read more about the Global Cemetery Project.

Answer 7

Star, are you taking over the cemetery project?  I was wondering if we are ever going to have a cemetery challenge again.  The last one (January, 2016) fizzled out for some unknown reason.  I enjoyed working on the challenges.  Can we resurrect them again?

Comments

Carolyn, I do not plan to take over the cemetery project, or the cemetery challenges. I just wanted to stir up some interest in the project again.

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Carolyn,

Many people have recently added the Cemeterist badge, if you would post your request for a Cemetery challenge (end of October would be ideal but possibly would take longer to organize) as a new question and include the Leaders tag on it, see what response you get! Sounds fun to me. Could also do a challenge in midNovember in honor of Veterans Day.

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I can't right now, Russ.  I am still living in a hotel while my house is being repaired from the flooding.