Hi all! Findagrave has changed over the years. There is no longer a way to send backup documentation and in order to avoid having edits "declined" erroneously, and to eliminate forcing the memorial owner to waste their time duplicating all the research you did, it is quite necessary to utilize the 5 photo slots to show your backup original documentation. This is why you can now designate whether it is a "grave" photo, a "person" photo, or "other". In some cases the stone is a plain quaker stone so something must be placed there to prove the location of the decedent's final resting place. Thanks so much for all you do! Therefore, I think we can eliminate the stipulations people made long ago about the process and have left on their bios. They are simply out of date with how the site has been upgraded over the years. However since it's a public site, I choose long ago not to leave my email address public, as we who have been here a long time know from plenty of experience with spamming and other troublemaking that some people are on the internet for, that's simply not a wise thing to do.

**BuriaI unknown**

Without any primary documentation backup such as a hard copy image I do not revert memorials to "unknown" burial locations when I do quite a bit of work to determine exactly where they were when they passed. Therefore I am declining edits for any of those unless a skilled group has done a proper cemetery recovery and you have found and added a proper named cemetery to change it to. "Show your work" please! -)

I work with the State of RI (overlapping into Mass as well where our ancestors are all located) thru our local well-publicized in the media regional recovery group-River Road and Blackstone Valley (BVHS historical society-sponsored) Quaker Recovery and have assisted recovering historical cemeteries for over ten years from TX and NC-research before getting permission in the towns from current property owners to go in-or in cases of state lawbreaking development encroachment on an historically-protected cemetery without a proper survey or title search we have stopped their work and forced a professional excavation.

We have located and uncovered many *lost* cemeteries and have a specific method specializing in Veterans in Family Farm cemeteries. Our model combines documentation-wills, land records, vital records, census, Bible records, already published books with backup documentation-all vetted for accuracy and building on the work of those who came before us. We have volunteer map specialists, archaeology experts, theology professionals, genealogists -and do on the ground professional level recovery work-with success in 100s of Veterans relocated!

Pioneers did not have registered cemeteries or offices recording everything so we must combine several sources of information. Often cemeteries have been incorporated much later after using the same spot on their property as Native Americans already chose-so someone was there before your particular relative made it official or donated land for public use generations later.

Most RI original colonists (immigrant)families were Quakers and most did not have inscribed stones until after the 1820s-the ones you might see now have been provided by succeeding generations for many of them-next to or on top of the original rock. We find the hollows, know the E-W placement, rows and size of the rock designates adult male head of family, adult female wife or wives on either side, then unmarried daughters and or died in childbirth married daughters, then next rows are sons who inherited and remained as heirs to property and their families and so on. We find the original rock head and foot place yarn around to verify age, and we invite Scouts church groups and the neighborhood to participate and learn to keep them maintained as a living local history project-several Eagle Scouts have earned badges. Often neighborhoods come to us first and ask for help.

We can see and use probes to determine if someone has been moved and check for cemetery relocations due to development, documenting it all on Findagrave while we wait for the State database to be updated.

Did you map out on old maps compared to new maps, use land transactions where available, use 1774-1782-1790 census etc. for neighbors, trace movements of people to other locations to eliminate from consideration, read the background of the area in published sources and assess all the historical information and documentation available using for example the award-winning RI state database (RI) and notes from all previous visual-only surveys as your starting point by any chance?

DAR apps in the early 1900s were a fashionable hobby and many were "approved" without the stringent evidence required today-(My sister is now a state DAR officer in NC, and we have been volunteer researchers for 26 years in several states. She helps folks find the documentation needed or-lets them know if they don't have what's required.) Ergo this alone is insufficient-

Without any primary documentation backup such as hard copy images plus a proper cemetery name location and recovery process having been completed, I do not revert my memorials to "unknown" burial" ***

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"Who" I am: I belong to the line of Mattesons descended from FRANCIS MATTESON and SARAH NICHOLS, some of whom changed their name to Mathewson: Thus my user handle is "FrancisMattesonLine" for privacy and security purposes.

I've been a member of Find-A-Grave for a total of 23 years, (having had to change accounts due to an email change 8 years ago.) My sibling and I have been working on documenting our family's history for 23 years and we enjoy working with the many knowledgeable volunteers here.

Most recently, since 2015 I have become a research member of the very large volunteer group helping out the BVHS/Postle cemetery recovery group, working all over the Blackstone Valley area in Rhode Island from where many of our ancestors hail. *BVHS = Blackstone Valley Historical Society.

These amazing people have made cemetery and very ancient stone discoveries no one else ever has before, and if I have added a memorial or sent you an EDIT, it's usually upon concurred request from that large cooperative group after all available resources materials and data have been combined, including vital records, wills, contemporary maps, books, census, and a collaborative discussion process has occurred. I'm here now and learning how to recover family farm cemeteries for a few years and absorbing all the great knowledge learned from those who have been doing so for quite some time.

All the great historical discoveries they are making in R.I. every weekend in every town are phenomenal! Sometimes it's local officials, Scout groups, everyday people like you and me who have a special skill, all of it is on a voluntary basis. Other areas and towns in RI also have these types of groups.

Special shout-out goes to the Cumberland High School students and their teacher who have formed an Archaeology club and are carefully unearthing markers in neglected burial areas in their town and putting the shattered ones back together to restore dignity to our ancestors.

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Most people do the proper attributions by referring to find-a-grave member number only, and I hope you will also remind me if the research done was yours :-)

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Corrections, questions, updates, transfer requests:

"EDIT" tab is the preferred method, using the memorial you are addressing, where you can leave a note about your edit and post your backup, so please only use the "Message" function when there is simply no other option available. I very rarely check "messages" as the "notes" section should be sufficient. You have up to 5 spaces to post your original record documentation.

30 days is the FAG time limit to respond, and since we all have other roles in life, let's adhere to this and be patient while corrections are being worked out. Thanks so much and let's all work together in a kind and cooperative manner to memorialize our ancestors!

It has become necessary to post this : Note to those who post silly , uncooperative, bad faith "messages" on a contributor's profile and then deliberately disable replies: No, I will not remove the proof documentation I provide on memorials that you need to make your edits and have the confidence they are accurate for approval. People come to this site to find the last resting places of their ancestors, some who cannot physically go to the location and do it themselves. They deserve to have the information and their relative's stories. Thank you to those who do not engage in the petty practice described above, but unfortunately there are some who do and are not team players here. The memorials we maintain are for ALL relatives and descendants of these deceased, they are not your personal property. Thank you everyone for all you contribute here!