"Genealogy without documentation is mythology"

"Walking. I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands." ~ Linda Hogan

"They say you die twice, first when your body leaves the Earth, and a second time when people quit telling your story" ~We must keep telling the story

"We don't own the memorials we manage and they are not ours to collect like baseball cards and tuck away and forget. Find A Grave memorials are of those who came before us, human beings, departed, who once lived and loved. Our job is to maintain the most accurate and dignified memorials we can. What we record becomes history, and a record in someone else's family tree. We have a responsibility to do good and take great care. It's a privilege and honor." ~ Taken from fellow Gravers

"Committed to honoring the past for the future"

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❤ For those of us taking over management of memorials through Find A Grave that once belonged to Fallen Gravers, please take the time to visit their memorials and leave a flower for these Fallen Gravers who contributed so much of their time in adding these memorials, photos, sources and other information. ❤

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I have been doing genealogical research and collecting information and sources on my family history as well as others who request my help for over 30 + years. It is very important to back up your research with the proper sources and documentation. The information, pictures and sourced images I post on my memorials, are from my own research, I try to document and source all the memorials I have added. I do not rely on other people's research, and I enjoy doing the detective work. I add sources, documents and biographies to my memorials both in the photo section and in the biography section, that way I hope I am creating a better understanding of the loved one in the memorial and giving more information to future generations.

Please do not take my pictures, sources and or information, and say it is your own, please give credit where credit is due. I am happy to collaborate with those who are willing and I have even offered in private messages, edits and or otherwise tried to share sources and photos from my research with others.

** Regarding the memorials I manage, I treat them all with respect whether it be a close family loved one or someone else's loved one, I only add information if I know I can enrich and improve the memorial otherwise I do not change or delete anything on memorials I manage entrusted to me by others. These Memorial should be honored and cherished.

Please, if you see mistakes that need to be corrected, or if you have information you would like me to place on a memorial, please, politely note your edit request and as long as I can verify the information to be correct, I will be happy to edit. Also, sources are appreciated.

** Important note, whether a person chose to share memories of their loved ones by creating a memorial, or those who take the time to add memorials from burial lists and sexton records, they do it because they care, let us remember that when requesting edits or pointing out errors on these memorials, be kind and understand people make mistakes, there is never a reason to be rude.

Credible Sources

Wills, Census records, newspaper clippings, DAR/SAR records, family bibles, marriage records, baptism records, pension records and other Military Service records, are all great sources, many older sources are handwritten on pieces of paper such as Wills, family letters and hand drawn pedigree charts passed down in a family as well as other documents that were copied over by hand back before there were copy machines, scanners etc. these handwritten papers are considered reliable sources or references and as long as these documents are endorsed by the National Archives, the historical Society of the related State, the America Bible Association, DAR and SAR or other similar Genealogical Associations, then these papers are considered VALID. These documents would not be made available to the public for genealogical research otherwise.

Not only are these old pieces of paper valid, but also precious and beyond monetary value, they are important for research and preservation of family history and history itself.

Family Trees are NOT a Source

Family trees can sometimes be a valuable resource, depending on the tree but they are NOT reliable on their own. Family trees often rely on oral history, which can be inaccurate or embellished over time, also documentation and sources may be missing or incomplete, leading to gaps in information.

That which is Detrimental to Find a Grave

Let us all remember, that when taking over management of a memorial, we made a pledge with Find a Grave or the person who transferred it to us. It is one thing to receive a memorial that was blank to begin with, but it is completely wrong and entirely another thing to willingly erase information on a memorial, unless there are many good sources proving otherwise.

It is never okay to unlink loved ones and erase the history on that memorial, it is never okay to erase a memorial and try to say that is belongs to someone else, unless there are many sources proving this to be the case. If one is willing to go so far as to do these things on their family memorials as well as others just so that they can maintain control of a family line, that is just so wrong. How do you possibly justify saying someone is your family when they are not and remove them from their loved ones? This is just disturbing and wrong on so many levels. 

It is never okay to initiate actions that intentionally cause memorials to be merged or deleted that should not have been. This malignant behavior is never acceptable in any way shape or form.

It is never acceptable to create a hoard of burial unknown memorials and then either hide them away without linking them to their proper loved ones or even worse, linking them to the wrong unrelated memorial, thus knowingly preventing others from creating a memorial for their loved one in fear of creating a duplicate and having it merged into this other.

In most cases. if someone is related to a specific family/surname they take enough interest to do the research to know who is and is not related, linking related loved ones to a non-related memorial as family does not then make that non related memorial family, all it does is cause a lot of misinformation and confusion. We are either related to someone in a memorial or we are not and if someone else happens to manage the memorial of someone we are related to, then the best thing we can do is collaborate with them, not try to undermine their memorial by withholding the linking of loved ones and or trying to claim their memorial is not related.

I can't believe someone would even consider doing these things, let alone acting on them.

I think that all the awesome volunteers and the Fallen Gravers, who took the time to create these memorials and visit the cemeteries to take photos of these headstones would agree with the above sentiment.

Transfers

Regarding the above sentiments, I will now talk about

Transfers

I will now only consider transfers on a person to person basis...

I have met many wonderful people and made many friends through Find A Grave, some located here in America and many from around the world. Unfortunately, there have been a few individuals who have been rude, and abusive to myself as well as others here in Find a Grave, and who also disrespect the memorials they manage. To that end, I will follow the Find A Grave guidelines on transfers for these disrespectful individuals.

I transfer out of kindness to those who are kind. Treating others with rudeness while simultaneously expecting favors, doesn't go over well.

I have transferred hundreds of memorials during my time here in Find a Grave and those individuals I have transferred memorials to can vouch for that fact. However, for those who have a history of being rude to myself and others on this platform, I will only consider a transfer if it falls under the required Find a Grave Guidelines and only if this person has sources to prove their relationship and only if myself or another respectful account manager better suited is not more closely related.

If there is someone with a history of being abusive to myself or other gravers or has a history of abusing the memorials they manage and they have been turned down or been given stipulations regarding a memorial transfer by me or another graver, they need to understand that they are not the victim, the loved one who's history has been erased on the memorial they manage is the victim.

Find a Grave Guidelines on relationship transfers

Memorials are transferred for relatives with these close relationships:

child, spouse/partner, sibling, parent, grandchild, great-grandchild, grandparent, great-grandparent, niece/nephew, great-niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, great-aunt/uncle, or first cousin. This would include adoptive, step and in-law versions of these relationships. 

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Placing photo requests on another manager's memorials.

Before placing a photo request, please read if there is a description regarding the burial information on the memorial. It could be that the person that created the memorial already did a photo request and was given an answer by a photo volunteer, such as headstone missing, or burial ground is defunct. So Please take the time to read over the memorial to see if there is information already posted regarding the burial or cemetery before sending a photo volunteer out to a cemetery that no longer exists or a memorial that has already been noted with another issue from a previous volunteer.

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Burials and Cemeteries

Please take note, being unable to find a marker in a cemetery is not uncommon, and it does not change the fact that a person could still be buried in that cemetery/burial ground. There are many unmarked graves in many cemeteries.

Sadly, many cemeteries have been neglected for decades, and they are are in terrible condition, and the headstones can no longer be read.

There are many old burial grounds and cemeteries that were taken over by corporations to build a parking lot or condos etc. and sadly many do not move those who are interred in these cemeteries or the headstones or other kinds of grave markers. 

There are also many burial alternatives, cremation, sea, space, hybrid, buried on one's own land, buried on the trail, this happens a lot, example, approximately 6,600 to 30,000 migrants died on the Oregon/Overland Trail due to disease (especially cholera), accidents, and hardship. If at all possible all need to be documented.

Regarding cemetery burials, whether it be a large monument, a headstone, an unmarked rock, or nothing but a patch of grass, ALL are equally important.

~ Thank you