Angela B
- Member for
- 5 years 7 months 18 days
- Find a Grave ID
Bio
1. Military Titles
2. Illegible Headstones Photography Trick !
3. Five Photos You Should Take
4. Reliability of Dates & Names
1. Tip for Military Titles Used as prefix in Name Fields - can use military title if :
- Served in a time of war but not on active duty at time of death
- Retired after 20 or more years of military service
- Passed away while active in the military
- Passed away in combat while serving their country
- They can have a headstone with the rank listed BELOW the name and not PART of their name if they served in the military at any time. Click the veteran button for these memorials & mention their service in the bio. (BUT use as prefix if they meet one of the above qualifications)
Here's a link that explains : https://www.reddit.com/r/findagrave/comments/1jib8wm/comment/mjfexy8/?context=3
2. Trick for illegible, hard to read headstones, a light held at an angle to the stone or an off-camera flash, can be the difference that helps make the wording visible in the photo (a mirror can also work, or if the sun is shining at just the right angle). The links in these posts have more info and some AMAZING before/ after pictures using this technique.
https://imgur.com/a/off-camera-flash-legible-gravestone-photos-gSumvIM
https://www.reddit.com/r/findagrave/comments/1f7al7z/grave_chalking_alternatives/
https://www.reddit.com/r/findagrave/comments/1601l94/suggestions_on_making_text_visible/
■ When I request photos, I usually ask for 3 pics: a closeup pic of the marker, one of the Full headstone (esp. if its shared with anyone on the front or back), and one from slightly further away showing the general location/surroundings/area.
■ This article was a great read, expanding on pics to take :
3. 5 Photos You Should Take at the Cemetery
by Amy Johnson Crow
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/5-photos-you-should-take-at-the-cemetery/
It's sad — and rather frustrating — to go to a cemetery, take some photos, and realize when you get home that those photos don't really help you. (It's especially frustrating when you're not able to get back to take more photos.) To help ease the frustration, here are 5 cemetery photos that you should get in the habit of taking every time:
1. The Cemetery Sign
The cemetery sign should be the first photo you take each time you go to the cemetery. I know it feels a little strange to take a picture before you even get into the cemetery. Honestly, this was a hard habit for me to get into, but I am so glad I did!
When you go to several cemeteries, you can lose track of which one was which. Having the sign as the first photo for that cemetery, you never have to wonder later, "Which cemetery was this?" All you need to do is scroll back through your photos until you get to the cemetery sign.
Not all cemeteries have a sign like the one for Havens Cemetery. In those cases, make your own. Write down the name (or the location if you don't know the name) and take a picture of that.
2. The Entire Tombstone
I like to get a picture of the entire tombstone, even if I can't read all of the details. (More on that in a moment.) You wouldn't photocopy just one paragraph of an ancestor's will. Treat the tombstone the same way: as a document. Get a photo showing the whole thing.
EDIT: Make sure you get photos of the back and sides of the stone, too! (Thanks to everyone who reminded me that I forgot to mention it!)
3. Close-up Details
There are often details that aren't legible in the photo of the entire tombstone. That's when you want to take close-up shots. Take photos of the name and dates, the epitaph, symbols, and other details. (Take them from several angles to improve your odds of reading them later.)
4. The Wider Shot
If you want to have some hope of finding that tombstone again, take several steps back and get a photo of the tombstone and the stones around it. This helps give you landmarks for finding it again. Little Nellie's tombstone could easily be overlooked. But the larger Edgar tombstone stands out more. I can look for that stone again and know that Nellie is right in front of it.
(Yes, I know that smartphone cameras can geo-tag a photo. But what if you don't have cell coverage at that cemetery or you're not using your phone? And what if you're like me and have geo-tagging turned off?) *also, phone GPS can be inaccurate by 5-20 feet, and sometimes much more than that
5. The Neighbors
Our ancestors are often buried near other relatives. Get photos of the surrounding tombstones (including closeups of the inscriptions). Even if you don't know how (or even if) those people are related now, you'll have the information for when you do more research on the family later.
Get in the Habit
It's so easy to take tons of photos at the cemetery. Getting into the habit of taking these 5 photos will help you be less frustrated when you're looking at them later.
What's your "must take" photo at the cemetery?
4. Dates & Names
Headstones can be very unreliable. A huge percentage are inaccurate and can be proven as such.
- Many times the burial date was listed instead of the actual death date. Death dates are most accurate on a death cert. Birthdates, parent's names, and even the deceased's name are not as accurate on a death cert as the death date.
- The informant may have been distraught that their loved one died and give names or birth incorrectly for the death cert, or the person taking down the info misunderstood & wrote down the wrong name, or the informant didn't even know the correct info.
- Birth years are more accurate the closest to the person's birth i.e. a 3 year old is not going to be mistaken for a 12 year old on a census. 1900 census for birth month and year is good, because if the person was alive at the time, they knew more than the people that filled out the death cert or made the headstone.
- Delayed birth certs can have many inaccuracies, because they may have been filed as much as 60 years later, and birth indexes are sometimes indexing a delayed birth cert, not the original birth, or are mis-transcribed from the original.
- Marriage certs often contain inaccurate ages, as one or both may not have been old enough to marry, or may be giving an inaccurate age to make themselves older or younger than their new spouse.
- Name is best when the person gave their own name or signed their name themselves like a marriage cert, Will, an application, or military draft registration. Also, many people could not read or write way back then, so take that into consideration as well. They may not have known how to spell their own name when they were telling someone their name, or it may not even be family providing the info, for example it could be a neighbor giving the census information.
Very common to see on headstones:
- The initial of the woman's maiden name put in as the middle initial of her name.
- Esp seen in earlier years, they put the year date closest to the year of birth, such as a person born Oct 1875, it was put on the headstone born 1876, which was the closest year. This is one reason you see so many headstones that disagree with family dates and death certs, census, etc., when just the year, but not months and days, is on the headstone.
1. Military Titles
2. Illegible Headstones Photography Trick !
3. Five Photos You Should Take
4. Reliability of Dates & Names
1. Tip for Military Titles Used as prefix in Name Fields - can use military title if :
- Served in a time of war but not on active duty at time of death
- Retired after 20 or more years of military service
- Passed away while active in the military
- Passed away in combat while serving their country
- They can have a headstone with the rank listed BELOW the name and not PART of their name if they served in the military at any time. Click the veteran button for these memorials & mention their service in the bio. (BUT use as prefix if they meet one of the above qualifications)
Here's a link that explains : https://www.reddit.com/r/findagrave/comments/1jib8wm/comment/mjfexy8/?context=3
2. Trick for illegible, hard to read headstones, a light held at an angle to the stone or an off-camera flash, can be the difference that helps make the wording visible in the photo (a mirror can also work, or if the sun is shining at just the right angle). The links in these posts have more info and some AMAZING before/ after pictures using this technique.
https://imgur.com/a/off-camera-flash-legible-gravestone-photos-gSumvIM
https://www.reddit.com/r/findagrave/comments/1f7al7z/grave_chalking_alternatives/
https://www.reddit.com/r/findagrave/comments/1601l94/suggestions_on_making_text_visible/
■ When I request photos, I usually ask for 3 pics: a closeup pic of the marker, one of the Full headstone (esp. if its shared with anyone on the front or back), and one from slightly further away showing the general location/surroundings/area.
■ This article was a great read, expanding on pics to take :
3. 5 Photos You Should Take at the Cemetery
by Amy Johnson Crow
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/5-photos-you-should-take-at-the-cemetery/
It's sad — and rather frustrating — to go to a cemetery, take some photos, and realize when you get home that those photos don't really help you. (It's especially frustrating when you're not able to get back to take more photos.) To help ease the frustration, here are 5 cemetery photos that you should get in the habit of taking every time:
1. The Cemetery Sign
The cemetery sign should be the first photo you take each time you go to the cemetery. I know it feels a little strange to take a picture before you even get into the cemetery. Honestly, this was a hard habit for me to get into, but I am so glad I did!
When you go to several cemeteries, you can lose track of which one was which. Having the sign as the first photo for that cemetery, you never have to wonder later, "Which cemetery was this?" All you need to do is scroll back through your photos until you get to the cemetery sign.
Not all cemeteries have a sign like the one for Havens Cemetery. In those cases, make your own. Write down the name (or the location if you don't know the name) and take a picture of that.
2. The Entire Tombstone
I like to get a picture of the entire tombstone, even if I can't read all of the details. (More on that in a moment.) You wouldn't photocopy just one paragraph of an ancestor's will. Treat the tombstone the same way: as a document. Get a photo showing the whole thing.
EDIT: Make sure you get photos of the back and sides of the stone, too! (Thanks to everyone who reminded me that I forgot to mention it!)
3. Close-up Details
There are often details that aren't legible in the photo of the entire tombstone. That's when you want to take close-up shots. Take photos of the name and dates, the epitaph, symbols, and other details. (Take them from several angles to improve your odds of reading them later.)
4. The Wider Shot
If you want to have some hope of finding that tombstone again, take several steps back and get a photo of the tombstone and the stones around it. This helps give you landmarks for finding it again. Little Nellie's tombstone could easily be overlooked. But the larger Edgar tombstone stands out more. I can look for that stone again and know that Nellie is right in front of it.
(Yes, I know that smartphone cameras can geo-tag a photo. But what if you don't have cell coverage at that cemetery or you're not using your phone? And what if you're like me and have geo-tagging turned off?) *also, phone GPS can be inaccurate by 5-20 feet, and sometimes much more than that
5. The Neighbors
Our ancestors are often buried near other relatives. Get photos of the surrounding tombstones (including closeups of the inscriptions). Even if you don't know how (or even if) those people are related now, you'll have the information for when you do more research on the family later.
Get in the Habit
It's so easy to take tons of photos at the cemetery. Getting into the habit of taking these 5 photos will help you be less frustrated when you're looking at them later.
What's your "must take" photo at the cemetery?
4. Dates & Names
Headstones can be very unreliable. A huge percentage are inaccurate and can be proven as such.
- Many times the burial date was listed instead of the actual death date. Death dates are most accurate on a death cert. Birthdates, parent's names, and even the deceased's name are not as accurate on a death cert as the death date.
- The informant may have been distraught that their loved one died and give names or birth incorrectly for the death cert, or the person taking down the info misunderstood & wrote down the wrong name, or the informant didn't even know the correct info.
- Birth years are more accurate the closest to the person's birth i.e. a 3 year old is not going to be mistaken for a 12 year old on a census. 1900 census for birth month and year is good, because if the person was alive at the time, they knew more than the people that filled out the death cert or made the headstone.
- Delayed birth certs can have many inaccuracies, because they may have been filed as much as 60 years later, and birth indexes are sometimes indexing a delayed birth cert, not the original birth, or are mis-transcribed from the original.
- Marriage certs often contain inaccurate ages, as one or both may not have been old enough to marry, or may be giving an inaccurate age to make themselves older or younger than their new spouse.
- Name is best when the person gave their own name or signed their name themselves like a marriage cert, Will, an application, or military draft registration. Also, many people could not read or write way back then, so take that into consideration as well. They may not have known how to spell their own name when they were telling someone their name, or it may not even be family providing the info, for example it could be a neighbor giving the census information.
Very common to see on headstones:
- The initial of the woman's maiden name put in as the middle initial of her name.
- Esp seen in earlier years, they put the year date closest to the year of birth, such as a person born Oct 1875, it was put on the headstone born 1876, which was the closest year. This is one reason you see so many headstones that disagree with family dates and death certs, census, etc., when just the year, but not months and days, is on the headstone.
