It has recently come to my attention that there exists a fairly prolific resource out there that needs immediate defending: Cemetery Inventories.
A simple question came through a professional listserv that I belong to – which will remain nameless because I am not here to shame in any way. I merely wish to educate – and if that person had not been brave enough to ask the question, they (and their local community) were very close to falling tragic victim to misleading genealogy marketing.
The question was aimed at the value of a collection of Cemetery Inventories submitted over the years by their local community – and housed in the local library. To paraphrase the question: With the growth, popularity, and availability of Find a Grave, do we need to keep the older print inventories taken years ago?
I know that I wasn’t the only one who spit out their tea that morning – gasping for air and panicking at the idea that this could be a serious consideration. Luckily, the masses were very kind in their advice – but they were also harmonious: A resounding YES!
For those of you new to genealogy research, there are few resources in the local library or historical society that hold as much value as cemetery inventories. The simple reason behind this estimation is the cruel nature of time – and overestimating the completeness of Find a Grave.
In a nutshell, cemetery inventories (including those in FG) are created to capture the information on extant stones at that moment in time – or through previous records gathered – death certificates, cemetery inventories, funeral home records, etc. And the earliest moments we can record are the most valuable. Every year stones are knocked over or information worn away. Time and the elements are especially cruel to gravestones.
While Find a Grave has been collecting gravestone information since 1995, the local cemetery inventories often pre-date this online database by decades – even generations. In fact, the oldest original (unpublished) cemetery inventory I have held in my hands dated back to the 1920s (on onion skin paper). I’m sure there are many others in the country that stretch back much farther. While many of these inventories may be small family submissions, some were rather large and organized/managed by official groups, such as historical societies, lineage societies, etc.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Find a Grave is that users have already entered the local print cemetery inventories into their database. This is simply not true across the board. Sure, some communities have graciously done this – but by no means all communities. However – hypothetically – let’s just say that you know your local volunteers did enter every entry from the older print inventories into FG. Does this mean the print inventories are now obsolete? Far from it.
Because these inventories are locally, regionally, or state created – they fall into the category of local resource. These records are not distributed in copy format around the country, like a federal resource from NARA. Even if they were published for sale once upon a time, there are probably only a small number of copies that still exist. Plus, since the print or written inventories are the earliest forms created, prior to (hopefully) being entered into FG – it is never wise to destroy/discard the original or earlier version. Plus, let’s also consider the long-term fragility of databases. They can die or go behind a pay wall at a moment’s notice. Let us not forget that Ancestry owns FG and has continued to host this site for free – but they promised the same for Rootsweb years ago – and they finally killed it. Companies change hands, new managers enter the scene, and digital content can disappear in the blink of an eye.
Moral of the story: PLEASE retain the local/regional/state cemetery inventories you find in your collection! Even though we are living in a digital age, these physical resources are extremely valuable to current researchers and could be priceless to future generations!
RootsTech 2022: This year’s RootsTech was much like 2021 – videos submitted – to be posted to my profile of available videos. I was delighted recently to see that they have added my in-person session from 2020: Tackling Difficult Chapters of Your Family History. Meaning, if you visit my 
The Final Plot Twist: As I mentioned earlier – these previous events were then overshadowed by the biggest plot twist of all: After 10 years at the Kentucky Historical Society, I left to join the 
With an amazing national collection, I can’t wait to share more with you all over the coming months. Just a reminder that the 250th Anniversary of America’s birth is coming in the next 4 years, so the programming will build at a very fast pace. We are busy developing a new library webpage portal for continued content, events, and resources for researching your American Revolution era ancestors. While we wait for this aspect to go live, please be sure to join our 
Those Statistics Matter!
There are currently many libraries out there who are closed to patrons, with staff still reporting. What exactly will they be doing with a library devoid of patrons? They will be purchasing books, cataloging them, planning future programming, providing virtual reference/programs, some curbside book delivery, digitizing material, and maintaining those databases we can use from home. And the databases themselves are VERY diverse in what they can offer your research:
Note About 
Time to Fill in that Local Context:
As of today, my library is closed to on-site visitors but our staff is reporting to maintain reference chains of communication. We will continue to answer phones, assist researchers via email, fill research orders submitted by mail, fill interlibrary loan requests, conduct programming research, and produce educational material from time to time. Of course, this may change in the future, but we will be tackling each day in its turn. Even if they close our doors fully, I anticipate continuing email and phone reference. And PLEASE, continue to use our free online databases/catalogs! We will continue to count those statistics, and every little bit helps.
Which is why this soldier’s words made me catch my breath. When describing the rationale behind fighting to keep the system of slavery in place, it appears that there was no guilt associated with their belief – which was not a complete surprise, in its essence. But this lack of guilt was based on the actions of their ancestors. In his words:
We know our trees. We’ve been researching them for years – decades even. When examining the fabric of our family, we understand the complexity of the weave. And even though the guilt of slavery may not be on our generation, if we examine the fabric close enough, we can see the threads of our own guilt. We carry the guilt of our own generation. What does that guilt look like? It looks like apathy. It looks like an oblivious existence of comfort. It looks like trees without diversity – and trust me – if you have no diversity in your tree, you are not searching hard enough, or you are choosing to prune away the uncomfortably branches. DNA is lighting up our trees with colorful leaves that we did not know of, or we chose not to see due to that heavy fabric we kept as a blindfold.
I am also increasingly disheartened by the low numbers of white folks attending programs or sessions presented on African American genealogy/history – and other non-anglo based classes for that matter. It is shameful how few attend these wonderful classes. Go ahead and tell yourself that you don’t attend because it doesn’t apply to your research or ancestry – go ahead – just try. Because that doesn’t wash! If your ancestors were here beyond one generation, let alone before the Civil War, your family was a part of that history. What if you can’t find a slave owner in your tree? Congratulations, but did your family benefit from the slave economy? Of course they did. That network/system was in place for generations, and your ancestors were a part of it, whether they actively traded in human flesh as a commodity or not. They chose a side in the War driven by slavery – do you really think their side of choice was simply due to geography? Of course not – the issues leading up to that war were numerous and important to most. The records used to research enslaved families involved white owner families – so take a positive step and attend more of these sessions! I guarantee you will learn something helpful about your own research, and are sure to learn more about how our families can connect on a deeper level!
As speakers and genealogy teachers, we are quick to promote context as a way of understanding our ancestors’ lives and their motivations for life choices. If we continue to preach context and fail to promote digging into African American historical subjects, we are choosing to foster an atmosphere of division. How arrogant are we that we ignore the historical subjects of diverse American groups because we have arrogantly, and erroneously, determined that they do not fit into our family tree?
Does her phone call remove my desire to help them? Not really, but it does allow me to analyze their requests with a much more knowledgeable eye. In the new book, Genealogy and the Librarian, there is a wonderful chapter by Katherine Aydelott from the University of New Hampshire, detailing her lengthy correspondence with an inmate, and how she helped him fill in a lot of his family tree – later discovering that they were 8th cousins (pg.203). But even with this rewarding research relationship, she advises that all correspondence should remain professional, and to adhere to your organization’s policies. In my library’s case, our policy clearly states we will not conduct research without pre-payment. Yes, we have bent the rules slightly when someone just needed a small piece of info that was easily provided – which fit well into my previous pattern of helping with one small page of info easily copied or printed out – but her phone call made me realize that even this small tidbit could have serious consequences.
Repeated Scenario:
Is there original family material inside? If we find original family photos, correspondence, sourced research reports, bible records, diaries, ephemera, etc…..that’s a home run. We LOVE these components because they are unique, tell a story, and in many cases, fragile. Our facility can preserve them, and make the collection accessible to researchers and many future family members.
Point taken – but I’m here to pour a bucket of cold water over your head: Which would you rather have, a research report with full citations donated to a non-profit collection that your family can access for generations – OR – would you rather see your decades of hard work tossed into the dumpster?
pieces of your family collection. If you walked into the office/closet during a natural disaster and had to pick one box to take with you, what would it be? If you can’t lay your hands on one to two boxes of original family material or research, you’ve already lost the estate battle.
It’s quite a mouthful: Interlibrary Loan. But it would be wise to remember this phrase as it could be your new best friend!
Tip #1: Remember these terms: Borrower and Lender. They are exactly as they sound, but the Borrower is not you – you are the patron or customer and the library borrowing on your behalf is the Borrower. The lending library is the Lender. Contrary to perceptions, the ILL transaction is a contract between the two libraries – NOT between the patron and the lending library. This way, both parties agree to certain standards during the transaction, even if things get damaged or lost in the mail, there is already a protocol in place to resolve the situation.
Tip #5: If you borrow a book through ILL, READ IT – and do not dawdle! ILL books will usually arrive with a generous loan period of around a month, but many do not allow renewals. So, get cracking on that title once it comes in!
I am writing this post with gritted teeth and a fake smile upon my lips – retaining a professional demeanor in the face of such a dangerous fallacy can be almost impossible. But I promised you undiluted genealogy – and here comes test case number 1! Quick – go get a cup of tea before reading further!
I was recently told a scary story (just in time for Halloween) about the construction of a new county courthouse – the locals in charge of building said courthouse, decided to opt for a closet sized research table to access records, because “No one conducts onsite research anymore – it’s all available on Ancestry!”
In short – always think of research as a multi-dimensional process. We are fortunate enough to have wonderful records at the tip of our fingers via super digitization efforts of many – but our research should NEVER stop there! Our storehouses of history contain the family records we need: Bible records, genealogy research files, correspondence, diaries, photos, school and Church records, etc. A fundamental principle of the