My new hobby

Back in March I was listening to NPR one Sunday morning and heard an interview with Jim Tipton, the founder of findagrave.com.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124671879
I had never heard of it but there was something rather intriguing about it. It fed a couple of my interests, walking around outdoors and taking pictures. I’d visited cemeteries before, taken pictures of interesting, artsy tombstones. I’d visited the poor farm cemetery here in Jefferson County, which has nothing but a couple of field stones, plain rocks as markers and only a couple of them, though I knew for certain that the number of unfortunate folks interred there was actually in the dozens, if not scores. (A subsequent data search revealed that the county’s records for the farm had all been destroyed in fires, floods and the like. These unknown will likely remain unknown forever.)
So the idea of helping build a database of burials and tombstones in old, small and all but forgotten cemeteries fascinated me.
I logged in to findagrave.com and discovered that there were indeed some outstanding requests for photographs very near my home. I signed up as a contributing photographer, grabbed my camera, printed off the lists, grabbed a bottle of water and headed to the nearby Hillsboro Cemetery.
I walked the entire cemetery; it took less than an hour and came up with none of the names on the list. Frustrated I returned home and added a comment to the online request. One of the canned responses was: “I have searched the entire cemetery and was unable to find the requested stone.” Apparently this was not so uncommon.
Frustrated but undeterred I loaded up and went to the next cemetery on the list. I found two or three of the five I was looking for. I was giddy with the sensation of discovery. I took two or three shots of each one. Still there were a few names that just didn’t exist.
I edited and resized the photos and uploaded them, checking the ‘Fulfill request’ button. Within twenty four hours I received via email a notice that I had a message waiting for me. It was a personal, public and courteous “thank you” from the requestor. I was hooked. I am motivated primarily by appreciation. A simple, personal ‘thank you’ will get my lazy butt off the couch more effectively than offers of food or threats of violent bodily harm. I’m cheap that way. Appreciate my efforts and I am your slave. Just ask Angel.
Over subsequent weekends my numbers started slowly climbing. I started learning the ropes. I also discovered that about half the requests could not be fulfilled. There are several reasons for this:
1. Inaccurate burial information.
Some of the information comes from newspaper accounts and genealogy databases and is not always correct, especially those from the mid to late 19th century.
2. There simply is no stone.
Either there never was a stone, or the stone is just missing. In most cemeteries there has never been a requirement to have stones. Those that could not afford them, or were without someone remaining to provide them simply went unmarked.
3. Worn, eroded, broken, unreadable.
The average lifespan for tombstones is not as long as you might think. Even rather elaborate, more expensive stones from before the Civil War are now mostly worn down to the point of being completely unreadable. Those from the 1880’s are getting there fast. Depending on the quality of stone used, some from the early 20th century are already fading away. Those from the roaring 20’s onwards seem to be made of more stable stuff. Time will only tell how long they actually last, but if I’ve learned nothing else, it’s for certain that even carved limestone, marble or granite is not forever.

Another thing I discovered is that before the 20th century many people were buried in places that have now been repurposed. Land has been sold, families have moved away, churches have burned down or flooded out and moved. Some of the small family cemeteries stand in fields or forests and are not accessible from roads. I’ve found one in a guy’s back yard, another where a church used to be and now is in the middle of a pasture. Another I have discovered is under the paved parking lot of a large home supply store, and no, they didn’t bother moving the graves first.
The findagrave database is extensive but incomplete. In some cases it is downright inaccurate. This is understandable since this site is ad-based and all the work, all the data and photos, comes from amateur volunteers such as myself. But like other contributor based sites it is open for improvement. On more than one occasion I’ve sent messages to requestors or findagrave itself pointing out errors.
For example, I received a request a couple of weeks ago. The requestor had added a memorial to the Resurrection Cemetery in Jefferson County and requested a photo. The findagrave database says there are six interments there. There’s only one problem. There is no such cemetery in Jefferson County.
The requestor is not from the area and likely used the information in the obituary to determine the burial site. The obit says this particular priest was from Jefferson City, worked in Jefferson City and has family in Jefferson City. Jefferson City is a hundred plus miles away in Cole County. Apparently the requestor assumed that Jefferson City was in Jefferson County. I sent the requestor and findagrave a note, and left it at that. They haven’t corrected it yet, but at least I did my job.
Another case I’m working on now is similar. The request was for a grave in the Lebanon Baptist Church Cemetery. There is no such animal in Jeff Co. However, just across the Sainte Genevieve county line to the south there is a Lebanon Baptist Church. Findagrave is county centric, it’s how you usually start a search. Findagrave lists two Lebanon Baptist Church cemeteries, one in Jeff Co. the other in Ste G. I did my homework and sent notes to the requestors. It turns out the cemetery in Ste G. is barely documented on findagrave so I’ve decided to go the additional mile (actually additional eight miles) and this weekend , weather permitting, I will visit and photo-document the entire cemetery.

Some of my fans have expressed interest in this little hobby of mine, so I’ve decided to journal some of the work involved. This blog will be periodically updated with new frustrations, discoveries and adventures, such as:

300 Priests, all in a row.

The cemetery in a dude’s back yard.

Find one tiny stone in a field of over a thousand.

My ongoing (mostly positive) interactions with the local Historical Society.

“Sorry but the land owners don’t want me to give out directions to that cemetery.”

Building a single 35,000 record database from varying-standard data.

Stopping halfway through to go buy a better pair of shoes.

"Heir Ruhen In Gott Die Durch Morderhand Dem Tode Uberlieferten Eheute Bonacker"
(Here rest in God, delivered to death by a murderer's hand, the married couple Bonacker)

Stay tuned.