Burials

Company of Undertakers

My Porter ancestors came from Ireland and settled in Ulverton, in the South Durham area of Quebec. My 2x great grandfather John Porter was born there in 1840. He was a farmer/ wheel wright/ carpenter/ contractor/ coffin maker. John lived in Ulverton most of his life, married and had children there. Sometime after the 1901 census, John and his wife Susanna moved to New Hampshire. When they died in New Hampshire in the early 1900's their sons had their remains brought home for burial. To do this they had to get a "New Hampshire Death and Disinterment Certificate". This record is packed with information, including occupation, birth date, death date, cause of death, parents names and their country of birth, where the burial will take place, and more.

My husband's mother's family immigrate from Muzylowice, Galicia, which at that time was part of the Austrian Empire. I was fortunate enough to have someone put me in touch with a group that had done research in that area, and who were carrying out a Cemetery Project at Münchenthal, aka Muzylowice. They cleaned up the cemetery and erected a memorial. I got a lot of helpful information from Ed Rozylowicz.

The Church

The Cemetery

Many Cemeteries have an index on their website which you can search for your ancestor. Some give more information, others you have to ask for it and they may or may not charge a small fee.  I have had good response with some cemeteries, they gladly emailed me information on my ancestors including cause of death, death and burial dates, and location of the grave. Some have even offered to go out and take photos of the grave.  You don't know until you ask.

The older graves may be much harder to find or to read.  My daughter went to the Mount Royal Cemetery where some of our ancestors were buried and knowing where one grave was she still could not find it. But leaning up against their son's monument in the family plot was a piece of gravestone she could neither read nor move. You can see it at bottom right. Their son had this monument made for his beloved wife, and when he died and was buried there (according to cemetery records), neither of his daughters added his name to the stone.  

I am adding all my ancestors as I find them to Find a Grave and I link them to their family members, so that the records will be on Ancestry and others may find them in the future.

Related Links:

New Hampshire Death and Disinterment Records

Burial Location request at Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal

Les Cimetières de Quebec

The Company of Undertakers (jpeg)

Scottish Genealogy Society - Black Book (deaths by county)

Register of interments in the Greyfriars burying ground, Edinburgh 1658-1700

Gleanings from Blue Church Burial Ground - Augusta Township, ON

Wills, registers and monumental inscriptions of the parish of Barwick-in-Elmet, Co York (also in genealogies and wills)

Tabernacle United Methodist Church, NC 1994;  Cemetery listings and historical information, 1837-1994

Journal - Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland

UK Burials in Indian Cemeteries

The Annual Monitor - Obituary; members of the Society of Friends in Britain and Ireland.

Victoria Genealogy Society (BC) - Burials Index

Old Cemeteries of Victoria database

Obituary records of graduates of Amherst College (Mass)

Registre d'inhumation de Mount Hermon Cemetery, Quebec (Protestant) 1848-1904

Some Mount Hermon Cemetery transcriptions - Quebec City

The first Catholic cemeteries of Montreal: Lot owners at Cote des Neiges Cemetery 1897

Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan tribes west of the Mississippi

Mortuary records with genealogical notes of the own of Spafford, Onondaga Co, NY 1917

The Obituary book of Queen's College, Oxford; and ancient Sarum Kalendar, with obituaries of the founders and benefactors of the College - 1910

Memorials of St. Michael's: The Old Parish Churchyard of Dumfries 1876

Gravestone inscriptions and records of tomb burials in the Central and South burying ground, Boston 1917

Gravestone inscriptions ad records of tomb burials in the Granary burying ground , Boston

Burial inscriptions and data in Berwick, York County, Maine to 1922

Register of deaths and burials - Bellevue Cemetery Co, NC 1876-1988

Burials and inscriptions in the Walnut Street Cemetery of Brookline, Mass with historical sketches of some of the persons buried there 1920

History of the Old Tennent Church and a complete list of burials - NJ 1904

Epitaphia : a collection of 1300 British epitaphs, grave and gay, historical and curious, annotated with biographical notes, anecdotes, etc., with an introduction upon modes of burial and a general survey of interments in the British Iles from medieval times, together with an account of peculiar interments, church folk-lore, and a short chapter on American epitaphs – 1909

Inscriptions on the tablets and gravestones in St Michael's Church and churchyard, Charleston, SC and list of interments of persons to whom there are no stones - 1906

A Mohawk form of ritual of condolence - 1782 - Caughnawaga

Record Inscriptions at the Catholic Church at Patna Bihar and Orissa - India 1917

Canadian Deaths: The Dominion Annual Register and Review - 1878-1886

List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon 1913

Tombstone inscriptions from the churchyard of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill Village, Dutchess Co, NY 1882

Tombstone inscriptions of the Old St Paul's Church cemetery, Newton, NC 1702-1967

Gravestone Markers (several volumes) - USA

Inscriptions on the Tombstones of Americans buried in Père La Chaise Cemetery, Paris France 1919

Register of Confederate dead, interred in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond VA 1869

Register of Confederate soldiers who died in Camp Douglas, 1862-65 and lie buried in Oakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, Ill 1892

List showing inscriptions of headstones for the Confederate soldiers and sailors while prisoners of war, died at Columbus and Camp Denison, OH and were buried in Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, those dying at Camp Denison  having been thence removed 1907

A list of the Union Soldiers buried at Andersonville, 1866

Burial Hill in the 1990's, Plymouth, Mass: a six-year cemetery mapping project with descriptions, conditions and some photographs.

Zion Cemetery, Scarborough, York, Ontario

The act of incorporation of the Cataraqui Cemetery Co; its rules etc, and list of lotholders 1854 - Kingston, ON

Death records fro the ancient burial ground at Kingston, Mass , 1905

Index to Death Roll of the St John Globe, NB

Funeral homes, directors and cars history images on Flickr

Kentish monumental inscriptions - at Tenterden 1919

Andersonville Diary, Escape, and list of the Dead:  with name, regiment, date of death and number of grave in cemetery.

History of the Antietam National Cemetery, including a descriptive list of all the soldiers buried therein; together with ceremonies of Ancient, free and accepted Masons in laying the corner-stone of the soldier monument - 1890

The Oriental Obituary 1809 (British Raj Tombstones)

A calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem for Cornwall and Devon 1906

List of Licensed Embalmers - Illinois 1913

Official list of licensed embalmers - Iowa 1921

Account books, check and funeral registers for James L Comisky, North Adams, Mass 1882+

Vest Funeral Home mortuary records, Indiana 1947-1958

Cheshire and Lancashire Funeral Certificates; AD 160-1678

The burial of the dead; a pastor's complete hand-book for funeral services, and for the consolation and comfort of the afflicted - 1882

Collection of epitaphs and monumental inscriptions, chiefly in Scotland 1834

Historical sketch of Graceland Cemetery, Chicago

The Jewish Cemetery at Orangeburg, SC 1910

Indicateur du cimetière catholique de Montréal / par Siméon Mondou 1889

Monuments de Mont-Royal; cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges 1901

Documents sur les Juifs à Paris au XVIIIe siècle; actes d'inhumation et scellés 1913

British Settlers in Brazil and Uruguay - deaths

Lindenwood Cemetery Interment Records 1918

Inscriptions on the gravestones in the grave yards of Northampton, and of other towns in the valley of Connecticut, as Springfield, Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield, etc – 1850

Inscriptions Oyster Bay, NY 1911

The monumental inscriptions in the cemetery at Belleside, Fergus (Ont) 1833

Bedlam Burial Register - Liverpool St, City of London

Military re-interment of soldiers, Lundy's Lane, Niagara Falls, Canada - 1891


Links to Australian Cemeteries

The danger of premature interment : proved from many remarkable instances of people who have recovered after being laid out for dead, and of others entombed alive, for want of being properly examined prior to interment. Also a description of the manner the ancient Egyptians, and other nations preserved and venerated their dead, and a curious account of their sepulchral ever burning lamps and mausoleums. Likewise the pernicious effects of burying in the body of churches, and confined church yards pointed out, whereby many valuable lives have been lost to the public, and their friends.