Using Find-A-Grave when there is no burial

What do you do when you want to add a memorial for a family member to Find a Grave but the person was not buried?

My ancestors are all linked on Find a Grave. I have some family members that were cremated, and one whose body was given to the Anatomical Board for medical research, and I was still able to make memorials for them and link them to their ancestors.

When my brother died he was cremated and his ashes scattered. The funeral home that took care of his arrangements plants trees in a local park in the name of their deceased clients and their names are put on a wall. They have a big ceremony once a year when loved ones can choose their tree and plant it.

My great grand aunt Dora Porter died in a home for the indigent and she left her body for medical research. I was able to procure the entry in the Cadaver Receiving Book and I added that as a photo on her memorial. If I had a photo of her I would add it.  

Some ancestors are buried but there is no stone.  If you know the location of the burial you can make your own gravestone in the spot in the cemetery with photoshop or some such program. If not you can just make a gravestone as photo for that person

My baby sister died before her first birthday and my Dad had her buried with no stone. I found the burial information in his effects and a good friend went to the cemetery and found the spot where she was buried, leaving flowers and taking a photo for me.

These are the steps to adding a non-burial memorial on Find-A-Grave....

Choose Add a Memorial

Check "Not buried in a cemetery?" 

Choose what type of non-burial. Choices are...
... Buried or Lost at Sea, Cremated, Donated to Medical Science, Lost at War, Animal/Pet, or Burial Details Unknown.

Then add the information as you normally would and link to your ancestors. You can use whatever you want as a photo, the possibilities are endless. 

 

Names of those who died from Yellow Fever in 1820

In 1820 there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever in Savannah Georgia, taking over 700 lives, including two doctors that were tending to the sick.

I left out "Savannah Georgia" from the post title for a good reason. These people that died in Savannah were not only from Georgia, but also from other states and other countries, including Canada, the UK and Germany.

I recently came across this book...

An official register of the deaths which occurred among the white population in the city of Savannah, during the extraordinary season of sickness and mortality which prevailed in the summer and fall months of the year 1820. To which is annexed a list of the persons who died out of the city, after retreating from it. 

The order is by date of burial, not by name. You can search for a name in the search box. When there is no cause of death it was the Fever. When there is no age it's because it was unknown or under two years of age.

Relevant links

Register of deaths in Savannah GA in 1820

Observations upon the autumnal fevers of Savannah

History of yellow fever

Sentenced to Death in Canada

This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Press on March 5, 1928...

They don't give any name of the murderess in the article, but there was a woman sentenced to hang on March 23, 1928. 

Doris McDonald, a 20 year old married American woman, and her husband George McDonald were sentenced to hang for the 1927 murder of Adelard Bouchard, a Lachine taxi driver, in Huntington, Quebec.

Doris McDonald's sentence was commuted to life in prison, while her husband George was hanged on March 23, 1928. 

This article was published in August 1932 when Doris McDonald applied for parole.

You can find details of this case and other Persons Sentenced to Death in Canada in this PDF.

Dominion of Canada -Deaths, Fires and Murder

A Sunday Bonus!!

I was browsing through the Dominion (of Canada) Annual Register and Review publications and for 1883 I came across a list...

Record of Accidental Deaths and Suicides for 1883

 

 

Shows the date, persons name, the city where accident occurred and cause of death. 

 

 

When I got to the end of the list... another surprise!

 

 

Record of fires in 1883

 

 



Shows date, name, place, property, amount of loss, amount paid by insurance.

If you go back the other way, there is a Journal of Remarkable Occurrences. These include murder and mayhem, as well as unusual temperatures and earthquakes.

 

Check index of names near the front or back of each publication, and further look up "deaths of criminals", etc...
Other years have Remarkable Occurrences also.

Check the Contents of each publication for what is there.


Relevant Links
Accidental Deaths and Suicides for 1882

Accidental Deaths and Suicides for 1883

Accidental Deaths and Suicides for 1886

Record of Fires and Insurance for 1882

Record of Fires and Insurance for 1883

Record of Fires and Insurance for 1886

List of available publications of Dominion Annual Register and Review



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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.





It's Epidemic!

As long as people have been travelling to and from other lands, they have been spreading disease. Most epidemics in New France began shortly after the arrival of a ship. With travel so much easier and more common the outbreaks spread farther afield, as in the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the latest ebola epidemic, affecting multiple countries. 

When I was a child I contracted the usual childhood diseases... measles, whooping cough, chicken pox (which is why I got shingles last year, ugh!).  Some diseases it was thought better to have while young, so any kid in the area that got sick, all the other kids were sent to "keep him company". When my younger brother got mumps we had a house full of kids for a while.  But my older brother and I never got it. Now you can get vaccinated for these diseases and they are not so common.

My grandfather's sister contracted tuberculosis in 1937 and was sent to a sanitorium. She died soon after, at the age of 31, and meanwhile my mother had been sent to stay with a relative in the country. In the 1950's there was a polio epidemic and our beaches were closed to swimmers, and public pools were heavily chlorinated.

 

Tuberculosis  1800-1922

Diseases that have been more or less eradicated across the country are making a comeback. "Measles is one of the most contagious and potentially harmful diseases that is preventable by vaccination. Since the vaccine was developed in 1963 there have only been rare cases... " until earlier this year where outbreaks have been reported in Europe, the US and Canada. During the outbreak in Canada some schools would not allow children who have not been vaccinated to attend class.

Some of the epidemics our ancestors may have experienced are typhoid, the plague, cholera, smallpox, yellow fever, dengue fever, measles and influenza. If you find two or more family members (and probably a few neighbours) dying at the same time, you can look for an epidemic occurring at that time.

Below are some lists of victims, and some information booklets or websites. Try local books and newspaper accounts at times of epidemics for lists of victims. For the  last two newspaper links below I searched using keyword "epidemic" - try searching using one of the diseases as keyword.



Relevant links

A short account of the malignant fever in Philadelphia : with a statement of the proceedings that took place on the subject in different parts of the United States ; to which are added, accounts of the plague in London and Marseilles ; and a list of the dead, from August 1, to the middle of December, 1793

A short account of the yellow fever, as it appeared in New-London, Connecticut 1798

The malignant fever, prevalent in the city of New York and list of burials 1799

An Accurate list of persons who have died of the malignant fever in New York, including those at Bellevue - 1803

An account of the yellow fever in New York in the year with a list of deaths 1822

The Bilston Cholera Epidemic of 1832, list of victims (still on Wayback Machine)

The Grosse-Isle Tragedy and the Monument to the Irish fever victims, 1847

Immigrants at Grosse Île Quanantine Station (database) 1832-1937

The epidemic summer. List of interments in all the cemeteries of New Orleans from the first of May to the first of November 1853, with names and ages, cause of death, etc.

Death Roll from the Yellow Fever outbreak in Buenos Aires 1871

The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 and names of the victims in Memphis.

Dr Dromgoole's Yellow Fever Heroes, Honors and Horrors of 1878, Louisville.

Yellow Fever epidemic at Hickman, KY (including names of victims) 1878

Sketch of the medical and statistical history of epidemic fevers in Ireland, from 1798 and a comparative view of cholera morbus - Dublin 1832 (with 8 named cases)

Some account of the fever which existed in Boston during 1817 and 1818 (some names)

History and description of an epidemic fever, commonly called spotted fever; which prevailed at Gardiner, Maine, in the spring of 1814 (cases but no names)

Annals of influenza or epidemic catarrhal fever in Great Britain from 1510 to 1837.

A Tuberculosis Directory; List of Institutions - United States and Canada 1916

Interactive Timeline - Diseases and Vaccines (use slider at bottom to change year)

Cholera and The Thames (info website)

List of Epidemics world wide (Wikipedia)

Epidemic accounts in Newspapers (google)

Epidemic newspaper accounts - Trove

Serendipity Sunday - Proper Burial

While looking up parish registers, I happened upon a 34 page booklet published 1811 in Bath, Lancashire, England titled ...

"A respectful examination of the judgment delivered Dec. 11, 1809, by the Right Hon. Sir J. Nicholl ... against the Rev. John Wight Wickes, for refusing to bury an infant child, which had been baptized by a dissenting minister : in a letter to Sir John Nicholl" ~ by the Rev Charles Daubeny, Archdeacon of Sarum

It reminded me of an incident I came across in my family research. My great grandfather  had a brother John Mavor, who ventured west in 1901 to get cheap land being sold by the CPR.  Once settled he went back to his hometown in Compton,QC to marry his sweetheart, Marcia Ruth Carbee. That is how I came to look into the Carbee family.

Marcia's brother Edwin had a son Albert born 1901. Albert died in 1906 of the Black Measles, a very rare and deadly disease. Because of this he was refused burial at the cemetery and so was buried north of the homestead in a secluded grave. It was believed the germ would never die, so the grave was never to be opened.


Related Stories:

Infant baptized by dissenting minister refused burial 1809

Ex-Priest's baby denied burial in Catholic grave - Fla 1966

Negro Baby refused burial in cemetery of Nova Scotia - 1968

Neighbours help family so baby can have proper burial - 1920

 

Memento Mori

I will always remember the first funeral I attended.  My favourite great-aunt had died in 1976 and we went to the funeral home to say our goodbyes. I looked in the coffin and I was aghast! This was not my dear aunt! She looked like a made-up movie character, or someone from Mme Tussaud's Wax Museum. Nothing like the warm, loving woman I knew It took many years to get that look out of her out of my mind and never did I ever look in the coffin of a loved one after that.

 In the mid 1800's with new developments (pun) in photography, it became popular to take photos of the deceased to honour and remember them. Especially children. Having a photo taken was not cheap, especially for poorer families, and often a death photo (or Memento Mori, latin for "remember that you will die") was the only photo they had or would have of their loved one. The photos were taken soon after death, and sometimes the deceased was propped up to look as if he was still alive.  Do you think one of your family photos may be a memento mori?

A custom that became popular in the mid-1800's was to make coffin plates.  These were made from metal and attached on the coffin, or propped in the casket.  The loved ones would take them before burial to keep as a memento.  There are some on ebay, and examples on various web sites. Do you have a coffin plate among your family treasures?

Another custom is hiring a professional sober, or mourner.  Popular in Asia, thiscustom spread to the UK and is still a thriving business today.  Another custom still practiced today is to make funeral cards, with a photo of the deceased, if there was one, and a prayer. Very popular in Quebec. There are Death Cards in the Drouin Collection at their website.  All peoples have their own customs surrounding death and funerals.  What are some of the customs of your ancestors?

Did you know that on the 1871 Canada Census there was the usual Nominal Return of the Living (the one most people check for their ancestors), but also a Nominal Return of Deaths that list people that died within the last 12 months.  They are not indexed but you will find them at the end of each sub-district record set. So, the one which has your living ancestors listed, go to the end of that set.


   

Relevant Links:

Death Photos – Flikr

Death photos – Strange and Unusual Blog

Death Photos – Buzzfeed Rewind

Professional Mourners

Mourners Wanted 

The House of Mourning : The Victoriana Magazine

eBay Vintage Death Cards








 
   

Serenipity Sunday - The Burial

While looking for information of one of my ancestors in Compton, QC, I happened upon this burial record - perhaps someone researching the Abin family in Vermont is looking for what happened to this young man.

"On the nineteenth of June 1874 I was called to bury the body of Victor Abin, supposed to be from the State of Vermont, but a stranger in these parts, said Victor Abin, a young man of twenty or thereabouts, was drowned in the Moe's River on the 11th of May previous, but was found on the 18th of June in Parson's ..?..

After the inquest by the coroner, A G Woodward, esq of Sherbrooke, I proceeded to bury said Victor Abin at the Sleeper burying ground after the service in the ..?.. house. In the presence of the undersigned witnesses." 

 

I kept this record in my files and whenever I see it I wonder if this young man's family knew what happened to him.