Grave Curioisities Infographic

An interesting "infographic" called Grave Curiosities about burial customs here in the United States:


Via: Funeral Flowers at iMortuary.com


© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

How To Cite A Find A Grave Headstone

I just finished reading a great post entitled Citation: Is it ever okay to enhance the standard? Opinions, Please..." by Herstoryan at her blog. In it she wonders about the proper citation format for a gravestone located on Find A Grave and whether or not it is permissible to go beyond that standard source citation formats of MLA and others.

For those in the same predicament as to how to properly cite sources, I highly recommend Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills. You can get an E-book version via Footnote or a hardcover version via Genealogical Publishing Company. Also Dear Myrtle just mentioned that the 2nd Edition is now available.

Herstoryan decided to use the following format to cite the headstone:

Headstone: Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey. 1974. Llano Cemetery, Amarillo, Texas. Digital Image by Walter Dunn. Findagrave.com Memorial #15616487 created 04 Sept 2006. Accessed 21 Oct 2009

But following Evidence Explained (p. 229), it might look something like this:

Source List Entry
Find A Grave.com Digital images. http://www.findagrave.com: 2009.

First Reference Note
Find A Grave.com, digital images (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 21 October 2009), photograph, gravestone for Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey (1881-1974), Amarillo, Texas.

Subsequent Note
Find A Grave.com, photograph, gravestone for Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey (1881-1974), Amarillo, Tex.

As to the question of "enhancing" a citation standard, my opinion is that it is permissible as long as 1) the enhancement clarifies instead of confuses and 2) you are consistent in that new format.

Consistency is important especially when using genealogy database software because if you later want to change the format, you can probably use a "search and replace" function. Having consistent citations for Find A Grave images would make it much easier to update all of them at one especially if there were a Source List Entry.

Personally, I would add the following: 1) give credit to the photographer if possible and 2) include the memorial number which is 15616487 but make sure you reference it as Find A Grave's memorial number otherwise readers may think it is a number used by the cemetery.

So my version for the First Reference Note might be:

Find A Grave.com, digital images (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 21 October 2009), photograph by Walter Dunn, gravestone for Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey (1881-1974), Find A Grave Memorial #15616487, Amarillo, Texas.

© 2009, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Finding A Grave Marker Its Rightful Owner

Just a quick note: I was mentioned at the PatriotLedger.com which is the website of the The Patriot Ledger newspaper in Quincy, Massachusetts today.

Last week, the site ran an article - The Mystery of the Heart-Shaped Grave Marker - trying to match up what was thought to be a grave marker with the proper grave. The only information available was the date of birth and date of death of the woman, Fran Galvin.

Thinking this was a chance to help out, I put my research skills to work and was able to locate the grave at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. Realizing that Fran Galvin was buried there with her husband Donald, I figured that the marker which was found must have been a personal commemoration which somehow got separated from its owner.

There are many ways in which genealogists can leverage their research skills and access to online databases to help out others. One fine example is the work that Unclaimed Persons does to match up unclaimed bodies at morgues and medical examiner's offices with their families.

So next time you are reading the news or scanning tweets on Twitter, see if your research savvy can't help out someone else.

© 2009, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Respect For The Dead

The past fews days have not brought good news for those who work hard to preserve cemeteries and other places where our ancestors are buried:

- In Oxford, Alabama as I write this a 1,500 year old Indian burial mound is being desecrated so it can serve as fill for the construction of a Sam's Club.

Oxford, Alabama Destroying A 1500-Year-Old Indian Mound To Build A Sam's Club

State Laws Offer Few Protections For Mound

- In Alsip, Illinois (outside of Chicago), four people have been charged with the uprooting more than 300 bodies and dumping them in a corner of the cemetery in order to resell the burial plots.

4 charged. 300 graves desecrated

Till's kin on neglected casket: Get it out of here

Cemetery workers made $300K in gravedigging scheme

Parents can't find graves in Burr Oak 'Babyland'

What these stories have in common is that greed seems to triumph even after death. As the saying goes you can't take it with you, but now you can't even rest in peace.

Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi has highlighted the Oxford, AL story and I've been helping him publicize it. The best way for you to get involved as a reader is to tweet this blog post or any of the links included here if you are on Twitter. Or e-mail the post to someone you know who is a fan of cemetery preservation.

For genealogy bloggers, try to take a minute and think about how you would feel if your ancestors were involved in one of these awful situations. In order to keep the preservation of burial locations in the forefront of peoples' attentions, consider posting at your blog about how important cemeteries and other burial sites have been to your family and your genealogy research.

I'm A Graveyard Rabbit

Most people know that I find it hard to resist any Genea-Blogger confab or project, especially if it is organized by the wonderful Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi.

His latest project, The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, is one that I feel is sorely needed and allows me to explore an area of cemetery and burial ground history - that of the rural cemeteries of New York State.

Take a look at some recent posts and learn how many of these cemeteries, organized so that burials were not made within city limits, are still active and remain true to the rural cemetery ideal of landscape architecture.

The Graveyard Rabbit of New York Rural Cemeteries

New Paltz Rural Free Cemetery - A Field Trip

This past weekend, while visiting family back in the Catskill/Hudson Valley region of New York, I took time to return to the New Paltz Rural Free Cemetery in search of some elusive headstones.

Before my trip, I had called up the cemetery to find out in which section several McEntee or MacEntee headstones were located. I also ran a custom report on Family Tree Maker 16 and was able to sort out those names in my database buried at this particular cemetery.

On Monday, July 14th, we stopped at the cemetery again and proceeded to the left rear section as directed. With high temperatures and even higher humidity, your persevering author thought that he would right melt. And there was no place near for a restorative cocktail (let alone the time being 10:30 am). As well, the conditions along with a hoard of gnats kept me from using Jott to transcribe the headstone details as I had planned.

After 30 minutes of wandering through almost the entire left section of the cemetery, I finally came upon these gems:



Headstone of Edward McEntee and Ann (Antje) Freer. Photograph. July 14, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Edward McEntee was my 3rd great-grandfather and is buried with his wife Ann (Antje) Freer. She descends from my Freer line, one of the founding Hugenot families that settled in New Paltz, New York at the end of the 17th century. Edward is the oldest McEntee/MacEntee ancestor that I can positively identify at this time.





Headstone of Mathew McEntee and Elnora Deyo. Photograph. July 14, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Mathew McEntee was my 2nd great-granduncle and the son of Edward McEntee and Ann Freer. He married Elnora Deyo who also descends from one of the founding Hugenot families.





Headstone of Charles McEntee. Photograph. July 14, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Charles, another son of Edward McEntee and Ann Freer, was also my 2nd great-granduncle who died at the age of 25 years.





Headstone of John W. McEntee. Photograph. July 14, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.



Headstone of Elmira Wood, wife of John W. McEntee. Photograph. July 14, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

John W. McEntee was my 2nd great-grandfather who married Elmira Wood when he was 34. Despite her being 11 years younger, she died in 1882 more than 25 years before his death in 1918.




Headstone of Elmer A. McEntee and Margaret DeGroodt. Photograph. July 14, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Finally, and most importantly, is the headstone for my great-grandfather, Elmer A. McEntee. This is the ancestor who for some reason added the "A" to make McEntee into MacEntee. Obviously the change didn't always "take" during his lifetime or even in death as the headstone clearly omits the "A."

So I finally have some of the evidence I need to prove that the current line of MacEntees that lived in Ulster and Orange counties of New York are in fact descended from a McEntee line. I believe that one "family urban legend" stating that there was a family feud which caused one member to add the "A" can be traced back to this:



Headstone of Elmer J. McEntee. Photograph. March 10, 2008 at New Paltz, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Elmer J. MacEntee is actually Elmer McEntee, Jr., son of Elmer A. and is buried in a separate section of the same cemetery as other McEntees. Census records from 1900 show Elmer A. as a "McEntee" yet beginning in 1910 he is listed as a MacEntee as are all 11 of his children.

In the next few days I will add another chapter to my serial posts Two Roads: Do McEntee and MacEntee Converge or Fork?

Jott™ and Cemetery Inventories

This weekend I will be making a short trip home to New York to visit my mother in the nursing home and to attend a party with many of my aunts, uncles and cousins. One aspect of the trip that I am looking forward to is returning to Montrepose Cemetery in Kingston, NY and New Paltz Rural Cemetery in New Paltz, NY where many of my ancestors on my father's side are buried.

On my last trip in March, I was able to take pictures of some head stones but the sun interferred in being able to read the contents in the photos I produced. I figured this time I would take a short inventory of the graves, writing down the information.

Juggling a notepad and writing down info with a camera in the other hand is not easy, so I came up with this idea: why not use Jott™ to input the data?

If you are not familiar with Jott™, it is a voice-to-text transcription service available for free. I will call the toll-free number from my cell, tell Jott™ that the message is to "me," and whatever I dictate will be sent in text to my email address.

There is a 30-second limit to each Jott™ so I will need to not only speak clearly and pray for a good connection, but also make sure to keep the message short. I figure if I Jott™ each head stone, I should have information to back up each photo in case I can't read any data.

I will report back next week on how Jott™ works for me in this aspect - I can't wait to see the results!

Note: The Jott™ logo is protected by copyright and/or trademark. It is believed that the use of low-resolution images on Destination: Austin Family, hosted on servers in the United States by Blogger, of logos for certain uses involving identification and critical commentary may qualify as fair use under United States copyright law. Any other uses of this image, on Destination: Austin Family or elsewhere, may be copyright infringement. Certain commercial use of this image may also be trademark infringement.