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Findagrave.com is an excellent resource for researching your family history. And, as an added bonus, it is free! One thing I really love is that you can sign up as a volunteer and contribute photos and obituaries, etc. to the site. Since the site is free, it’s easy for their family members to access the information. Also, if you are looking for a loved one’s headstone picture, you can easily send a request online, with just a click of a button.
Volunteers Across the Country
There are many volunteers located all across the country that will pull your request and upload the picture. Sometimes, there are no headstones, due to erosion, and sometimes they are difficult to read. The volunteers make their best attempt to take photos to document your loved ones’ final resting place. If there is a problem, they will note the reason or issue in the response on findagrave.com.
Linking Family Members Together
Findagrave.com has the ability to link families together. This is why researching your ancestry on findagrave.com is so easy. Also, this is where a lot of my family sheet forms come in to play. I can search for one member of my deceased family – and soon I have 30-40 family members documented in my family books. I always get so excited when I can easily connect the families to one another. See my family sheets below.
Where to Start on Findagrave.com
I would start with the closest family member you have that is deceased. In my case, I started with my mother. She didn’t have a findagrave.com memorial, so I created one for her, along with one for her mother and father. It’s a great way to honor your loved ones and provide a lasting memorial. You can access findagrave.com here.
Upload Photos, Obituaries and Death Certificates
Another great thing is that you can upload photos of your loved ones, along with their obituaries and death certificates. These documents provide a lot of essential information and may provide a relative with missing information. Also, you can sponsor their memorials or buy flowers and write messages. All in all, this is one site you need to be utilizing in your family search. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sherri
