Many countries have a Memorial Day or similar holiday, when people visit cemeteries, monuments, and memorial sites to find the resting places of ancestors or the burial sites of people they wish to remember. In this way, they honor and respect the dead. If you are planning to visit such a site, try FamilySearch's free web tools.
Learn All About the People Buried in a Cemetery—Using Your Phone
Headstones in cemeteries are monuments to the deceased, but they can tell us only so much. Memories often dim as the years go by, and if we didn’t know the deceased or didn't know them well, sometimes all that we remember are the words carved into the headstone. Imagine if instead you could visit a cemetery or monument, and, as you are reading names of the deceased, you could also look at photos, read stories, and listen to recordings about their lives.
FamilySearch's free web tools can be used on a mobile phone or a computer. The Cemeteries Search can be used without a FamilySearch account. The Relatives in Cemeteries tool uses your family tree to give you a list of relatives buried in cemeteries near you, so you need a free FamilySearch account to use it. As long as you have data or an internet connection, you can access these tools from anywhere, any time.
Tool 1: Cemeteries Search
Using the Cemeteries Search tool on FamilySearch, you can discover who is buried in a specific cemetery, search for a name to find which cemetery the person might be buried in, or enter both a name and a specific cemetery in the search bar. You can also find a list of people from the shared family tree who are connected to a cemetery or monument you are visiting (or plan to visit). You can even see which of them are related to you (if you have a family tree on FamilySearch). Clicking on the names you are interested in may then take you to biographies, photos, records, and more.
Try it for yourself! Click the button below, and search for the name of a cemetery or monument site, or choose one from the map.
Exploring a Cemetery
When you search for a cemetery's name, FamilySearch will take you to a details page. There, you can see helpful information the database may have about the cemetery, along with a list of people from the Family Tree who are recorded as being buried or honored there. If you are signed in to FamilySearch, you can even see how many relatives you might have in that cemetery or site, based on your family tree.
You can learn more about each listed person by tapping the person's name, or you can search for specific names or surnames using the search bar. You can also use the filter to toggle between seeing everyone at that site versus just your relatives.
Signed-out users can see a public profile for each person that may include biographical information, family members, a time-line, and photos and stories. The number of names that appear on this page depends on how much has been shared publicly on FamilySearch about that person. You can add more information about the person by signing in and editing the person's profile.
If you are signed in while visiting the cemeteries site page, you can access even more information. When you click a name, the familiar FamilySearch box will pop up, showing the person’s summary. From there, you can choose to view your relationship with the person by clicking the relationship icon at the bottom, or you can view the full person page or family tree.
Sharing the Cemeteries Search Experience
At the top of each cemetery or site details page are a number of share icons designed to help you send the page to friends and family. If you are all visiting the same cemetery or if you wish to share the experience, just pick a social media, email, or link icon, and click it. The link icon gives you both a share link and a QR code to pass along.
Tool 2: Relatives in Cemeteries
Perhaps you want to visit a memorial site but aren't sure which one to choose? Relatives in Cemeteries is the right tool for you! With a free FamilySearch account, you can get a list of which cemeteries your relatives are buried in, according to the records in the shared Family Tree. You can even see how many relatives are buried in each cemetery. This is a useful feature if you want to visit multiple sites or need to prioritize which ones you visit.
While viewing your list of cemeteries, you can click on the name of each relative that is buried or memorialized at that location and read what has been shared about the person on FamilySearch. If you have fond memories or photos of that person, you can also upload those memories or photos straight to FamilySearch from wherever you are. You could even record your thoughts or pass your phone around in a group to capture family memories right there as you visit your relative's gravestone.
Finding relatives in cemeteries using FamilySearch requires at least some basic information in your family tree. Get started with your family tree for free, courtesy of FamilySearch.
How to Use Relatives in Cemeteries
You'll first be prompted to sign in, and then you'll see a map with markers. The markers on this map specifically show the cemeteries that might have your relative's final resting place, according to the information in the FamilySearch Family Tree.
You can use the map to select cemeteries you are interested in or enter the name of a location to see a list of cemeteries in that location. When you expand the information for a cemetery, you can see which relatives are buried or honored there and learn more about them.
When looking at a relative, you have the option to view your relationship, view photos and stories, or find the specific headstone location using the links to Find a Grave and BillionGraves. Although you can easily see when the person was born and died through the Relatives in Cemeteries feature, you can also click the person's name to see the FamilySearch summary box and then view all profile information from there.
When looking at a person's page on FamilySearch, you can easily add a photo, story, or recording as a memory. Simply go to the Memories tab for the person, and click on the Add Memory button (desktop) or tap the Plus icon (app).
Tips for Finding Your Ancestor's Headstone
If you haven't visited a cemetery or memorial site before, you may be wondering how to even find someone's headstone once you are there. Here are a few quick ideas for finding your ancestor's specific resting place.
- Check the Find a Grave and BillionGrave links for GPS coordinates, map information, or a plot number.
- As mentioned in the tutorials above, the FamilySearch cemeteries tools sometimes have links to the Find a Grave and BillionGraves information for a gravesite. Find a Grave and BillionGraves are large databases of gravesites that sometimes include GPS coordinates for the grave (usually embedded when someone took a photo). On these sites, look for a map link or coordinates that show exactly where the headstone is.
- Cemeteries are sometimes organized by blocks, lots, and sections. If you see a plot number for your ancestor on one of these websites, you can try comparing the plot number to a map on the cemetery's website or looking around the site for section markers.
- Look at the cemetery's website for guidance.
- The official website for a cemetery might have the best information on how to navigate the location. Cemetery and memorial sites can vary widely in how they are organized and how best to navigate through them. The FamilySearch Cemeteries Search tool will often provide you with a link to the cemetery's website, or you can try looking the website up with a search engine.
- On the cemetery's website, look for maps, tutorials, or other information that may show you how to navigate the cemetery. Some memorial sites can be quite large, so this may be a big help with knowing just what section of the cemetery to visit.
- Call ahead and ask site staff, or visit the site's physical office.
- Not all cemeteries and memorial sites are open to the public, but some have regular staff you can talk to or an office location to visit. If you aren't sure where your relatives' headstones are, try giving staff members the name of your relatives and seeing if the staff can help you locate their resting place. Some sites have directories for just this purpose.
We hope these tools are helpful to you and your family as you remember your deceased relatives and loved ones on Memorial Day. We'd love to hear your experiences, so don't hesitate to share in the comments below!
Related Articles
At FamilySearch, we care about connecting you with your family, and we provide fun discovery experiences and family history services for free. Why? Because we cherish families and believe that connecting generations can improve our lives now and forever. We are a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To learn more about our beliefs, click here.
