BillionGraves Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection is a name index of records posted on BillionGraves.com. BillionGraves is a database of records and images from the world's cemeteries, all tagged with GPS locations. Volunteers around the world capture images of headstones in a cemetery and upload them to the site.

Collection Content
This collection may include:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date of birth
 * Date of death
 * Name of cemetery
 * Date of burial

Information not in the index, but found from time to time on the headstones in the images on the BillionGraves website when you view the image associated with a record there:


 * Relationships (Father, mother, husband, wife, etc.)
 * Marriage place (not commonly seen).
 * Other family members such as parents or spouse of deceased
 * Epitaphs
 * Military service, unit, and rank information for service in wars fought by the United States or British Commonwealth nations. Some British Commonwealth headstones that have military information may have unit insignia as well as ID numbers of soldiers interred, but that information may vary from locality to locality.
 * Religious symbols that may be indicative of what religion the deceased may have practiced. This may aid in later research as many churches, synagogues, etc., may have or had kept records associated with the deceased that have other and more complete information.
 * Other information of various kinds.

Viewing the Original Headstone Photos on BillionGraves
If you find a record while using this collection, you may view an image of the headstone associated with it at the BillionGraves website (link below). There is no fee to view the image associated with the record. You may also view a cemetery's Google map, and see where the headstone you are viewing is on that map, for free as well.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the deceased
 * The approximate date of death
 * The location of the burial

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * When you have located the grave for someone, consider ordering their death certificate
 * Use the information found on the grave stone to access other valuable records, such as census, land, and probate
 * Look for other family members, or people with the same surname who may be buried nearby your individual

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * For women you know have married or were married at some point in their lives, look for the name with the husband's surname on it. Some also will not have the maiden name although a few do. Often it is not possible to put all names on a headstone due to the size of the headstone, so this helps when trying to locate a female name. Girls under at least 15 but usually 18 to 22 will almost invariably have only the maiden surname
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor

Frequency of Collection Updates
Since BillionGraves users are gathering and uploading new headstone images and those images are being transcribed daily, there will be regular updates to this collection. Updates happen every couple of weeks, and are usually no longer than every four to six weeks.

Be aware that headstones may not show burial dates for at least 3 to 4 months. This is especially evident at the beginning of a new year.

Related Websites
BillionGraves

Related Wiki Articles

 * BillionGraves
 * BillionGraves section of Cemeteries
 * United States Cemeteries
 * Singapore Cemeteries

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.


 * Collection Citation:

"BillionGraves Index." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2017. Citing BillionGraves. http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012.

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