210-year-old Irish immigrant's grave uncovered in New York park

For 210 years the body of 28-year-old County Kildare native James Jackson, a young Irish immigrant, has lain undisturbed in the center of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.
But this week, as park workers dug below Washington Square they revealed his gravestone, a three foot sandstone tablet buried so long ago that it’s a wonder the writing on his headstone is still so clear.

Read More About James Jackson

Ask Olive Tree Blog, A Fantastic Blog

If you are looking for answers to your genealogical questions try the Ask Olive Tree Blog. Queries, challenging genealogy puzzles, brick wall ancestors -- ask Olive Tree, get answers.

Ask Olive Tree Blog

Death Reports of American Citizens

Death Reports of American Citizens Abroad,1910-1974 has just been put online on Ancestry.com

Death Reports of American Citizens Abroad includes records of the U.S.
consular officers that reported to the Department of State the names
of U.S. citizens who died within their consular districts. These death
reports commonly provide acceptable documentation in the English
language for cases in which satisfactory proof of an American death
might be very difficult to obtain in any other form.

You might also want to consult the
Ancestor Death Record Finder to help you in your
search for an ancestor's death.

The free death records on AncestorsAtRest.com include Coffin Plates, Funeral
Cards, Obituaries, Cemetery records and more.

Coffin Plate of Hermine Stephan

The Coffin Plate of Hermine Stephan is now online. From the photo I would say Hermine died in the 1900 to 1915 time period.

Hermine Stephan

If you want to take a look at all the coffin plates on Ancestors At Rest try the Coffin Plate Index

Man crushed to death by 200-kilo gravestone

Police in Vienna are investigating after a 40-year-old man was killed when a 200-kilo gravestone fell on top of him. Police said foul play had been ruled out and fingerprints on the stone had revealed the man had touched it before it fell.

Historical group protecting plots

There’s a plot of land off South Dixie Road that seems empty — but it’s not.

There are no markers, no fences, nothing to indicate it’s a cemetery except a few places where the ground has sunken in a little.

“I wouldn’t have known it was a cemetery,” said Mitch Adams, a senior GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technician for Whitfield County. “I only know it’s one because Marvin (Sowder) told me it was and because there are indentations in the ground.” Sowder is a local history enthusiast.


Read More

Tying The Knot In A Cemetery

Becka Sampaio and her fiance Kevin Bossons are planning a Halloween wedding and are dead set on tying the knot in a cemetery.
Read More

Berger Family Memorial Cards

This is an interesting group of memorial cards for the Berger family. I had a look around to see if I could locate this family but was unable to pin them down. I did find a Joseph Berger living in Miamisburg, Montgomery, Ohio in 1900. It would take a little more work to see if this is the family we are looking for.

1900 United States Federal Census
Joseph Berger
Age: 62
Birth Date: Jan 1838
Birthplace: Germany
Race: White
Ethnicity: American
Gender: Male
Immigration Year: 1848
Relationship to Head of House: Head
Father's Birthplace: Germany
Mother's Birthplace: Germany
Marital Status: Widowed
Residence : Miamisburg City, Montgomery, Ohio

Household Members: Name Age
Joseph Berger 62
Ernest Berger 16

Sometimes people refer to this type of memorial card as a funeral card. This is not strictly correct as a funeral card was generally a small card that contained information on the funeral of an individual. I have lots more funeral and memorial cards on Ancestors At Rest.com

Abraham Manning Coffin Plate

I have added the coffin plate of Abraham Manning to my coffin plate section on Ancestorsatrest.com

Old Abraham was aged 81 years 8 mos 26 dys when he passed on. No date on this coffin plate but I would say it is from about 1870 to about 1890.

If you want to see all the coffin plates in the index go to the Coffin Plates Page

Orange Beach Community Cemetery Many Unmarked Graves

Locals have long known there are bodies in the Orange Beach Community Cemetery unaccounted for by above-ground markers. But the extent was not known until 2000 when Tony Kennon, who is now the city's mayor, sought to have his late father, Robert Kennon, buried in Orange Beach's only graveyard. When a body turned up in what was thought to be an empty plot, firefighters scanned the ground to look for an unoccupied spot.
Read More

Historic Miami Florida cemetery confirmed as burial place for Miami black pioneers

As researchers confirm that a Miami cemetery unearthed by construction crews was the final resting place of pioneering black residents, developers erecting a residential complex on the site move to keep what remains of the burial ground.

The mysterious, long-forgotten Lemon City cemetery unearthed by construction crews earlier this year will likely be preserved as a historical monument to the pioneering black Miamians who were buried there in the early 20th century.

The developers' decision to preserve the burial ground came after researchers found historical confirmation of the previously unknown cemetery's existence in a 1941 book published by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a government agency set up as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Continue reading the full story

Emmett Till's Casket Donated to the Smithsonian

The National Museum of African American History and Culture has acquired the original casket of Emmett Till, whose brutal murder in 1955 energized the modern civil rights movement. Read More

Marilyn Monroe

I thought this story about the grave of Marilyn Monroe was interesting. Marilyn Monroe

Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis Tennessee

Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis's oldest graveyard opened in 1852 and houses the remains of many prominent, and notorious, citizens. It's a microcosm of Memphis history—Civil War, Masons, yellow fever, immigration, crime: it's all represented.

Of particular note is the number of victims of yellow fever, which struck the city most severely in 1878. Half the populace fled Memphis and at the height of the disease that summer, 200 people died per day.

Over 1,000 Civil War soldiers are buried in the cemetery, as are former politicians, blues singers and criminals.

Read more about Elmwood Cemetery

FREE World Vital Records until AUGUST 18th!

WorldVitalRecords Free Site Access Today! World Vital Records announced today that it is extending its FREE ACCESS to the site until August 18th.

Genealogists have 4 more days to explore World Vital Records and find ancestors for FREE.

Death of Doris Hardisty, Guelph Wellington Co. Ontario

A Yearbook I bought on yielded this Death Notice:

DORIS HARDISTY

The late Doris Hardisty who passed away early on Saturday morning November 1st was a student in Form IV A and her death cast a mantle of gloom over the studen body of the Collegiate. When we remember her attractive personality and the great promise of her life, her death is particularly sad. in school and school activities, in Church, in Young Peoples' organizations, she is greatly missed.

A search of the Death Records on Ancestry.com revealed that Doris died of acute peritonitis after an operation in Guelph General Hospital (Ontario Canada). Gangrene set in and Doris died at the age of 16 years and 10 months. She was the daughter of Ernest Edward Hardisty and Lily Burton, both born England.

Coffin Plate of Ruth Stone 1782~1863

I have added the Coffin Plate of Ruth Stone 1782~1863 to my coffin plate database. I did a little digging and it looks like Ruth Stone may have lived in Jaffrey, Cheshire, New Hampshire.

Ruth Stone 1782~1863

Footnote 1930 Census Is FREE

Footnote has opened up the 1930 census for all to view FREE during the month of August. This is a great opportunity to have a look for your ancestors.

51 Headless Vikings Found in English Execution Pit

I found this story interesting and was thinking I would pass it on. I would love to see if they could get any DNA from the bodies.

Naked, beheaded, and tangled, the bodies of 51 young men—their heads stacked neatly to the side—have been found in a thousand-year-old pit in southern England. Read More

St.Andrews Presbyterian Cemetery, Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario

I now have a list of names to go with the photos of St.Andrews Presbyterian Cemetery, Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario.

St.Andrews Presbyterian Cemetery