Coffin Plate of William M Genschow 1872 ~ 1933

The Coffin Plate of William M Genschow 1872 ~ 1933 is now online. William M Genschow 1872 ~ 1933

Coffin Plate of Joanna C Locke 1844 ~ 1907

I have added the coffin plate of Coffin Plate of Joanna C Locke 1844 ~ 1907. Had a quick look in the 1900 United States Federal Census on Ancestry and it looks like she was born in Massachusetts. If you want to take a look at the coffin plate go to Joanna C Locke 1844 ~ 1907

Back to work

Well as many of you will have noticed I have not been Bloging much for the last little while. I have had to give my time to a few other projects but they are winding down now so I will be able to spend a little more time on the Bloging and on AncestorsAtRest.com So with that in mind I am going to spend the rest of the day adding a few coffin plates to the database.

Coffin Plate Database

1749 Widow's Rights in Massachusetts

An interesting notice about social customs in Massachusetts in 1749. Apparently if a man married a widow, he was excempt from her previous debts if she married him while barefoot and wearing only her nightgown.

1857 Ad for Coffins & Coffin Plates

An interesting 1857 ad for coffins and coffin plates. offin plates are decorative adornments attached to the coffin that contain free genealogical information like the name and death date of the deceased.

Cemetery Restoration Project

The restoration project of the Old General Cemetery at Williamsburg by the Covington County Genealogical & Historical Society is nearing completion.

The membership of the society is soliciting the aid of the descendants of families buried in this cemetery during the 1800s. Many of the earliest graves, dating prior to the Civil War, have missing markers.

30 burials have been identified so far and will be recorded on a monument. Anyone knowing additional names of those buried there will be able to have those names engraved on the monument.

Email hiliroc@c-gate.net for more information or to provide a name

Wreaths Across America

In national cemeteries across America the graves of hundreds of thousands of veterans will be adorned with Christmas wreaths during ceremonies set to take place simultaneously Saturday, Dec. 12.

Wreaths Across America is a tradition that began 18 years ago in Maine to recognize the service and sacrifice of veterans and their families. It has since spread across the country to include more than 400 national cemeteries, as well as 24 national cemeteries on foreign soil and several locations in Iraq.

Continue reading about Wreaths Across America

Uncovered Bodies From 170-Year-Old Tennessee Cemetery To Be Re-Buried

A developer has been given permission to go ahead and re-bury bodies from a 170year old cemetery that developers had planned to relocate into a 50-foot buffer zone mandated by a 2002 rezoning. The property is located in Ooltewah, Tennessee

View names of those buried in the Ooltewah Cemetery

A to K and L to Z

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