A Rabbit's Tale 6/30/2011

Cemetery History in the Newspaper
by Diane Wright

It may seem low-tech, but old newspapers are actually a treasure trove of possible information on genealogy as well as cemetery history. Don't disregard newspapers just because you think they are awkward to search or that they won't offer much beyond an obituary or two. Old newspapers offer a wide range of cemetery stories, facts, and information.

It is difficult to separate genealogy and cemetery history, as it is almost interchangeable. Newspaper research is valuable for both. Some of the information you might find besides obituaries is equally valuable to your research. You might get a glimpse into their lives that will reveal a new lead. For example you might find a one sentence comment in the “local gossip” column such as “George Smyth motored to Los Angeles on Monday.” One sentence makes you ask questions such as why did he motor to Los Angeles? Are there more family members there? Did he have another home? It won’t hurt to check L.A. directories when you locate information such as this. Later you might find that he was buried in Los Angeles because his son lived there and the family plot was there. From my research in Corona, California I have found two people buried here only because their family lived in town; they lived elsewhere. In one case a grandmother came from Chicago to visit and died while here. They didn’t have the money to ship her back to Chicago. The other, a Civil War veteran, lived in San Juan Capistrano but his sister, his only family, lived in town so she had him buried here. He didn’t ever live in Corona, but he has been here for 110 years. Also check the papers in the town they came from.
Check the newspaper on the anniversary of a death, there may be more information. At the time of the death the family is grieving and busy planning the funeral. A year later there may be more information on his life. The best I have ever found is an article, printed on the anniversary of his death, that gave the place that his grave was moved to!

Continue to look for legal notices for quite some time after they died. As the will is being probated there may be notices to find missing relatives. These can be printed in many different newspapers, any place that the relative might have been. It won’t be printed just once but several times.
Also look for death or legal notices in the newspaper of the place he was from. Don’t forget the place where his extended family live.

Of course there are announcements such as birth, baptism, marriage, or death. These types of announcements will almost always contain some kind of family information such as dates, and other relatives' names. Don’t forget to check the list of hotel guests if that is listed in the paper. Upon the death there may be family visitors arriving to town.

If your person owned a business there will be advertisements, there may be stories about a shipment he received for his business or about his travel to receive equipment. When he dies there may be a bit about what will happen to his business.

There may be legal notices and letters to the editor. I love the letters to the editors. In our old town newspaper, The South Riverside Bee, sometime in the late 1800s, there was a notice to the editor about the cemetery from “a concerned citizen.” I highly suspect it was really from the newspaper editor to himself, but there is no way to prove it. If you are really lucky there may be a picture or sketch of your person.
When researching the citizens of the cemeteries I depend on the newspapers. Start at the obituary to get information about family relations. From this I usually find where they were born so I know where to start researching the census.

The best part of newspaper research is to learn about the cemetery itself. Cemetery information is news! And now there are so many newspapers online. You can also get some newspapers on intra-library loan.
Online I found an article from May 18, 1875 in the New York Times. The title was “Sketch of a Notable Landmark” The story continued to tell that it is the first burial place of President Monroe. My favorite line in the story is, “the view from the street somewhat resembles that of a marble yard, so thick are the tombstones and monuments, but the premises are always in excellent order….” I am curious what the cemetery is like today.

Cemeteries are among the most valuable of historic resources. Names on grave markers are a directory of early residents. Tombstone designs and cemetery landscaping tell us of the cultural influences that helped shape the history of the town.

Newspapers can help tell the history of the cemetery that a brief visit could not reveal. Online I found an image of the The North Adams Transcript from North Adams, Massachusetts, dated June 24, 1895. In this single issue are two cemetery stories. Here is one:

Some Old Cemetery History
Some interesting statistics about the old cemetery have been gathered by those interested in the park movement. There are forty three graves each belong to a single family: nineteen families have two graves each; three have three; two have four: three have five, one has seven and one has twenty three. Darby is the family name of the one having seven and Darling the name of the one having twenty three. The earliest grave was in 1802 and the name of the person buried was Nabby Darling. In the same year William Darling was buried. There are ten gravestones illegible. The total number of graves is 155.

The other story found in the same paper is copied for you here.

A new wall is being built in the north part of the old cemetery along the road that leads in from this side. It supports a terrace. There was a wall in its place and it was decided to top it with a new railing. The workman found that it was not safe enough and that a new one was necessary. The new one is being built of stone and cement and will be substantial.

People are more likely to protect and maintain these cemeteries when they realize their significance. These places are sacred ground and should be treasured by the community. Maybe a collection of news articles about cemetery history is on the horizon. Imagine the stories that are just waiting for us to unbury.