Genealogy Books - Your Guide to Cemetery Research

Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Excellent book!
Comment: I recently began studying my family's "history" that prompted a trip to the local cemeteries, that
has now begun a photographic recording of all the headstones. I sought out this book for learning
basic information, but once I started reading, I soon discovered it has a weath of other information
that is quite fascinating.It is a GREAT book for both informational purposes & also for anyone who
is documenting family history. I'm 110% happy with my purchase!

Customer Rating:

Summary: Great Guide for Genealogists & Graveyard Enthusiasts Alike!
Comment: Let me begin by saying that I'm by no means a genealogist (not even an amateur genealogist!). In
fact, I'm not even all that interested in my family's history. Rather, I'm just someone who loves
snooping around cemeteries, the older and more obscure, the better. This is the first
genealogy/cemetery research book I've read, so I can't really compare it to any others.
/>That said..."Your Guide to Cemetery Research" is a valuable tool for genealogists and graveyard
enthusiasts alike. Sharon DeBartolo Carmack begins by explaining how to locate your ancestor's
vital records, including death certificates, obituaries, death notices, wills and probate, prayer
and memorial cards, and mortality schedules. She then illustrates how you can use this information
to find out where your ancestors are buried (and also tells you how to go about locating the
cemetery itself). She describes the different types of cemeteries, as well as what sort of records
they may have kept. The reader will also learn how to search a cemetery for the desired grave or
plot, and how to read, record, and interpret the information on and around the marker. Especially
interesting is her discussion on how the aggregate information in the graveyard can give you a
picture of what the community was like when your ancestors were alive.

DeBartolo
Carmack provides tons of helpful, hands-on, how-to advice for use inside the graveyard. She
explains how to make a rubbing or cast of the tombstone, and offers ideas for different types of
crafts to get the whole family interested (reunions in cemeteries, cemetery scrapbooks, and cemetery
quilts, to name but a few). Her section on photographing markers and tombstones is particularly
enlightening. Additionally, she offers tips for those wishing to undertake cemetery preservation or
transcription projects.

She includes a few chapters on funerary customs throughout
time and across cultures as well, but I thought these chapters were the weakest; they struck me as
somewhat superficial and out-of-place. Then again, funerary customs is a topic I've done extensive
research on; maybe newbies will find it more helpful or informative.

Perhaps my
favorite part of "Your Guide to Cemetery Research" are the appendices, which include a lengthy list
of gravestone artwork/symbols and their meanings; a time line of deadly epidemics and disasters in
the U.S.; and a sample cemetery transcription form. The next time I go strolling through a
graveyard, I'll be sure to have this guide in tow. It increased my understanding and appreciation
of graveyard art exponentially. Instead of just admiring the aesthetic aspects of the markers, now
I can use "Your Guide to Cemetery Research" to interpret the inscriptions and artwork. ["What's
that over there? A child's headstone, with a lamb lying down? Let's see, we're in New Orleans, and
the death date is 1878, so perhaps the baby died of yellow fever!"]

Above all else,
it's reassuring to find that I'm not alone in my cemetery addiction. DeBartolo Carmack takes her
family along on graveyard picnics, so I guess my fiancé doesn't have it all THAT bad!
/>- Kelly Garbato
Author & Contributor, Always Remembered

Customer Rating:

Summary: Cemetery Guide very helpful
Comment: I never thought I needed a a book to tell me how to walk through a cemetery and gather information
on the stones. Once I began reading this book and taking it with me on my cemetery walks I
discovered that it was one of the most helpful genealogy books in print. I began to understand the
meaning behind a lot of the stones and the carvings on them (which I always thought was purely
decorative). The only problem is, now I must go back and search through cemetery's I have already
covered in order to decipher the etching 'codes.' Those that do genealogy research in cemeteries
will understand when I say that it should be great fun!

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Best there is
Comment: I've read, or tried to read :) many genealogy books. I often skim them because they can get VERY
boring.
Sharon Debartolo Carmack knows how to write!
She adds bits of humor and tells it like
it is in very understandable form.
I enjoyed this book very, very much!

Customer Rating:

Summary: For anyone involved in serious genealogical research
Comment: Your Guide To Cemetary Research will intrigue anyone involved in serious genealogical research,
posing a whole new way to uncover family roots and facts trough research into cemeteries and their
contents. From learning how cemeteries operate and how funerary art and tombstone iconography can
lend to an understanding of history to making headstone rubbings and conducting cemetery surveys,
Your Guide To Cemetary Research is packed with practical applications.

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