Hello, I have been doing genealogy since my early teens! It is my passion. Please if you have any questions and are unable to reach me through Find a Grave, do not hesitate to contact me via email at [email protected]. My husband & I are very interested in these families : Cook/Koch, Duwenhoegger, Roeder/Roder, Kramer, Lenz, Tigges, Harris, Phinney, Cavanaugh, Dunn, Broeffle, Gates, Bearbower, and about a hundred more grandparents that we have found through FindAGrave.com and FamilySearch.org.

FOOD 4 THOUGHT:

I learned that you need to AVOID clicking "grave" for photos of anything but the HEADSTONE/MARKER. If you select "Person", this is for persons photo or maybe obituary. "Family" is for just that, a group photo of the deceased immediate family either as a sibling w/parents or as self w/spouse & children. If the deceased isn't in a photo, then it doesn't belong in this deceased persons profile. I have requested great grand children to remove their personal family group photos from their great grands simply because the deceased isn't in the photo and it would fill the deceased site with such unnecessary photos - put those in FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com. Photos of the deceased places of residence should be categorized in "Other". Interesting news paper clippings can go in "Other", but try to include name of paper and date of edition.

Another is a "pet-peave" of mine concerning hoarding deceased sites by retaining "management". There are many "Essential Workers" of Find A Grave that contribute by taking individual request photos and whole cemeteries or county cemetery photos. However, if you are one that finds satisfaction and control by "hoarding" the sites after their initial creation - STOP THIS DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR! First, if you are a manager of deceased non-relatives site, consider why you are continuing to maintain that account. If you have THOUSANDS of dead people's sites under your management and your NOT doing anything to add value to the deceased persons memory - you should consider transferring management to ANY REQUESTING FAMILY MEMBER! Please be polite and answer family questions in a timely manner. I know of many cases where people refuse to add valuable information because of rude site managers - both related and unrelated. It shouldn't matter if the person requesting the transfer is within 4 degrees of direct descendance, a 8th cousin 2x's removed, or 5th Great Grand daughter - family is family!- If your NOT family - please seriously consider releasing the site! However, if you are related, -you have an obligation to politely identify your relationship to the deceased and why you would like to continue with this ancestor's account management. Make sure that you explain any declined requests, don't ignore people, try to help the person as much as possible. I have seen all kinds of rudeness, but I always try to work with family.

One thing Find A Grave does not have is a good way to enter a list of sources. I suggest that you make ". jpg" 's of your sources (real sources: certificates of birth/marriage/deathe) and add them through "add photo", make sure you give the document photo a source identification and click "other" so that it is categorized correctly. Sometimes the source is not as readable as we would like, or it is an obituary that you would like to be easily read by the mass Find A Grave user of minimal skills. Ask the manager to type out the document in the "Bio" of the deceased "verbatim" with sources included. Any notes of "challenge or correction" should be placed either immediately after the issue in parenthesis's ( s/be 1899 instead of 1999) or after the entire retyped obit/doc - again with parenthesis and always include the contributors user name and ID#.

Be careful when changing things within the "Bio", for example:
If a date is wrong, leave it and add in parenthesis your correction, or brief explanation supporting your change. Jennie died on Oct, 7th, 1988 (s/be 1888) or (Obit in Times Tribune has Oct 17th 1888).
Number of children is wrong: Obituary says that they had 7 children (however, you found a state census for their hometown that 1895 and US Census 1900 for same town - that listed eight by name and age, one passed in 1903.) Or some censuses differentiate between a wife's total # of births and the # of living children. These sources help identify the forgotten stillbirths & young children that have passed before us and are often unknown or forgotten by the living when they create an obituary of a recently deceased ancestor or friend. Obituaries are only as good as the information an informant has and is willing to share with the public - it is not always TRUTH! Often ex-spouses and deceased spouses are unknown or intentionally left out - so don't be surprised! First generation immigrant grandparents hardly ever had their exact birth dates recorded correctly and some outright lied - no one could prove them wrong! Todays obituaries often include names of people as family without adoption or birth, example the parents that lost a child - theoretically or mindfully consider a playmate of their deceased child as "their" child too. Then when they create the obituary of the father of the previously deceased child - they add the "faux" childhood buddy as "son" and "brother" without explanation to the public. It is an honorable tribute, but it really screws up genealogy facts! If you "love someone like a son, brother, father "- say it like that in the obituary - PLEASE!

Remember that the dates can be wrong on Find A Grave. If the gravestone is a replacement dates are suspect, if there was no grave marker at all - dates are suspect and you should have the manager of the site put a note in "BIO" for all to see that there is no marker and explain sources used to conclude or verify that the birth, death, and locations are correct. If the marker is illegible because of poor picture quality, wear,or vandalism - this too should be noted by the manager of the site. If the stone doesn't have a death date inscribed on it, meaning it was preset before death - give manager of site sources of death (obituary, funeral attendence, death certificate) so that a photo retake can be justified and requested. Some cemetery records can at least confirm that the burial did happen there and may give vitals such as birth, death, burial, marriage records. IF THERE ISN'T A PHOTO OF THE STONE OR ATTACHED COPY OF VALID RECORD OF DEATH, BURIAL, OR OBITUARY - THE DATES ON FIND A GRAVE COULD BE WRONG! It's not perfect, but it is still an extremely valuable tool when you understand it's shortcomings.

Though I am still learning, I must implore you to NOT ASK TO BE A MANAGER if you do not know how to add parents, spouses, children, vitals, cut/paste/delete within "BIO" , and how to give credit to contributors. Learn how and always review your changes, changes don't always look like they did in "edit" or within "bio" until you save and review. Don't just delete and replace either - you can't undo after saving! You may be able to get assistance from Find A Grave administrators, but they are limited in that respect. I will often pre-print using WORD any time I want to add to the "BIO", thus making sure that I clean up spelling, verify dates, places, and add comments on discrepancies in an appropriate and understandable manner and at least make a general contributors note listing all known by name and FAG Id# so that others can request information or challenge the sources. Only when I'm satisfied, do I go into the edit version of "BIO" to delete all or parts of the existing bio, then copy and paste your WORD addition, review it, give credit where due, then Save it.

Hello, I have been doing genealogy since my early teens! It is my passion. Please if you have any questions and are unable to reach me through Find a Grave, do not hesitate to contact me via email at [email protected]. My husband & I are very interested in these families : Cook/Koch, Duwenhoegger, Roeder/Roder, Kramer, Lenz, Tigges, Harris, Phinney, Cavanaugh, Dunn, Broeffle, Gates, Bearbower, and about a hundred more grandparents that we have found through FindAGrave.com and FamilySearch.org.

FOOD 4 THOUGHT:

I learned that you need to AVOID clicking "grave" for photos of anything but the HEADSTONE/MARKER. If you select "Person", this is for persons photo or maybe obituary. "Family" is for just that, a group photo of the deceased immediate family either as a sibling w/parents or as self w/spouse & children. If the deceased isn't in a photo, then it doesn't belong in this deceased persons profile. I have requested great grand children to remove their personal family group photos from their great grands simply because the deceased isn't in the photo and it would fill the deceased site with such unnecessary photos - put those in FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com. Photos of the deceased places of residence should be categorized in "Other". Interesting news paper clippings can go in "Other", but try to include name of paper and date of edition.

Another is a "pet-peave" of mine concerning hoarding deceased sites by retaining "management". There are many "Essential Workers" of Find A Grave that contribute by taking individual request photos and whole cemeteries or county cemetery photos. However, if you are one that finds satisfaction and control by "hoarding" the sites after their initial creation - STOP THIS DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR! First, if you are a manager of deceased non-relatives site, consider why you are continuing to maintain that account. If you have THOUSANDS of dead people's sites under your management and your NOT doing anything to add value to the deceased persons memory - you should consider transferring management to ANY REQUESTING FAMILY MEMBER! Please be polite and answer family questions in a timely manner. I know of many cases where people refuse to add valuable information because of rude site managers - both related and unrelated. It shouldn't matter if the person requesting the transfer is within 4 degrees of direct descendance, a 8th cousin 2x's removed, or 5th Great Grand daughter - family is family!- If your NOT family - please seriously consider releasing the site! However, if you are related, -you have an obligation to politely identify your relationship to the deceased and why you would like to continue with this ancestor's account management. Make sure that you explain any declined requests, don't ignore people, try to help the person as much as possible. I have seen all kinds of rudeness, but I always try to work with family.

One thing Find A Grave does not have is a good way to enter a list of sources. I suggest that you make ". jpg" 's of your sources (real sources: certificates of birth/marriage/deathe) and add them through "add photo", make sure you give the document photo a source identification and click "other" so that it is categorized correctly. Sometimes the source is not as readable as we would like, or it is an obituary that you would like to be easily read by the mass Find A Grave user of minimal skills. Ask the manager to type out the document in the "Bio" of the deceased "verbatim" with sources included. Any notes of "challenge or correction" should be placed either immediately after the issue in parenthesis's ( s/be 1899 instead of 1999) or after the entire retyped obit/doc - again with parenthesis and always include the contributors user name and ID#.

Be careful when changing things within the "Bio", for example:
If a date is wrong, leave it and add in parenthesis your correction, or brief explanation supporting your change. Jennie died on Oct, 7th, 1988 (s/be 1888) or (Obit in Times Tribune has Oct 17th 1888).
Number of children is wrong: Obituary says that they had 7 children (however, you found a state census for their hometown that 1895 and US Census 1900 for same town - that listed eight by name and age, one passed in 1903.) Or some censuses differentiate between a wife's total # of births and the # of living children. These sources help identify the forgotten stillbirths & young children that have passed before us and are often unknown or forgotten by the living when they create an obituary of a recently deceased ancestor or friend. Obituaries are only as good as the information an informant has and is willing to share with the public - it is not always TRUTH! Often ex-spouses and deceased spouses are unknown or intentionally left out - so don't be surprised! First generation immigrant grandparents hardly ever had their exact birth dates recorded correctly and some outright lied - no one could prove them wrong! Todays obituaries often include names of people as family without adoption or birth, example the parents that lost a child - theoretically or mindfully consider a playmate of their deceased child as "their" child too. Then when they create the obituary of the father of the previously deceased child - they add the "faux" childhood buddy as "son" and "brother" without explanation to the public. It is an honorable tribute, but it really screws up genealogy facts! If you "love someone like a son, brother, father "- say it like that in the obituary - PLEASE!

Remember that the dates can be wrong on Find A Grave. If the gravestone is a replacement dates are suspect, if there was no grave marker at all - dates are suspect and you should have the manager of the site put a note in "BIO" for all to see that there is no marker and explain sources used to conclude or verify that the birth, death, and locations are correct. If the marker is illegible because of poor picture quality, wear,or vandalism - this too should be noted by the manager of the site. If the stone doesn't have a death date inscribed on it, meaning it was preset before death - give manager of site sources of death (obituary, funeral attendence, death certificate) so that a photo retake can be justified and requested. Some cemetery records can at least confirm that the burial did happen there and may give vitals such as birth, death, burial, marriage records. IF THERE ISN'T A PHOTO OF THE STONE OR ATTACHED COPY OF VALID RECORD OF DEATH, BURIAL, OR OBITUARY - THE DATES ON FIND A GRAVE COULD BE WRONG! It's not perfect, but it is still an extremely valuable tool when you understand it's shortcomings.

Though I am still learning, I must implore you to NOT ASK TO BE A MANAGER if you do not know how to add parents, spouses, children, vitals, cut/paste/delete within "BIO" , and how to give credit to contributors. Learn how and always review your changes, changes don't always look like they did in "edit" or within "bio" until you save and review. Don't just delete and replace either - you can't undo after saving! You may be able to get assistance from Find A Grave administrators, but they are limited in that respect. I will often pre-print using WORD any time I want to add to the "BIO", thus making sure that I clean up spelling, verify dates, places, and add comments on discrepancies in an appropriate and understandable manner and at least make a general contributors note listing all known by name and FAG Id# so that others can request information or challenge the sources. Only when I'm satisfied, do I go into the edit version of "BIO" to delete all or parts of the existing bio, then copy and paste your WORD addition, review it, give credit where due, then Save it.