BUCKS COUNTY CEMETERIES ON FINDAGRAVE

 by Tom Myers, BCGS Query Coordinator

Tom Myers is an accomplished author, and Charter Member of BCGS.  Tom has compiled several books on Bucks County genealogical records, and has contributed countless volunteer hours over the years.  His latest project is transcribing Bucks County burials on FindaGrave.  We are very fortunate to have Tom volunteer as Query Coordinator for our Society.

There are a number of internet-based resources for doing cemetery research. Over the past several years, FindaGrave.com has become widely recognized as the leading resource for cemetery research. As of early April, FindaGrave has 96 million grave records and that number is growing at the rate of about 1 million per month.

A number of volunteers have been working to fully document Bucks County cemeteries on FindaGrave. At present, there are over 160,000 Bucks County interments documented on FindaGrave. Northern Bucks County interments are probably 90% or more complete at this point. Most southern Bucks County cemeteries also appear to be fully or partially documented.

FindaGrave is a completely free resource. Banner ads provide funding for the site. For a donation of $5, anyone can "sponsor" a memorial which will permanently remove the banner ads from that memorial.

One reason for FindaGrave's popularity is that it provides rich functionality for adding information on each memorial, rather than just providing a list of interments. Each memorial page has space to provide dates and places of birth and death, the location of the interment (cemetery and plot) and a free-form section for a biography or other information about the individual. Pictures of the individual and/or tombstone can be posted on the page. The individual's memorial page can also be linked to memorials for the individual's spouse and/or parents, providing family-tree like functionality.

FindaGrave is fully searchable based on name (including partial name searches but not fuzzy name searches), year of birth/death and location of burial (country/state/county). Users can also do a search for a specific cemetery and then do a name search within that cemetery.

Anyone can add information to FindaGrave subject to a few rules and restrictions. First, since FindaGrave is primarily a source for documenting burial places, only one memorial per person is allowed. This differs from most family tree sites where users are allowed to post trees that duplicate other trees. Also, while anyone can post pictures on an existing memorial, only the person who created the memorial can edit the text. If you find an existing memorial that has missing or incorrect information, you can use the "edit" link on the page to submit an edit request to the page's creator. Most FindaGrave volunteers will readily make edits but in cases where volunteers are not responsive, you can also send an edit request to the FindaGrave administrators.

If you are looking to do cemetery research for Bucks County (or anywhere else), FindaGrave.com is a highly-recommended resource.  

Tech Tips

 by Cathy Ivins, Director of Publicity

Technology has certainly benefited genealogy, especially due to digitizing and researching records. I'm easily amazed and amused by it. I'd love to share a few online tools which can certainly come in handy for us, are both very user-friendly, and are FREE!  

Trello.com is an online site that is very versatile. It's like having index cards, which you can organize into different piles and update and move as needed. For genealogy, it easily organizes data which you can prioritize. You can add photos, hyperlinks and more. How often have we knocked down a brick wall and not wanted to take a break from newfound information for fear of forgetting where you left off? Anyone else ever lose sleep, or fall behind in - ahem - housework, because of this? Well, Trello is the place to put your to-do lists. It also has an app for your smartphone or tablet to take with you! There is a great article from AncestryPaths with samples of using Trello for genealogy purposes. Check it out here: http://www.ancestrypaths.com/tips-and-techniques/organize-your-research-using-trello/.  

A similar site which creates boxes for notes and more is Popplet.com. Simply click on your board and up pops a box. You can connect your boxes and, like Trello, you can add not only text but graphics and more. You can even create a timeline or family tree on it. I've used it with my students to brainstorm ideas and organize their writing, so even fourth graders can use it very easily. In fact, a student can show you how to create a family tree using Popplet in this schooltube video: http://bit.ly/xwby3q.

These and other tips are shared regularly on our BCGS Facebook page. "Like" us there and we'll keep you in the loop on some great ideas, events, and more. You've gotta love technology, but please take a break from it if you find yourself tilting your head to smile :-)

Query about Tomlinson ancestors... 

I am researching Bucks County Tomlinson ancestors, especially Richard, b. ca.1740, and son James, b. ca.1770, d. ca.1835 Lycoming County, and would like to connect with anyone with similar interests.  Please contact me at:  [email protected]