I am a taphophile: a "tombstone tourist" (I like that one!), or a "cemetery enthusiast". To me, it's one of the best parts of doing family history research - getting out and doing actual footwork, the thrill of the chase, and actually getting to touch a stone with my ancestor's name on it. My mom and I always joke about us going through a cemetery is like the scene from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly when Eli Wallach is running through the cemetery looking for the stone that marks the plot where the treasure is :)
So, I was thrilled to find
Find A Grave. Set up as a database that is striving to mark graves across the country, and hopefully include bits of info on each person represented. They rely on volunteers that both add names to their database, take pictures of stones for the memorials, and input information on the individuals. I originally signed up so I could request pictures of my ancestors' graves that were not easily accessible to me because of distance, but I got hooked!
It all started when I signed up for the option to input my zip code to see if there are any photo requests in your area. So, every time I saw one come across for our little town, I'd go and fulfill the request. Well, that branched out to fulfilling requests when we were doing our Civil War
project. Now I've started adding memorials and including biographical info and pictures with them. The problem with any form of genealogy is that it's like a huge puzzle that demands you solve it. The thing is, it is neverending. There's always another loose end. :)
The awesome thing about Find a Grave, it's free! Sometimes, you won't find who you're looking for (there's a whole county in Pennsylvania that has barely any records on there - and I'm dying for that info!), but other times there will be pictures, dates, and links to the individual's family members.
A great place for beginners to start and seasoned veterans to haunt (no pun intended). :)
