how do i find cemetery records online and for free?
It should be a no brainer to go to a county or parish’s web site and access death records but, everywhere I go i get redirected to some 3rd party site asking me for cash.
Cemetery records in the United States may or may not be transcribed and posted on a particular web site. Here is info regarding free access to cemetery info (if the records exist online.)
Many state or county genealogy organizations have volunteers who survey area graveyards and cemetery records, transcribe the information and then post it on the organizations’ web pages. However, the amount of work done and information posted varies from location to location, as the info is dependent upon volunteer work.
The USGenWeb network may be a good place to start. You don’t indicate the state/states and counties where the cemeteries in which you are interested are located. Here is the home page link for USGenWeb: http://usgenweb.org/
From there, you will need to select the link to the state where you are trying to find cemetery info.
Each state GenWeb page is a little different, so you will need to look over the particular web page and links to find what may be posted. You will need to link to particular county GenWeb pages and any state cemetery info pages.
Keep in mind, not all the info on all the cemeteries in the USA are transcribed and available online through the GenWeb sites.
One of the best collections of links to all sorts of genealogical information sites is Cyndi’s List:
http://www.cyndislist.com/
There are links to cemetery info and all sorts of state and county info.
Also, if a cemetery is owned and managed by a county or municipality, there may be a link for information from the particular county or municipality web page. Again, there may not be. You would need to conduct Google or Bing searches for county or municipal web pages. Here’s an example for conducting a efficient search. Nest the terms in quotation marks as indicated:
“Any City, StateName” government
–Or–
“CountyName, StateName” government
Examples:
“Madison, Wisconsin” government
— Or–
“Dane County, Wisconsin” government
If you wish you could replace the word “government” with “cemetery” or “cemeteries.”
Not all counties or municipalities own and operate cemeteries in the US, however.
Another option, is posting a “look up” request on one of the free regional genealogy message boards. I have had good results with the Rootsweb.com message boards: http://www.rootsweb.com
Registration is free and required to post queries. The link to the Message Boards is near the top of home page.
Genealogy.com http://www.genealogy.com also has free message boards (free registration required to post queries) by states: http://genforum.genealogy.com/index.html
You can post your “cemetery look up” request on the relevant message boards. Keep in mind, it may take time for someone to reply to you, go to the cemetery/cemeteries in question, and find the info you seek.
There is also FindAGrave http://www.findagrave.com Again, the info on this web site is dependent upon volunteers entering grave records. I have been fortunate to find some ancestor grave/burial info that others in various parts of the USA have added to the database.
Others’ replies to your question her may provide you with more excellent online resources. As you can see, there is no “one perfect answer.”
Best wishes in your research