What is "Find A Grave"?

I have recently been asked about the online memorial site called “Find A Grave”. Find A Grave is a free website that’s goal is to document grave sites from around the world and create an online virtual cemetery.  There are currently over 100 million memorials on this website!

On the Find A Grave website you can search memorials by name, date or cemetery.  These memorials and photos are contributed and maintained by network of volunteers.

Many of our deceased Burnett family are included on this site.   For example, Leo Burnett, my grandfather’s memorial can be found by clicking here. From this memorial you can determine his birth date, death date, parents, spouse, and siblings.  Many of these family members’ names are links to their own Find A Grave memorial.

There are several of our Burnett cousins that are active contributors and maintainers on the Find A Grave website.  These cousins, when requested, will add and update memorials.  If you have a Burnett relative that is not included on the Find A Grave site, and would like a memorial added, there are several methods to consider.  One way would be to locate the memorial of their nearest family member.  Then from the bottom left of the webpage click on the “maintained by” or “created by” link to contact the memorial manager to request a memorial be added. Another option would be to set up a free Find A Grave account and add and maintain the memorial yourself.

This virtual cemetery information can be helpful in tracing ones ancestry.  A word of caution – most of the information is correct, but occasionally there is misinformation.  If you find a memorial which you could provide updated information, click on the “edit” tab in the upper right hand corner. 

All in all, Find A Grave is valuable tool and when used with other genealogical documentation can be a great resource in discovering and preserving your family’s history.