How To Find Out Where Someone Is Buried

Download Article

Visiting the grave of someone who's passed away can exist a great style to pay your respects and get closure, or only to learn more about a historical figure. Yet, if y'all don't know exactly where the person was buried, it might seem difficult to observe the gravesite. Luckily, equally long as you have just a little data about the person, there are a number of means you lot tin discover out where someone is buried.

ane
Visit the cemetery if yous know where it is. If you know the cemetery where someone is buried but you're not certain exactly which plot is theirs, take a trip to the graveyard. Plan to get early on in the twenty-four hours, in case it takes yous a while to find the exact location.^[i]
- Since y'all'll exist walking around outside, bring along a canteen of h2o, and apply sunscreen before you leave the house. If you're going in the summer, you'll demand to reapply the sunscreen if you'll be exterior for more than 2 hours.
- Depending on the time of year and where you're going, it may exist a expert idea to bring problems spray.
two
Await online or at the visitor's centre for a map. Some cemeteries have websites with a map of all of the graves on their grounds, while others will have maps bachelor on site. If y'all can find a map, information technology could relieve you lot a lot of walking while you lot search for an individual grave.
- Some of these maps will list individual graves, while others might include only family unit plots. Some may even be just a basic grid outline of the cemetery, but even that can assist you streamline your search.
Advertisement
3
Outset at i side of the cemetery and make a pattern. If you don't know the general location of the grave, information technology's best to start in i corner of the cemetery and walk along the pathway from one finish to the other. That way, you don't stop up accidentally looking in the same areas yous've already been.
- Information technology may be helpful to bring a piece of paper and a pencil and draw a rough diagram of the cemetery to help you keep runway of the plots you lot already looked at.
- If information technology's a very large cemetery, you may need to take someone else beginning at the other side or interruption your visit into multiple days.
4
Reach out to the sexton of the cemetery if y'all still can't find the grave. The cemetery sexton is the person in charge of overseeing the grounds. In improver to performing general maintenance in the cemetery, the sexton likewise keeps records of all of the burials. They should be able to tell you the verbal location of the gravesite.^[2]
- You might besides be able to speak to the clergy who oversaw the services. Even if they don't have a record, they may call back the general area in which the person is cached.
v
Contact the funeral domicile for assist if the cemetery is privately owned. Some cemeteries are endemic past the funeral home itself. If that's the instance, y'all can contact the manager of the funeral dwelling house to find out the location of the grave.^[3]
- Oftentimes in this situation, the funeral home will exist located on the grounds of the cemetery.
6
Look for a family plot with the person'due south concluding proper noun. In a cemetery, you'll often see last names grouped together. If you come across another grave with the same family unit name as the person you're looking for, you may be getting close.^[4]
- This is because families often buy multiple graves at the same time and so they can be laid to rest together. These groupings are called family unit plots.
7
Compare the nascence and death dates with the fourth dimension the person lived. Just because you find a gravesite with the same name as the person you're looking for, information technology doesn't necessarily mean you've constitute them. Check the information on the headstone to see if the birth and death dates match up to verify it'southward the right grave.
- If you don't know the person'south verbal date of nascency or when they died, at least attempt to estimate when they would take lived.
Advertisement

1
Get together as much information virtually the person every bit you can. When yous're searching records, you'll demand to have the start, center, and last name of the person, whenever possible. You're probable to have more luck if you as well know their date of birth, when and where they died, and the names of their firsthand family members.^[5]
- Since some combinations of offset and last names are more common, having the person'south middle proper noun volition help narrow down your search significantly.
- If you're non sure of the person's total name, their date of birth, or when they died, try looking in family bibles, baptismal records, or obituaries.
- You may be able to discover the person's decease document by contacting their local canton clerk's part. Notwithstanding, if the person died before the 1930s, they may not take a death certificate.
2
Look up the person in genealogy databases. If yous'd similar to know the location of your ancestor'southward burial site but you don't know where to commencement looking, a genealogy database can assist. Even if you tin can't detect the exact location of their grave, you may be able to discover where the person lived and died, which can help you narrow downward where they're probably buried.^[6]
- Many of these sites require a fee to employ all of their features, although yous may be able to sign upwards for a costless trial in some cases.
- 2 of the nearly pop genealogy websites are https://www.ancestry.com/ and https://www.archives.com/.
3
Visit virtual cemetery websites. Once you know the area where the person is cached, you may be able to discover their grave online at a virtual cemetery website or headstone database. Fifty-fifty if the cemetery itself doesn't maintain an independent website, a database may include a photograph of their headstone and it's location in the cemetery.^[7]
- In many cases, volunteers take photos of gravesites and upload them.
- Ane of the most popular cemetery databases is https://www.findagrave.com/. You could also check https://billiongraves.com/.
- There may also be databases which are specific to your region. For example, if you're Dutch, you lot could visit https://www.dutchgenealogy.nl/online-cemeteries/.
four
Browse sites for veterans if the person was a service member. There are specific sites dedicated to preserving the locations of servicemen and women who have passed away, whether they died in the line of duty or after their service had ended. If the person yous're searching for served in the military in some style, check these sites for more than data.^[8]
- Two sites that might be helpful include https://www.vets.gov/burials-and-memorials/find-a-cemetery/ and https://m.va.gov/gravelocator/.
- If you're looking for someone buried in a specific military machine cemetery, check to run across if there'south an contained website. For example, you lot can find the location of a grave at Arlington National Cemetery by visiting https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Find-a-Grave.
Advertisement

Add together New Question

Question

My uncle was given a pauper's funeral by Liverpool Urban center Council in 1977. In that location is no name on the burial plot and I believe there is more than one person in the grave. How can I find the plot?

Your uncle was buried with a metal number disc. Your Urban center Quango should take a record of the place, date, and fourth dimension you uncle was interred.
Question

Can a cemetery charge a fee to tell y'all where a grave is?

No, they'll inquire for when the person died and/or when they were buried. Sometimes they might ask your relation to the deceased.
Question

I have the friend'southward name, where they lived, when and where they died, but no obituary to notation interment. Is this enough?

Unless the person is from a very big town and has an exceedingly common name, this should exist sufficient. Many people never accept obituaries written about them.
Question

How can I find a grave site if I know a person's full proper name?

Try Googling the person's name first, in case they are listed somewhere. If that doesn't pan out, you lot could go along ancestry.com.
Question

I have the appointment of nativity, death, and the death certificate, simply all the same tin can't find the burial place. What can I do?

You can run an internet search for the person and then notice where they are, just like if they were live.
Question

A grave marker has been found, merely the cemetery staff cannot observe the grave. How can I help them locate it?

Most gravestone pedestals accept engraved numbers on them that indicate the section and plot. Expect for it - if not on your detail stone, look at the ones closest to it. Not all are engraved, specially older ones.
Question

Have cemetery name and plot number, how practise I find out who is buried there?

There should be burial records somewhere. Talk to your local cemetery committee or boondocks sexton.
Question

Can I take a piece of someone's headstone equally a memento?

No, taking a piece of a gravestone is considered defacing a grave and is very disrespectful to the dead.
Question

How do I find my grandparent's grave when I don't know what cemetery they're buried in?

Enquire other family members if they know which cemetery was chosen. This means going beyond immediate family unit and asking cousins, uncles, bully-aunts, etc. Someone in your wider family unit will know. Also bank check newspapers from the city or area they lived in, equally it's probable in that location is a death notice that names the cemetery. One time you become that, yous tin use the cemetery records to locate the actual graves.
Question

How practise I find a person'southward grave when they were buried in an unmarked grave?

If you lot know the cemetery, the sexton can check records for the location.

See more than answers

Enquire a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Cheque with the cemetery earlier y'all go out flowers or other tokens. Some cemeteries but allow cut flowers, some prohibit ribbons or balloons, and others don't accept any regulations almost the types of items you lot can leave.

About This Article

Article Summary X

To find a person'south grave, check online or in the cemetery entrance for a map of the graves. Failing that, locate the sexton, who might be able to aid you find the grave. If neither of those work, outset in one corner and read the gravestones in a pattern to make the virtually of your time. To find the grave of an ancestor, endeavor checking genealogy databases like Ancestry for the location of their grave. Even if their verbal plot isn't listed, yous might find out where and when they died. For more tips, including how to find the graves of veterans, read on!

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 298,088 times.