How-To Essay #3 - The Cemeteries of
Rock County
-
- Most of us are quite knowledgable on
what a cemetery can offer the genealogist, so I won't cover that
information here. Instead, I'll concentrate on available information
for Rock County's cemeteries.
-
- Where are the transcriptions?
-
- Hopefully, online. The Cemeteries section
is one of the fastest growing areas of The WIGenWeb-Rock County
Project
- (WIRock). The ultimate goal is to have
all of Rock County's burials transcribed, photographed and online.
Currently, about half of the cemeteries in the county are transcribed
and a handful have been completely photographed for this purpose.
Many other cemeteries have look-up volunteers available. Others
have been transcribed by local societies and are available for
purchase. A complete list showing what sources are available
for each cemetery in Rock County can be found at WIRock's alphabetical
listing page (link and address at bottom of page).
-
- Where are my ancestors?
-
- If you think your ancestor may have
been buried in Rock County, try the cemetery closest to your
ancestor's last known
- residence. If you aren't sure where
that may be, contact me; I'm always glad to help.
- Rock County sits on the Wisconsin-Illinois
state line, and, therefore, many of its residents (especially
those who lived
- in the southern half of the county)
were buried in Illinois cemeteries. Eventually, once all of the
"in house" cemeteries are transcribed, I do plan to
branch out into the neighboring vicinity to catch as many as
these out-of-county burials as possible.
-
- Please note that transcriptions are
not the actual cemetery records. Some kind heart has actually
walked the entire
- cemetery and written down all the names
and dates off the stones. Understand that we're all human and
errors are not uncommon, especially considering the condition
of many of the older cemeteries and stones. Many of the stones
are no longer legible, others are broken beyond recognition,
and some are just plain buried or missing.
-
- I am also available (and happy) to
help you find your family in Rock's cemeteries. I know how frustrating
it is to wait
- for your cemetery to come online, and
even more frustrating to wait for a photo to appear. My husband
and I are the ones taking most of the photographs of the tombstones.
Photographing an entire cemetery takes days, but we can find
your family plot and capture the stones in JPG format in minutes.
Contact me and I'll add your family to my to-do list. Don't be
shy, it's a free service.
- I'm not too good with the larger cemeteries
(those in Janesville, Beloit and Evansville), but the rest of
the county is open
- for the asking. I will do Oak Hill
if you can supply the plot/lot number to get me in the
vicinity.
- If you've submitted a request, be patient.
The weather is not my friend but I will get to them all before
the snow flies.
- Any requests after the first snow will
have to wait for the spring.
-
- If no stone can be found, but you're
sure your ancestor is buried at the cemetery, of course, write
the records holder.
- An obituary is a good source. Aunt
Mildred is not (See Example 1). Please, don't write a cemetery
records holder without utilizing the other available resources
first. When all other resources turn up blank, then write the
records holder. When writing to the records holder, be specific
and brief. They don't need (or want) your complete family tree
and history. A short, politely worded request does the trick.
It's a good idea to supply your ancestor's given name, especially
if you are looking for a common surname (see Example 2). Most
important, include an SASE (self-addressed stamp envelope).
- Some of the larger cemetery offices
in Rock County charge a minimal fee for a search in their records.
When the office
- is dealing with over 15,000 burial
records, you can't really complain too much about a small fee
to help cover their costs.
- How you can help!
-
- We can always use more transcribers.
Before you start walking a cemetery, check with me first to make
sure someone
- hasn't already done that one. Being
only one person, I do have a bit of a back log sitting here,
and I don't always remember to add the "Transcribed; online
soon!" tag that denotes a cemetery's been transcribed and
submitted.
- I cannot legally accept transcriptions
done by a society or group. You must be the owner of the transcription
(the "one
- who walked").
- I will also gladly accept any photographs
you may have of your family's stones or plots. E-mail to let
me know what
- you have, and we'll hash out the details.
Don't worry if it's not the best, you'd be surprised at what
I can do with a smudgy, cock-eyed photo. If you have a digital
camera and live in the area, where have you been? Seriously,
contact me. I'm trying to get up a group of people - digital
photographers and people who can write standing up (sometimes,
I can't) - who'd be willing to tackle Oak Hill and the other
massive Rock County cemeteries.
-
- Finally, if you need advice on finding
your ancestor's grave, have a question or need directions to
a cemetery, feel free to
- contact me. I'm happy to help. Always....
-
- Lori Niemuth* <dawnlea@ticon.net>
-
- -----------------------------
- EXAMPLE 1:
The obituary for John SMITH (d. 1915) states that he was buried
in Grove Cemetery, Center Township, but I could not find a tombstone
for him. Do you have any information regarding his burial? Please
let me know if I can reimburse you for your time and effort.
[Include a good scan of the obituary]
- -----------------------------
EXAMPLE 2:
I would like further information regarding the John SMITH (d.
1915) family plot in Grove Cemetery. Please let me know if I
can reimburse you for your time and effort.
- -----------------------------
Online references:
- Alphabetical list of the cemeteries,
with links, at WIGenWeb-Rock County
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~wirock/cemetery/alphacem.html>
List of the cemeteries by township, with links, at WIGenWeb-Rock
County
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~wirock/cemetery/twpcem.html>
Map of the layout of Rock County's townships
<http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~wirockbios/Maps/twpsmap.jpg>
WIGenWeb-Rock County website
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~wirock/>
Rock County Genealogical Society website
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~wircgs/index.html>
Origins website
<http://www.OriginsBooks.com/>
-
-
- *Please be aware that I'm not a genealogy,
history or geology expert. I welcome any corrections or additions.
-
Last
updated: December 22, 2003