Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Mapping Question of the Day

A Grave Mapper in Illinois had a question about mapping cemeteries on Names in Stone that we all might run into.

Question: How do you map the grave for two people who have a double headstone?

Answer: When you are mapping your cemetery, you want to give every person their own grave, regardless of how many people share the headstone.

For example, if William Thomas and Rebecca Thomas were married and have a double headstone, they still each have their own burial spot under that headstone. So place two graves right next to each other on the map. Then if you attach a headstone photo, you can attach the same photo of the double headstone to each grave.

If any of you have questions as you are mapping cemeteries, don't hesitate to ask. Chances are, there is somebody out there with the same question that you have!


  1. Hi Jolyn, Did I miss something? you are mapping the actual graves and not the cemeteries? Or are you wanting both?

  2. At Names in Stone (www.namesinstone.com), you can create cemetery maps and then map every grave individually within that cemetery. It's a great way to preserve every individual headstone and burial record. You can also search the multi-cemetery database by a person's name and find burial records.

    You might be asking about the map above, which is just a fun map of cemeteries throughout the world. On that map, just put in your cemeteries.

    Hope that helps!

  3. Not sure where to post this question:

    " There is a small family grave site behind a small country church. We know that two family members are buried there because they once had headstones. However, the stones broke and the care taker threw them over the fence. So now the plots are not marked. What should we do. There are a couple different families, but for the most part, our Clark Family is Buried there.

  4. It would still be possible to map this cemetery on the Names in Stone website. If you want to email me at gravemappers@gmail.com we can discuss the specifics. Thanks, JoLyn

