What's in a name?
Quite a lot if it brings your ancestral search to a screeching halt because the name was never etched on the gravestone.
While there could be any number of reasons for the omission, it's most likely due to a cost factor, especially during depression years. Certainly, it's cheaper to re-open a grave than to buy a new plot and stone. Plus, with no existing law about stone markings even more money was saved by leaving it blank.
In the grave featured above, several more people are buried here than engraved on the stone. Also resting here is a one year old boy that the family tree researcher had no idea existed since he was too young to be captured on a census. It was the search for his father's missing burial site that lead to the discovery of little Alexander.
What does it all mean? It means that gravestone transcribers, who rely on stone markings, have nothing to write down. No data to digitise. And empty databases means no online search results.
So, if your search for an ancestral grave has hit a brick wall, this might be the reason why. To find your answer, select the grave of a near-relative to the elusive deceased, say spouse or parents, and ask the cemetery administrator to look up the original grave ledger which shows all of the names of the interred and dates buried.
You never know. Perhaps you'll find a lost soul now happy to be reunited with family or a small child that time forgot.
website http://www.savegraves.com/
email savegraves@gmail.com.
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