The Genealogy Bits Rotating Header Image

Cemetery

Looking for Baileys

I am currently for searching tombstones belonging to my 3rd great grand father, Jacob Bailey and his wife Barbara Ann Tracey. I know that they lived in the Parkton and Wiseburg areas of Baltimore county, Maryland where Jacob was a stone mason. Jacob’s death is mentioned in the 1870 census with a small notation that reads “died this day”. That page of the census was enumerated on 21 Jul 1870. His wife is believed to have died the year before. Jacob and Barbara had a large family with at least nine children, e.g., John Thomas, Warnel, Mary Catherine, Anna E., Jane, Mariam, William, Adam Isaiah, and Dora. Finding any of their children’s families would be helpful as well.

This Saturday, I dragged my family to yet another cemetery. We stopped at the Wiseburg United Methodist Church in White Hall and combed through the rows looking for Baileys. It didn’t take long to find Bailey stones, but it soon became apparent that either a) Jacob and Barbara weren’t there, or b) their stones weren’t there. Instead, I found the family of Adam Isaiah, his wife Annie, and their children. Most of these stones had already been cataloged on Find-A-Grave, but you can never be sure how thorough other volunteers might have been. There was no one in the office the day we stopped by. I may have to visit during the week if I’m going to have a chance of looking at the church records.

Next, we will be visiting other cemeteries in the area.

Find A Grave

A couple months ago I registered at Find A Grave. I have a large number of photos and transcriptions that I’ve compiled over the years that would be more useful on a public website than in my private database. Find A Grave has been around since 1998, almost as long as THIS website! :) I’ve visited Find A Grave a few times in the past, found it less useful than I was hoping, and continued on my way to other resources. Sadly, I missed an opportunity to share the information I had. In the meantime, thousands of other volunteers have been creating and managing memorials in my absence. Late to the game, I’m now trying to squeeze my way into the project and create or enhance my family’s memorials. What I’m discovering is that there are large gaps in my family tree where I have no idea where my ancestors are buried. What I’ve also discovered is that there are people who transcribe massive amounts of graves (100s of 1,000s), add them to the database, and then have no time to address the management (e.g., corrections, links, photos) of every grave they’ve contributed. You can submit a request for a memorial transfer, but that’s up to the person who created the record in the first place. This is more than a little frustrating when you have information to add. One of the best things about the project is that it’s an easy (and free) way to find other researchers. Now I just have to find some free time to start walking cemeteries again.