The Tombstone Transcription Project
By Pamela Brown Reid
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cemetery

What To Do Before You Start 
---------------------------

Find out who has legal jurisdiction over the cemetery property and get
permission to be on the grounds recording the data.

If the cemetery is abandoned, attempt to find out who owns the land the cemetery
is on and obtain permission from the legal owners to be on the property.

The Cemetery Office, Church Office, etc. might have a copy of the plat of the
cemetery and copies of internment records. 

Check your library for any previous transcription work done on the cemetery.
This will come in vary handy if some of the stones are no longer legible. 


Assemble Your Supplies 
----------------------

 Soft brushes
 Scrubber pads (preferably white ones)
 Large spray bottle of water
 Grass clippers
 Plastic pad for kneeling on
 Paper and pencils 


Recording The Data 
------------------

If you have a plat of the cemetery, follow that to make sure you don't miss any
stones.

Alternately, I find it helpful to plot out the cemetery, roughly, using blocks
to represent each grave. 

Begin recording the data from the stones, using the blocks drawn on your paper
(if you decide to use this suggestion).

Record the information on the tombstone exactly as it appears. Copy it word for
word, line for line. Keep the spelling, punctuation, etc., as it appears on the
stone. Resist the temptation to make corrections.

Record all information on the stone, including any epitaphs that may be carved
there. 

A WORD OF WARNING! It is very important to be careful of the old tombstones,
particularly when accompanied by children. One transcriber wrote "When I first
began my trek of searching cemeteries about five years ago, my then 18 month old
son had a headstone fall on his legs. He was bruised but thank goodness his
guardian angel was there, it could have been much worse." There are many old
"monoliths" in cemeteries and even the smaller headstones can cause severe
damage, so please beware when you are searching and recording, especially with
the children. These tombstones and monuments are not secure after centuries or
decades of weather and human fiddlings. 

FOR EXAMPLES SEE https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/howto.html


Formatting The Data
-------------------

Type your data into a word processor, if at all possible.

Begin the file with the cemetery name, town, county and state. 

Give directions to the cemetery, using street and road names, route numbers and
landmarks, if applicable.

Don't forget to include your name and contact info at the top of the file.

Include any interesting historical data on the cemetery, if known---date
established, background info, etc.

Enter the tombstone inscriptions just as you wrote them down.

If you have additional genealogical information for the individuals that might
be of interest, include that in a separate comments column.

The USGenWeb Project Archives uses only ASCII Text file format. If possible,
please save the files in this format. 

Submitting The Files 
--------------------

Submit the data either The Tombstone Project Manager for the appropriate state,
(go to the the State Registry Page at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb to see
who this is) or to the Archives File Manager for the appropriate state. (Visit
The USGenWeb Project Archives for contact info for the Archives Managers).

You can submit the files via email attachment---the fastest way.

If you would rather mail disks to us, contact either myself, or the Archives
Manager of the appropriate state for a mailing address.

If you cannot submit the cemetery data to us in digital format, you can mail a
paper copy of the transcription and we will have the data input for you. (This
is why we need volunteers to scan and to type). 

Make sure you read the FAQ written by Craig Bond on "A Cemetery Survey as an
Eagle Scout Project". (https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/eagle.html) There are
lots of great hints in there on doing this kind of project! 

That is all there is to it. If you want to get more involved, and do a really
"proper" cemetery survey, visit David McCallister's Cemetery Page at
http://www.oklahoma.net/~davidm/grave.htm for information from The Association
For Gravestone Studies on this topic. David also has a page of hints he received
From people when he asked "How do I read a hard to read tombstone?" There are
lots of hints there for you to use. 

Let's work together in this endeavor!

This Project is about remembering our dead and preserving our history!!!

To register a cemetery, just send a message to the State Tombstone Project
Volunteer containing the following information: name of the cemetery, the county
and state where the cemetery is located and the names of the people who will be
doing the transcribing. If you have already transcribed cemetery data and would
like for your work to become part of this project, just let us know. 

Register a cemetery today!!!!

For more information see:

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cemetery
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/registry.html
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb
http://www.oklahoma.net/~davidm/grave.htm

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