Name of a Cemetery
by Steve Paul Johnson
November 14, 2001
The name of a cemetery is too easily taken for granted.
When creating a cemetery transcription, transcribers are not doing
the "due diligence" to verify the actual name of the cemetery. This
is particularly the case with cemeteries in rural areas, or abandoned
The trouble occurs when someone uses a transcription to determine
the burial location of a relative or friend. If the correct name
is not identified on the transcription, it can lead people into
an endless search.
It can also cause headaches in trying to identify one transcription
For example, St. Raymonds Cemetery in Bronx County, New York is
a very well known cemetery. But there are actually two of them,
both located close to each other. One is referred to as "Old St.
Raymonds" and the other is referred to as "New St. Raymonds". Sometimes,
New St. Raymonds is just referred to as "St. Raymonds".
When people submit transcriptions for "St. Raymonds Cemetery",
we have to ask for clarification as to which one they are referring
to. If we didn't put any effort into asking for clarification, can
you imagine the gross inaccuracies that would result? We'd end up
with records for the old cemetery published in the new cemetery,
and vice-versa. People would be misled to believe their ancestors
were buried in one place, when in fact they were buried somewhere
Even when two cemeteries have different names, the same problem
can occur if they are adjacent to each other. Long Island National
Cemetery and Pinelawn Cemetery are adjoining cemeteries in Farmingdale,
New York. We noticed people referring to the "National Cemetery
in Farmingdale", when in fact they are really talking about Pinelawn.
People didn't realize that there are two separate cemeteries there.
They think the whole area is the National Cemetery.
All throughout the United States, there are two or more cemeteries
located adjacent to each other, and are often not separated by a
fence, or any other noticeable borders. It's easy to understand
why one could be mistaken, but if you're going to create a cemetery
transcription, you must take the responsibility of knowing the subject.
Another source of confusion is old names and new names. During
my own genealogical research, I found references to a cemetery where
my ancestors were buried. I found these references in death certificates,
which were issued in the late 1800's and early 1900's. I didn't
stop to think that the cemetery may have changed names. I figured
the cemetery carried the same name back then as it did now. So,
when I called the county courthouse to lookup the plot numbers,
they said there was no such cemetery by that name. I didn't understand.
It wasn't until several months later that I discovered the cemetery
was now operating under a different name. If you find an old cemetery
transcription, or old death certificates, and you want to compile
them to create a burial listing, then you should be aware that the
name of the cemetery may have changed. It can save your intended
readers some grief.
In my own cemetery adventures I find many that have no apparent
names. There is no sign indicating the name of the cemetery, nor
is there any name listed on maps, and nor do any of the locals know
of a name. If you can't find a name through any of the easy channels,
contact the local historical society. Historical societies are devoted
to studying the history of the local area.
I've sometimes found that the historical society will not know
of a name. At that point, I'll often coin a name after the town
the cemetery served. Thus for example, the cemetery in Ludlow, California,
would be named, "Ludlow Cemetery".
Some might argue that it is inappropriate to coin a name, because
that too would mislead people into thinking that that's the correct
name. But there could actually be many cemeteries within the confines
of a county that don't have names. In San Bernardino County, California,
there are perhaps as many as 50 cemeteries and burial sites throughout
the Mojave Desert that don't appear to have any official names.
If they were all identified as "cemetery" or "unnamed cemetery",
it would be difficult for people to identify which cemetery transcription
they would need. If the name of the town or area is tied to the
cemetery name, it could at least guide people to the right transcription.
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is published by
the United States Geological Survey as an attempt to create a national
index of geographic features. It's common for people to refer to
the GNIS as the official source of names. After all, the federal
government created it, so it must be official, right?
Well, the problem is that many of the features identified in the
GNIS are out of date. Even though the GNIS is continuously revised,
each feature is not examined continuously. There are cemeteries
that were first added to the GNIS in the 1980's, and have never
been reexamined since. So, while the GNIS has a name for a cemetery,
it does not mean that that name is still current.
Furthermore, much of the names found in the GNIS were extracted
from the USGS 7.5 minute maps. Many of these maps were created in
the 1960's and 1970's. So, the names found in the GNIS come from
sources as much as 40 years old.
The bottom line is that the transcriber of a cemetery must take
responsibility in correctly identifying the cemetery. The people
who will use that transcription will assume the transcriber has
extensive knowledge of the cemetery, and will accept the transcription
as evidence of fact.
Creating a cemetery transcription is more than capturing the tombstone
inscriptions, or copying the sexton records. It includes many elements,
and among them is the official name, including any other nicknames
and prior names.
- Steve Paul Johnson