But I think you’ll find that most people who are into genealogy appreciate actually standing in the graveyard and thinking about the area where their ancestors lived.
Lynn Bancroft: Tombstones are a major source of information, particularly for long-ago relatives. Before around 1900 or so, death certificates were not issued by governments routinely. If you wanted to find out exactly when people died and were born, the best places to go were cemeteries. Traditionally, if someone knew that their ancestors lived in a small town and were Presbyterian, they would go to the Presbyterian Church, and it would lead them, hopefully, to their ancestors. Looking at cemeteries is a welcomed pastime for a lot of genealogists. It’s a little bit less necessary now with online resources like Find a Grave, which is community-sourced by people putting up photos and transcriptions of graves everywhere in the country. But I think you’ll find that most people who are into genealogy appreciate actually standing in the graveyard and thinking about the area where their ancestors lived. Sometimes you can learn things by looking at the other side of the tombstone or seeing where people are buried in relation to other people.