Connecting familial dots, while helping others do the same.

My primary focus is my own family, dating from before the mid 1800s. This is not a geneaology platform, but I have found family using this site. I am grateful those memorials were added, usually by unrelated Find A Grave members. I am also grateful to those who add memorial pics, marriage and death certificates, obits, etc. Death certificates and obits provide valuable family information. Misinformation can happen - but it is better to have information provided in good faith than none at all.

My intent is to help others 'find a grave' by adding and connecting memorials to family. Most memorials I create and/or manage are with the hope that having them on this site is beneficial to those searching for them, not because of a family or personal connection.

If any relative (or caring friend, or family friend) would like a memorial transferred, please ask. My only request is that you honor the person and the memorial created for them. That you care enough to ask is all the 'proof' I need.

A few memorial managers (of thousands of absolute unrelated strangers) create their own requirements, rules and stipulations for transfer requests. The clutching and need for control over a complete stranger's memorial is odd. No one needs to beg, grovel or jump through authoritarian hoops. Politely make a transfer request by correctly using the system. Always use the site's transfer system and its message system to create a permanent timeline and unerasable record of every interaction. Using personal contact or e-mail could lead to 'accidental' loss of the timeline and details. There should be zero resistance or untoward personal demands, such as ID or personal family details. If you run across this type of bad conduct and controlling behavior, or are outright ignored, report it to FAG support. FAG knows who you are and can speedily resolve issues, especially when you have correctly and politely used the system.

If a family member manages a memorial, they can reasonably ask for your relationship connection to determine if your connection is closer than theirs. It should be provided in the notes area as you request the transfer, to avoid that extra step. 3rd cousin twice removed is not useful information to anyone and is too vague. Be exact about your connection. Beyond providing your connection declaration - uncle, great grandparent, etc. - the memorial manager does not have a right to make other demands (ID, copy of ID, or any other personal detail). Keep in mind, the current manager has a right to keep the memorial if their family connection is more immediate than yours. If they claim it is, ask for their exact connection, to ensure they really have priority. Family, no matter how distant, has managerial priority rights over all non-family managers. Don't let anyone bully you into thinking otherwise. Refer to the posted transfer guidelines, so you know in advance where you stand. A good steward of their managed memorials will transfer immediately, without hassle.

Please honor the lifespan of a person by putting a birth year, if the age at death is inscribed on the marker. IF and when someone in the future has more exact information, adjust it then, rather than leave it unknown. Expecting legal proof of a birth year before documentation was legally required (1915 in most states), is disrespectful to the deceased and the efforts of someone trying to fill in your blanks. Bible records are riddled with mistakes, because many entries are made long after events took place (often based on 2nd hand telling). Obits and Census records are also mistake ridden with faulty information unintentionally provided. Where a marker indicates infant or baby (without a first name), the child was probably less than a month old. Most children are named shortly after birth, if not before. There are not enough exceptions to leave every infant memorial as an unknown birth year, when a death date is inscribed. If searching the site by birth and death year, not having the birth year can cause hundreds of false returns to 'sift' through.

Please pay attention to connection plausibilities. A two year old child doesn't have a spouse. A ten year old is not a parent. It isn't physically possible for a 20 year old to be a grandparent, etc.

This site and system is designed as a public resource with options to make corrections as you see the need and via suggested edits. Making corrections is respectful to the person who passed before us, and anyone searching for that person. Each memorial is for a person who deserves the minumum of reasonably correct and as complete as possible information.

A suggested edit is not a transfer request. It just means someone has, thankfully, spotted a needed correction (dates, incorrect spelling, family connection, errors, etc.).

Memories and family connections honor those who have passed before us. If you have useful information, please use it to connect family, make suggestions and create actual memorials within the Find A Grave system. The more information and inclusive perspectives, the better.

When asked for source info, don't refuse or ignore the request, especially if there is no grave photo, obit or other supporting info. Don't recall, or never knew because it was part of a data mine, dump or transfer? Please just say so, rather than place the memorial validity and your integrity in question.

Working to ensure those who have passed before us are appreciated with appropriate recognition and reconnected with their loved ones - in a way they never could have imagined...

Connecting familial dots, while helping others do the same.

My primary focus is my own family, dating from before the mid 1800s. This is not a geneaology platform, but I have found family using this site. I am grateful those memorials were added, usually by unrelated Find A Grave members. I am also grateful to those who add memorial pics, marriage and death certificates, obits, etc. Death certificates and obits provide valuable family information. Misinformation can happen - but it is better to have information provided in good faith than none at all.

My intent is to help others 'find a grave' by adding and connecting memorials to family. Most memorials I create and/or manage are with the hope that having them on this site is beneficial to those searching for them, not because of a family or personal connection.

If any relative (or caring friend, or family friend) would like a memorial transferred, please ask. My only request is that you honor the person and the memorial created for them. That you care enough to ask is all the 'proof' I need.

A few memorial managers (of thousands of absolute unrelated strangers) create their own requirements, rules and stipulations for transfer requests. The clutching and need for control over a complete stranger's memorial is odd. No one needs to beg, grovel or jump through authoritarian hoops. Politely make a transfer request by correctly using the system. Always use the site's transfer system and its message system to create a permanent timeline and unerasable record of every interaction. Using personal contact or e-mail could lead to 'accidental' loss of the timeline and details. There should be zero resistance or untoward personal demands, such as ID or personal family details. If you run across this type of bad conduct and controlling behavior, or are outright ignored, report it to FAG support. FAG knows who you are and can speedily resolve issues, especially when you have correctly and politely used the system.

If a family member manages a memorial, they can reasonably ask for your relationship connection to determine if your connection is closer than theirs. It should be provided in the notes area as you request the transfer, to avoid that extra step. 3rd cousin twice removed is not useful information to anyone and is too vague. Be exact about your connection. Beyond providing your connection declaration - uncle, great grandparent, etc. - the memorial manager does not have a right to make other demands (ID, copy of ID, or any other personal detail). Keep in mind, the current manager has a right to keep the memorial if their family connection is more immediate than yours. If they claim it is, ask for their exact connection, to ensure they really have priority. Family, no matter how distant, has managerial priority rights over all non-family managers. Don't let anyone bully you into thinking otherwise. Refer to the posted transfer guidelines, so you know in advance where you stand. A good steward of their managed memorials will transfer immediately, without hassle.

Please honor the lifespan of a person by putting a birth year, if the age at death is inscribed on the marker. IF and when someone in the future has more exact information, adjust it then, rather than leave it unknown. Expecting legal proof of a birth year before documentation was legally required (1915 in most states), is disrespectful to the deceased and the efforts of someone trying to fill in your blanks. Bible records are riddled with mistakes, because many entries are made long after events took place (often based on 2nd hand telling). Obits and Census records are also mistake ridden with faulty information unintentionally provided. Where a marker indicates infant or baby (without a first name), the child was probably less than a month old. Most children are named shortly after birth, if not before. There are not enough exceptions to leave every infant memorial as an unknown birth year, when a death date is inscribed. If searching the site by birth and death year, not having the birth year can cause hundreds of false returns to 'sift' through.

Please pay attention to connection plausibilities. A two year old child doesn't have a spouse. A ten year old is not a parent. It isn't physically possible for a 20 year old to be a grandparent, etc.

This site and system is designed as a public resource with options to make corrections as you see the need and via suggested edits. Making corrections is respectful to the person who passed before us, and anyone searching for that person. Each memorial is for a person who deserves the minumum of reasonably correct and as complete as possible information.

A suggested edit is not a transfer request. It just means someone has, thankfully, spotted a needed correction (dates, incorrect spelling, family connection, errors, etc.).

Memories and family connections honor those who have passed before us. If you have useful information, please use it to connect family, make suggestions and create actual memorials within the Find A Grave system. The more information and inclusive perspectives, the better.

When asked for source info, don't refuse or ignore the request, especially if there is no grave photo, obit or other supporting info. Don't recall, or never knew because it was part of a data mine, dump or transfer? Please just say so, rather than place the memorial validity and your integrity in question.

Working to ensure those who have passed before us are appreciated with appropriate recognition and reconnected with their loved ones - in a way they never could have imagined...