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Information about Find A Grave

Findagrave.com
URLwww.findagrave.com
Commercial?Yes
Type of siteOnline database
RegistrationNo
Available language(s)English
OwnerJim Tipton
Created byJim Tipton
Launched1995
Current statusActive


Find A Grave is an online database of seventeen-million cemeteries and burial records. Readers of Family Tree Magazine voted it one of the top twenty-five genealogy websites they couldn't live without.[1]

History

The website was founded in 1995 by Jim Tipton [2]. He could not find an existing site that catered to his hobby of visiting the graves of famous people so he decided to create Find A Grave. Initially the site listed only celebrities, famous or infamous (the definition of which site administrators had changed frequently, generally referring to individuals who had received recognition in a broad spectrum, i.e., individuals known to people around the world or famous in activity or field with a global following).

With the turn of the millennium, Tipton opened the site to non-famous memorials, thus creating a genealogical data base that has helped hundreds of people searching for family records. The site's FAQ states, "We strive for a comprehensive listing of the burial places of everyone in the world...It is of great historical importance to have a record of all those who have been a part of our collective humanity. Burial information is a wonderful resource for people researching their families (genealogists). Most importantly, visiting a gravesite is a way of keeping the memory of someone alive." [3]

In expanding the scope of gravesites covered, the site inculcated a community of individuals who have reached out to one another after the loss of family members and friends. With the growing impact of the site, Tipton created an online forum on the site to encourage communication.[1]

Content and features

The website contains listings of cemeteries and graves from all around the world. American cemeteries are organized by state and county; and, many cemetery records contain Google Maps (with GPS coordinates supplied by contributors and the U.S. Geological Survey) and photographs of the cemeteries. Individual grave records contain some or all of the following data fields: dates and places of birth and death, biographical information, cemetery and plot information, photographs (grave marker, the individual, etc.), and contributor information. The vast majority of records have been contributed by field volunteers.

Membership at Find A Grave gives people the opportunity to place on-line memorials for relatives and friends. There is no cost for this service and users receive editing privileges over the memorials. Members may also request photos of graves which volunteers fulfill.

Find A Grave community

Find A Grave counts more than 350,000 members, who over the years of the site's existence have formed a community. The Find A Grave Forums is a message board for contributors to the main website and many persons who are interested in genealogy or cemeteries. Many of the members engage in a hobby that has been referred to by the public at large as "Tombstone Tourism" (the practice of visiting cemeteries purely for personal enjoyment) and which the people of the site refer to as "graving". Sections of the forum cover a variety of posts by subject:
  • Cemeteries and Genealogy, for discussions of cemeteries and burial data.
  • Finding Famous Graves, for discussing aspects of visiting and researching the graves of notable people.
  • Help With Find A Grave, one of the most useful areas for getting prompt answers to problems with the site and/or to list changes that require a Find A Grave Administrator's action.
  • The Civil War, Civil War graves questions and information.
  • Cemetery Preservation, discussions of issues and techniques for cemetery preservation.
  • Mourning, Grief and Emotional Support, "support group" to receive and offer support to others over the loss of loved ones.
  • The Lounge, social "anything goes" forum which just about says it all.
  • Surnames, for discussion on issues of genealogy related to a specific surname.
  • There is a section for each state of the United States for discussions of graves by geographic region.
  • Sections for Canada and Europe have been added as well.

See also

References

1. ^ Family Tree Magazine, February 2005
2. ^ Find A Grave Contributor: Jim Tipton. Find A Grave (2007). Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
3. ^ Find A Grave FAQ. Find A Grave (2007). Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

External links

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) formerly known as Universal Resource Locator, is a technical, Web-related term used in two distinct meanings:
  • In popular usage, many technical documents, it is a synonym for Uniform Resource Identifier (URI);

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In the philosophy of language, a natural language (or ordinary language) is a language that is spoken, written, or signed (visually or tactilely) by humans for general-purpose communication, as distinguished from formal languages (such as computer-programming
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English}}} 
Writing system: Latin (English variant) 
Official status
Official language of: 53 countries
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
ISO 639-2: eng
ISO 639-3: eng  
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cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον: sleeping place) implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground.
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Burial, also called interment and (when applied to human burial) inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by digging a pit or trench, placing the person or object in it, and replacing the soil.
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A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit.

Origin of term

A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn,
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grave is a place where a dead body (usually a human, although sometimes an animal) is buried. The grave is usually in a graveyard or cemetery.

Graves may contain objects that provide clues for archaeologists about the life and culture of the time.
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celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin verb "celebrere" but they may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is peaked.
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FAQ is an initialism for "Frequently Asked Question(s)". The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic.
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Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, (electronic) discussion groups, discussion forums,
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Genealogy (from Greek: γενεα, genea, "family"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge") is the study and tracing of family pedigrees.
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Burial, also called interment and (when applied to human burial) inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by digging a pit or trench, placing the person or object in it, and replacing the soil.
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American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states which declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis.
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Mourning is in the simplest sense synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate.
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Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social and philosophical dimensions.
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A family name, surname, last name, patronymic, or metronymic, is the part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is currently widespread in cultures around the world.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Poets' Graves is an on-line database of the last resting places of poets.

History

This UK website was founded in 2003 by Cameron Self and Nicola Bushell. Originally it listed only famous English poets, but over the years has expanded to include US poets, European poets and
..... Click the link for more information.


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