Ron, have you tried Rootsweb, for your genealogy search?
It's free, and your can search by just surname.
It also has a message board, where you can post questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rootsweb

The cathedral in Camden is really a small chapel. You would have better luck wiriting directly to the Camden Diocese, Cemetaries dept.

The catholic cemetaries are under management of the diocese, they are all listed in the link below, as is contact information.

What church was she baptized in? A couple of the parishes in Camden are history now, and i have heard that many old baptismal/confirmation/marriage records are lost.

I think Harleigh(where my youngest brother is buried) is the oldest, Calvery(where my parents are) is fairly new.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camden diocese - cemetaries

Haddonfield Baptist--where my FIL is buried goes back to the 1700's, maybe even later.

Are you actually looking for cemeteries in the CITY of Camden? or just anywhere in the county? Many of the ones you listed aren't within the city limits.

And, I hate to tell you this, but that's no where near all the places a person could be buried in Camden County. I can think of at least a half dozen places I know of, off the top of my head, that aren't on the list (some are small and no longer used, with only a few dozen graves, some are old 'church' cemeteries, that don't seem to have made your list.)

Also, a lot of folks may have ties elsewhere and be buried out of the county. My family, for instance, moved to NJ from Philadelphia, we have a very old cemetery plot outside of Phila, that we still use. Veterans are often buried in one of the military cemetaries--out of the county or even out of state.

People who lived in the city of Camden in the early part of the century mostly migrated out to the suburbs by the 20's or so, so you may want to see what kind of county records you can find to check.

I think, trying to track down a single old plot, in a cemetery in this area is going to be truly looking for a needle in a haystack. What about checking archived newspapers for a death notice? That might be something to consider, if you can find that kind of info.

Good luck. Hope you find what you're looking for.

The other problem with searching is that quite often, more than you would think, the surname spellings are different because of more widespread illiteracy back in the day. For example if your mothers last name was Chalk it is quite possible that her grandparents started out as Chaulks and may be found in some records as Chaulks but in others as Chalks. There aren't many surnames around that can't be spelled differently and often as not how it got recorded was at the whim of the clerk doing the recording.

This is the cathedral where she was baptized. http://www.cathedralcamden.org/ In 1908 it was just a church. It is now the mother church for the diocese, it can't be small. I have been on every genealogy forum on the web. forums are free but nothing else is, genforum.com, ancestry.com, Irish genealogy, rootsweb and the list goes on. Sorry to sound so jerky, but I just can't seem to move any further with this. What is so sad is that my mother was so excited to learn the little we did find. She died in 2000 at age 92. Her parents were Daniel O'Day (came to US in 1891 from Ireland at age 14) Mary Rafferty O'Day, born in NJ 1883. I have found names of Mary's family in city directories and census records, but nothing on Daniel. Oh, I live in Ga. so can't actually go and look through records.

Here are a few more cemeteries listed in the CC yellow pages:

Arlington Cemetery (Pennsauken)
Berlin Cemetery Association (Berlin)
Colestown Cemetery (Cherry Hill)--I think that one is pretty old
Crescent Memorial Park (Pennsauken)
Hillcrest Memorial Park (Washington Twp)
Lakeview Memorial Park (Cinnaminson)
Locustwood (Cherry Hill) Another I know has been around for a while
St. Joseph's (Chew's Landing)
Sunset Memorial Park (Pennsauken)

If you're not familiar with the area, Pennsauken is right 'next door' to Camden--if that helps any. Cherry Hill isn't far, either, although it wouldn't have been Cherry Hill in the early 1900's

I assume you're not really from this area, right?

First--as to the church. It's really not a large or significant church. If you look at the mass schedule, you can see that they have almost no masses any more--unlike the DOZENS a week held in even the smallest suburban churches around here. The population of Camden just doesn't support a large Roman Catholic church.

And that's another thing--if you decide to do any leg work in the city of Camden. GO IN A GROUP. Do not go into the city alone. DO NOT GO INTO CAMDEN AFTER DARK. Be very aware of your surroundings, and be very, very careful. It's usually listed as the #1 most dangerous city in the country. I've taught there in the past, my husband still works in the city--and believe me, it is NOT a safe place to be.

You should probably know, too, that a lot of graves in the city cemeteries have been desecrated--stones knocked over or destroyed--and it's not uncommon for those visiting their dead to be robbed or have their cars stolen while there.

Have you gotten your hands on a Camden County phone book? And tried calling people with the last names you're looking for? Probably a lot of Rafferty's, but only a few O'Days--maybe with a little luck, you might find someone who has some info for you?

Again, good luck, but do consider safety as you continue your research.

This is the cathedral where she was baptized. http://www.cathedralcamden.org/ In 1908 it was just a church. It is now the mother church for the diocese, it can't be small.

Yes, it is small...I went to the High School, for 3 years, next door to the Cathedral, my sister works for the diocese, and I have been in that church within the past year.

Being cathoilc, she would have been buried in a catholic cemetary...and as I said, the records are at the diocesan offices. The link I gave above lists all the catholic cemetaries.

Is your mother's name Anna? I'm looking at the 1910 Census record for an O'Day family -- husband is Daniel, age 33, born in Ireland. His occupation is Fireman. His wife is Mary, age 27 (possibly 29 - it's hard to tell), born in New Jersey. They've been married 3 years -- first marriage for both. Daughter is Anna, age 1 year and 9 months (at least, I think that's a 9), born in New Jersey.

Ancestry.com's interpretation of the daughter's name is Anina, not Anna, and they say her age is 1 year and 3 months (but it doesn't look like a 3 to me!)

It may be that your mother's mother died, and her father put her out for adoption? Back then, an unmarried female relative often would move in with the family. It's possible that he didn't have that resource, and another family took her in.
He could then have moved away.
best bet might to trace her mother's family, if she was born in NJ-might have been Camden....and find her maiden name and work from there. She may even be buried with her parents in their plot.

ronm80 what about ellis island records?

found this...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.ellisislandimmigrants.org/

Lindsey, thank you so much, I really appreciate this information. Yes her name was Anna. I know this is them. Please tell me which website you use? Thank all of you for your help.

I have a full membership to Ancestry.com, which is where I found this. If you send me an e-mail through my page here at the KT (be sure to put KT in the subject line), I'll send you a copy of the Census page.

Their information was gathered on April 15, 1910. They were living at 807 St. Johns Street in Camden, NJ.

Ellis Island officially opened on 01 Jan 1892, so you won't find any immigration records for anything earlier than that on the Ellis Island web site.

I've run a search through Ancestry.com for immigration records for O'Day arriving in 1891, but haven't come up with Daniel/Danny/Dan.

Hi,

I know from my own family history that there was once a cemetery located next to the original St. Joseph's RC Church before it moved and became the Pro-Cathedral. All who were buried in this cemetary were exhumed and moved to another location in order to make way for a playground for the school. My great grandmother's 2 teenage daughters were buried in the old cememtery and their remains were exhumed and moved without the knowledge of my g-grandmother. To say the least, she never recovered from that. I have been trying to find info on this, but I've had no luck in doing so. The time frame is the same 1910-1920.