Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

18 years ago

I thought some of you might be interested in Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK), a website where people volunteer to take gravestone photos and look up local genealogical information for people around the world.

I was so moved to find photographs of my great-great-grandparents' graves (in England) on the Internet, and that wouldn't have been possible had someone not taken the time to photograph them. So I just signed up as a volunteer on RAOGK, offering to take grave and tombstone photos in my county. This should be interesting.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

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Comments (12)

angelaid
18 years ago
Incredible! Thanks for sharing that Susan!
elizabethzen
18 years ago
What a wonderful concept! Kudos Susan for setting a good example in response to the kindness of a stranger.
Elizabeth
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I love that story! Thank you for sharing. Here's mine.... About 17-18 years ago (give or take a year or so) my husband and I found ourselves in severe financial trouble. We both worked decent paying jobs and were never really big spenders but due to an unexpected, and very large, medical expenditure it happened. We never told a soul, not one person, as we struggled. We got out of our mess within something like nine months by working OT, selling some of our adult 'toys' (small motorhome and jet skiis) and paying off the debt. About four months into this we got a card in the mail with $300 in it. Neither of us recognized the writing or even where it was mailed from and, of course, no return address or signature. As I said, no one in either of our families or our friends knew what we were going through and to this day we still don't know where it came from. We never did touch that money. The card, along with three $100 bills, is on our refrigerator door. We've moved twice since receiving it and it's always there were we can see it and be reminded of someone with a good heart who wanted to help. One of these days we'll play that forward. Now we occasionally pay for an elderly couple's meal in a restaurant or if we see an older person putting something aside because they can't afford it we pay for it for that person. Something we also do every so often is to invite a single older person to join us at our table for a dinner out. So many people have so many wonderful stories to tell. Here's another little story within that story....we invited one really elderly man to join us and he did. He appeared to have trouble talking and seemed to be really frail throughout our meal but when my husband went to pay the dinner tab he said clear as a bell, "absolutely not, dinner is on me". My husband argued with him and the man said "I have more money then you'll probably ever make in your lifetime so I'm paying". As we sat there stunned he started laughing, got up, did a fast walk over to the cashier, handed her cash and walked out. The cashier walked up to us as we were leaving and tried to give the change to us, which was quite a bit. We left it for our waitress which we think was his intention also. Neat, huh? We're retired now and live on a fixed income but we can still afford to do these little acts of kindness. I really wish more people would do random acts of kindness, even if it's helping an elderly or disabled person with a door. Not just during the Christmas season when we hear so much about the good that some people do, but all year long. Sometimes in this often messed up world that we live in doing something nice for someone else is the only thing that helps them get through their day. Jenna
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Wow, those are wonderful, incredible and meaningful coincidences, Alisande! I've had many similar things happen to me over the years and have come to realize that, like you, I was guided for a higher purpose. One I can relate quickly: I'd been married and living in New Mexico for about ten years when this happened. I'd been keeping in touch with several family friends intermittantly and one morning, had this strong urge to call my friend "B". When I did, she told me that her DH, "W" has battling inoperable cancer, but seemed to be getting stronger lately. That afternoon I, again, had this incredibly strong urge to call their son, a long-time good friend of mine. I hadn't talked to him in several years, though. B&W lived on the east side of Michigan, where I was born and raised. Their son lived across the state in Grand Rapids. When their son answered the phone at his work, I totally surprised myself by blurting out that I had this bad feeling that his father needed him. I did ~ right then~ feel that, but can't believe I spoke those words out loud! Thankfully, though, something resonated in him. He told his boss he had to leave, drove quickly home to pack a few things and then made the 4+ hour drive home to see his dad. He walked in, hugged his dad and W died right there in his arms less than an hour later. He'd taken a bad turn and B had no time to call her son to try and make it home. I know without out a doubt, that God used me to get their son home so that father and son could say their last goodbyes. We were all quite shaken by this, but also very, very grateful. Lynn
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Old Fixer, although I use the FamilySearch.org web site, and have also used the LDS Family History Library as well as a local Family History Center, I do not have a tree uploaded to their web site. So, I cannot say whether or not "just anyone" can edit information on a tree that is on their site. I will look into that, though. I do know with certainty, however, that if you have a tree on Ancestry.com, you can mark it as Private. No one can see info that is on the tree unless you send them an invitation to see it. If you add photos or images of documents, etc., to a Private tree, small thumbnails will show up when other people do a search on a name, but if anyone clicks on the thumbnail to see a larger version, they will get an error message that the tree is private. You can also have a tree on Ancestry.com that is marked as Public. When a tree is Public, anyone can see information/photos, etc., for anyone who is deceased, or presumed to be deceased (e.g., they were born in 1884 and you don't have a death date, but it's easy to see that the person would not still be alive - they'd be 130 years old this year). If the person is still living, or presumed to still be living, all anyone can see is a shadow profile of either a male's head or a female's head. For the name it would say Living Fixer, so no one can even tell what the person's first name is (this example uses "Fixer" as the surname). And, even if a tree is marked Public, no one can change anything on it, unless you invite the person to be an editor. You can invite people to just view the tree (they would be invited with a "Guest" designation); or you can give them the ability to add to the tree (they would be invited with a "Contributor" designation); or you can invite them as an "Editor" with full ability to add/change/remove information/people. People who are invited as Guests and/or Contributors can be given the ability to view living persons, but that's not the default setting. You have to deliberately give them that ability. Anyone invited as an Editor automatically can see everything.
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I love RAKs! Out of the blue, unexpected, and so sweet. They put a smile on my face even when they're not for ME, but I was able to witness. I work at a thrift store and many of the customers are shopping while they wait for their turn at the food pantry next door. When I started, if someone was "short" a little bit I'd make up the difference. Over time, I learned I just cannot sustain doing that. Anyway, this past week, a lady who didn't speak much English was making a purchase and she was 55-cents short. She kept talking to her GF, who rolled her eyes and said it happened all the time as the first lady had trouble thinking in Dollars and Cents. Another food pantry customer heard the conversation, while the first lady was trying to figure what to put back and came up and paid the 55 cents. First lady was thrilled and thanked the stranger profusely. An hour or so later, first lady and her GF came back through and bought a little more. This time, the GF paid and she took all her leftover change and put it in our Donations jar. In my eyes, that was TWO people paying it forward!
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casey_nfld
18 years ago
What an interesting idea! I know the guy who is the volunteer for my area (well, I don't really know him, I've never met him in person but we both share our photos on a local website).
jayokie
18 years ago
I was helped a couple of years ago by someone from RAOGK.
Located the cemetery where my Gr'grandfather was buried. I had the county/state but not the cemetery name. Don't have a pix of the tombstone (if any); I hope to visit it someday -- maybe 5 hrs from me. Several in the genealogical society to which I belong have helped or been helped. It's a great service.
socks
18 years ago
That is really wonderful. I'm going to explore the site further when I have "a minute!"
Jodi_SoCal
18 years ago
Cool! I'm looking for someone in the Nome, Alaska area which is where my great-great grandmother lived and died. There isn't presently someone to help out in Nome so I'll keep checking back.

Jodi-
maryanntx
18 years ago
Thanks for the link. I just signed up to take pictures at two of our local cemeteries. No one is listed for out county. I would love to help out by looking up info at our courthouse, but it's almost 30 miles away.
des_arc_ya_ya
18 years ago
I just signed up for cemetery photos in our county. I live about 10 miles from the courthouse but, SHOOT! THAT'S too much like school work!
LOL

Thanks for the website.
alisande
Original Author
18 years ago
How cool that three of us signed up today! Be sure to share when you get your first request.

I specified April through November because everything is so weather-dependent here in winter. Plus I couldn't see myself slogging through a few feet of snow to take a picture of the top third of a tombstone. :-)
ivamae
18 years ago
How do you get a name listed in the cemetery files? My partner passed away almost 9 years ago and his still isn't listed but some are, who passed away since that.
jemdandy
18 years ago
Dear Ivamae:

The work done by RAOGK is mostly photographing EXISTING tombstones. Some of the members do look-ups in local files, however. If your partner has a stone, it should bear the date of his birth and death. It is up to the family to purchase and have engraved a marker for a loved one's grave. They can be aided in getting data by the funeral home who conducted the burial. In answer to your question, "How do I get a name listed in the cmemtery files?", start with the cemetery caretakers. The next place to look is the court house of the county in which the deceased was buried or creamated. Be prepared to show that you are a close family member of the deceased, else the county clerk may not release a copy of the death certificate to you. Expect to pay a small fee for a copy.

This information is considerd personal and confidential and is not generally put on public lists until after 50 to 100 years. Stangely enough, the Social Security Adminstration ignores this rule. I have seen persons and their social security numbers published on SSA's list within 3 months after death, my mother being one. You have to know where to look. Poke around a bit with Google.
ivamae
18 years ago
The stone has been there since shortly after his death and does give all the info. I do have a death certificate as well. We are in Cnada.

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

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