The good and bad of Ancestry's FindAGrave

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

As a FindAGrave volunteer for the past 11 years, when I saw the title of this article I felt a tad defensive as I began to read. But I ended up thinking the author did a good job with it. I'd wondered about those volunteers whose profiles show astonishing numbers of memorials created and photos taken. I've added about 2,600 memorials and 4,400 photos to FindAGrave, but that's a drop in the bucket compared to some volunteers.

I've heard of people who just walk cemetery rows, barely pausing to snap pictures of the headstones. Blurry, poorly composed photos I've seen on FindAGrave bear this out. But I thought those volunteers were just careless; I didn't realize some of them strive to get their numbers up.

Still, as the author points out, a lot of us who volunteer for FindAGrave do so out of a desire to be helpful. I do it for the living, who have lost family members, and I also do it for the dead.

How Ancestry.com's FindAGrave Encourages Bad Actors and Bad Data

Featured Answer

Uptown Gal

7 years ago

Thank you Alisande and the good ones like you. I have looked up a couple

of my relatives' grave sites and they were clear and complete. Whoever did

them took time to get the clearest pictures they could. When you live far

from where some of your loved ones are, it is so nice to be able to see the areas. I checked some time ago to see if my DH's Stone was shown. It

was and a great job. His had a small "family saying" on the back of the stone,

and that, too, was shown..up close and readable. I am not in that State now,

and it gives me a smile and comfort to be able to "visit" it. I do not know the

"reporter", but I thank her/him.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

User
7 years ago
I had to smile at this. Earlier this year I had one flower left and decided to put it on my great aunt's grave. I noticed in walking to the area a gravestone with the exact first name, Celesta, of one in the family plot. About 3 months later that stone was connected to a great grandparent. I made a comment on Ancestry that it was not the correct husband but have not taken the time to post the correct one. I think there was about three months difference between the two birthdates. If you are going to do this please make certain you have the correct person.
Related Discussions
Overkill for FindAGrave
Q
Comments (24)
frogged: You have 2 questions: 1) What's the big deal about finding a 4th or Nth cousin, and 2) what do you get by finding a name on a gravestone? 1. To me, I do not concentrate on the side branches of my main tree. I do collect that data when it is readily available and add it to my tree if there is spare time. Sometimes, these side data points to new information. Lately, I have kept an eye out for genetic disorders or interesting features that I may have inheirted. My focus is on my main line. I have started with my g-g-g grandparents ( two sets, both in my father's line). My mother's line has been fairly well researched by members of her family and I have a copy. My mother's line was greatly affected by the Civil War. I am learning about early American History as I go. I have discovered that my ancestors were connected to the history of this country that was surprising. My one g-g-grandfather served under Andrew Jackson in the War of the Floridas, and then later in Illinios, he was a Captain in the Black Hawk War when Jackson was President. The family in TN lived near where Jackson raised and raced horses. Andrew Jackson introduced the Order of Masons to Tennessee and a member of my family was the first Grand Mason in TN. The original family was raised on a 420 acre plantation in Virginia when it was a colony. Five brothers were all in the Revolutionary War. If you trace you ancestors back far enough, you may find your connection to history as well. 2. Interest in headstones Sometimes, a headstone is the only written record one can find about a particular person. After searching for awhile, one begins to realize that family oral traditions are important, but subject to error. As a tale gets retold, embelishments get added and old memories can fade. My own mother had a habit of filling in gaps with assumed data and not differentiating between the factual and supposed. Finding something written in the past can be a thrill, but even with headstones, mistakes can be present. However, when a headstone is all you got, it is the best data available. In both cases above, it takes good detective work to ferret out a family history. The hunt and discovery is the name of the game!
...See More
Ancestry.com acquires Find a grave
Q
Comments (16)
I don't mind that my volunteering ended up benefiting the original owners. FindAGrave was a terrific idea, and they implemented it well. Plus I love doing it. I started volunteering as a gravestone photographer after seeing (on another site) photos of my great-great-grandparents' graves in London. I was touched that someone had taken those photos, and decided to do what I could in my area. Rob, do you mean not many photographs have been taken in the Nashville area? YES, you should volunteer! You'll probably love doing it, just as I do.
...See More
ancestry.com
Q
Comments (22)
Lov_mkitchen complains, "In other trees I have found my information turned into an ancestry file.....what do they call them.......family data or something like that. And passed off as a shaky leaf when in fact it is not a documented fact at all. A family cemetery I did for findagrave, out in the middle of a farm field turned into Iowa Cemetery Index. My word only that those people were buried there and the facts I supplied were correct. How's that for a source! I had a person who I suspected died in a certain place at a certain time that I put as a fact with the disclaimer of "as much as I know now" that turned into an ancestry hint complete with her personal information. Anyone finding that would assume it was correct. ancestry has turned into a big hat with all sorts of bits and pieces thrown in. Stick your hand in, pull a fact out, add it to your tree. No research needed." From the Ancestry.com web site: "The Shaky Leafs are Ancestry Hints designed to aid you in your family history research. They provide other records in our database that could possibly match the individual in your tree. These hints are automatically generated, and are there for you to determine whether or not the record hint matches the individual in your tree." [emphasis in original] If you, Lov_mkitchen, see a Shaky Leaf and take it as documented fact, that's YOUR problem. If other people see a Shaky Leaf and take it as documented fact, that's THEIR problem. Some of us are not willing to accept everything that's out there as documented fact. I never, ever, accept anything on anyone else's tree as documented fact unless and until I see the documentation for myself. Then, and only then, will I add it to my tree. I have well over 5,000 people on my tree. Not nearly as many as some, but many more than others. And every single name has been researched and verified before being added. You've also said, "I'm helping them to the point that I have made information available that wasn't on the site previously." And you have undoubtedly gotten a lot of information from Ancestry.com that wouldn't have been easily (if at all) available to you otherwise. Genealogy research is a give-and-take proposition. We take a lot more than we give (that's the nature of our research, after all), so we (YOU) really should stop complaining about other people taking our information when we post it to a public web site.
...See More
Ancestry.com questions and other genealogy stuff
Q
Comments (23)
Thank you all for the many responses! I was out all yesterday, but didn’t make it to the library. I thought I'd get there today, but the weather is keeping me home. Adellabedella, they had children, and I was able to track the two sons. But the other five were all girls. Thanks so much for the Chronicling America link. I used that a lot years ago, but had lost the bookmark in a computer change. I love that site, even if I’m not looking for anything specific. Those newspapers have numerous references to my grandparents, opera singers who performed all over the country. Rusty, it’s true that the Ellis Island site starts a year later than what I was looking for, but it’s a great site and I’m glad to know about it—thanks! I discovered FamilySearch recently, which is where I found the Census reports. I remember years ago not many of these were available. Lindsey, I'm always interested in the knowledge you share. I had no clue about Italian and German names. Seniorgal, our local Historical Society has a nice genealogy section, but all my family came from NYC. I'm sure the city has excellent resources, but it's a little vast. (That must be an oxymoron.) lol I haven't lived there in years. As some of you know, I’m a volunteer gravestone photographer for FindAGrave. Yesterday I happened upon FAG memorial pages for two of my children’s ancestors, and asked that management of the pages be transferred to me. I was happy to send the links to my kids and granddaughter. It’s funny that my 26-year-old granddaughter has a strong interest in family history that I thought she wouldn’t develop until much later. Thanks again!
...See More
Alisande
Original Author
7 years ago
If you are going to do this please make certain you have the correct person.

Maifleur, I assume you're addressing FindAGrave volunteers in general, and not me personally. Yes, errors are not uncommon on FindAGrave and other genealogy sites as well. Lindsey has probably seen a lot of this. I'm not a genealogist, but I can read dates and spot other obvious errors, so I submit edits to memorial managers rather often.
User
7 years ago
I was not addressing anyone in particular other than anyone that would do as you suggested and send grave stones to FindAGrave. If you do not know do not send a story with the picture.

I do need to look at the grave/headstone to see who the other woman married and perhaps I can trace who she really was. Since it was some type of family member that posted it if it was a grand perhaps I could help them correct their records. Of course she could have been my great-great grandfathers mistress.
Kathsgrdn
7 years ago
I used to volunteer to do this until one woman told me she was just curious about the grave I had taken a picture of. What? Not related, you just randomly picked someone's name and made a request? I found it weird and was a little annoyed. I started to volunteer because someone had found my dad's uncle's grave for us. I placed a headstone on it, long distance (there was just a round metal marker there) and they went back after it was done and took a picture and sent it to me. I then sent it to my brother, who showed my dad.
Kathsgrdn
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
So, out of curiosity, after reading the article you posted, Alisande, I went to Find a Grave and found someone had put both my parent's in there. I can't message the person because I'm not at home to see if they knew them or not. I don't know how I feel about this. Someone left a flower for my mom....don't recognize that person either.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Kath depending on the area there are people who routinely put flowers on graves. They simply like the idea that everyone should have a flower. Some simply place the flower others will give a prayer.

Anyone can put a picture on Find a Grave. Most have no connection to the person in the grave. Part of the thing with find a grave is that it provides a memory and a method for people doing research. Edited to add that I just looked at my father's and the person who did the photo had taken over 26,000 photos so while there is a possibility that the person is a family member it is unlikely. I did notice however that his obituary has his middle name spelled incorrectly.
Uptown Gal
7 years ago
As far as someone leaving a flower....my DH had lots of friends and on the

Anniversary of his death there are flowers left for him. I love it....

...to me it means someone remembers. Some of these people don't live

close enough to the actual grave site and Find A Grave is a way they can

show they cared about him. They have to register to do this, and it makes

me feel good that they go to the trouble of doing it to leave a flower.
bpath
7 years ago
Is Find A Grave global? I have a photo of a grave in Denmark, my Dad couldn't tell me who it was, so now I'm curious!
Alisande
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Yes, FindAGrave is global. Can you read the name on the gravestone? If so, you could do a search on the name. I guess you could just put Denmark as the location.

https://www.findagrave.com/
pudgeder
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I have had both good & bad experiences with F.A.G.

I made requests for photos of DH's grandparents & a great Aunt, and people very graciously have helped out. I've filled a few local requests for photos. I don't have time to do many, but if they're close by, I do what I can.

When my FIL passed, 3 days after the funeral, I went to the website to make his memorial, only to discover a "volunteer" of no relation had already put it up. She put it up the day the obituary ran in the local paper. He wasn't even in the ground yet! I requested that she transfer it to me, she refused. According to her, I had no right or business maintaining the memorial just because I was a relative.

In her "bio" on Find a grave, she states, "unless you are a contributor (to F.A.G.) I will turn you down flat." THAT is totally against F.A.G's rules. She has 30K plus memorials she's added. She's one of those people who gives the contributors a bad name. Sadly, there are many contributors that get a thrill of having big numbers behind their names. Some kind of power trip, I guess.

In cases such as this, you just contact F. A. G. and explain your relationship to the deceased and they'll transfer it. I did. I received a nasty note from her, so I just removed the site she'd made and built a brand new one. LOL

Alisande, thank you for your contributions. It's a lot of work!

The good and bad of Ancestry's FindAGrave

Uptown Gal

Comments (11)

User

Related Discussions

Alisande
Original Author

User

Kathsgrdn

Kathsgrdn

User

Uptown Gal

bpath

Alisande
Original Author

pudgeder

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

The good and bad of Ancestry's FindAGrave

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

AlisandeOriginal Author

AlisandeOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Alisande
Original Author

Alisande
Original Author