We just completed a genealogy research project that required going beyond the cemetery records because there was no cemetery record or head stone for the ancestor we were researching. We did not know where she was buried and we were not finding her in cemeteries that were linked to her parents, in-laws, siblings, children, nieces and nephews. We mapped out where they were all buried and where they resided at the time of her death. We knew from the past census records that she tended to live in near close proximity to family members which in this case ended up being about a 100 mile radius. We checked the obituaries in the local libraries for those communities and discovered she had died in one state, been transported to a relative’s home about 50 miles away, then picked up by a mortician from an adjacent state for a 100 mile journey to the mortuary, where there was a funeral, and finally laid to rest. The obituary and death notice were essential in discovering this information along with the understanding of where her relatives were living and the mapping that helped us narrow the field down. And what a story we were able to uncover for a client who had hit a brick wall!
