I was reviewing the list of funerals for the church 1/4 mile from the farm where four generations of my family lived. Half the people buried in the church cemetery are related to me. In looking through the funeral book for the church, I was confused as to why I could not locate two funerals for family members in the 1940s and 1950s.
And then it dawned on me.
The family continued to use the church cemetery, but had switched their membership to the town church twenty years earlier. I was looking at the funerals given by the minister--not the book containing burials in the cemetery.
Make certain you know what you are looking at and whether your ancestors were really going to church where their relatives were buried.
What a great reminder for everyone! Many cemeteries that are associated with churches do have rules that the person must be a member in good standing at the church however that does not always hold true in reality. In my church for example a couple families are split (one Orthodox and one Catholic primarily) and the spouse is still allowed to be buried in the cemetery.
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion concerning cemeteries - check out the Perpetual Care information. Who takes care of the grave today could turn out to be a fellow descendent!