Iowa Cemeteries: Difference between revisions

Cemetery [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone tombstones], or [[Sexton Records|sexton's records]], may give birth and death dates, age at death, name of spouse, names of children, and maiden names. Less often, they contain birth places. Tombstones may have [http://genealogy.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angelfire.com%2Fky2%2Fcemetery%2Freid.html symbols] or [http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/misc/grave.shtml insignias] indicating military service and social or religious affiliations. There are also [http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/misc/grave_symbols.shtml abbreviations] that gives clues when deciphered. Also family members may be buried in the same plot or nearby. [http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm The Association of Gravestone Studies (AGS)] has recommendations on the treatment and care of tombstones when needing to make inscriptions more visible. There are several major collections of [[Iowa]] cemetery records created by various organizations that transcribed tombstones and sexton’s records. Not all cemetery records are computerized and the records may be recorded on [http://www.daddezio.com/cemetery/articles/cards.html "lot" cards].  

Search each collection because no collection includes all the cemeteries, although there maybe some duplication. Some of the collections include the following:  

*[http://www.iowahistory.org/archives/index.html Iowa State Department of History and Archives.]<ref> ''Iowa Cemeteries''. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1978. ([[Introduction to the Family History Library Catalog|Family History Library]] films 1023603 items 6–13 to 1023609 items 1–10)</ref> These records were filmed at Des Moines, Iowa. The cemeteries are listed by county, starting with Adair County. The records give location, history, and a physical description of most cemeteries. Headstones are listed by rows.  

*[http://www.dar.org/ Daughters of the American Revolution (Iowa)]. <ref>''Iowa Genealogical Data''. vols. 1–24, 41–62. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971. (On 10 [[Introduction to the Family History Library Catalog|Family History Library]] films beginning with 851208 item 8)</ref> The DAR Library in Washington, D.C., contains Iowa volumes 1–24, 41–62. (For volumes 33–34, 36–39, see the collection below.) Most volumes are indexed. [http://www.iowahistory.org/ The State Historical Society of Iowa] (see [[Iowa Archives and Libraries|Iowa Archives and Libraries]]) has a collection of 85 DAR volumes. There is also a short guide indicating which volumes contain information about specific counties. (See the [[Iowa Bible Records|Iowa Bible Records]] for the library call number of the guide.)  

*[http://www.dar.org/ Daughters of the American Revolution (Iowa)].<ref>''Iowa Grave Records and Genealogical Data, 1800–1900''. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1978. (On 4 [[Introduction to the Family History Library Catalog|Family History Library]] films beginning with 1023114 item 11)</ref> Information is by county. This set contains DAR volumes 1–4, 7, 9–10, 12–15, 33–34, 36–39, 41, 44–46, 49, 53, 56, and 80. Use this collection with the one above because many of the volumes missing here are in the above collection.

=== Cemetery Locations  ===

*[http://www.interment.net/us/ia/index.htm Internment.org]  

*[http://iowagravestones.org/ IowaGravestonses.org]  

*[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cemetery/iowa/iowa.html The Tombstone Project]

=== References  ===