Preserve Our Cemeteries

Preserving cemeteries is a pursuit that benefits the genealogist, providing the valuable information of birth and death dates of their deceased family members. Many projects around the world are in existence today as genealogists attempt to preserve the past. I came across the website "Preserve Our Cemeteries" where the primary goal of the group is to preserve, restore, and protect abandoned pioneer and family cemeteries in Canada. The author of the site points out the main reasons for preservation of these cemeteries is the fact that the cemetery may be the only primary source of information for a person's life. Birth, Marriage, and Death certificates have only been used routinely for less than 70 years. My maternal grandfather did not have a birth certificate until later in life when he applied for a "Delayed Birth Certificate". You may think that it is not that common of a problem, but I was reading in an online paper called Journal Gazette about an individual last year who was 70 years old trying to get a passport utilizing a Delayed Birth Certificate. He found out that he could not get a passport unless he had a "real" birth certificate which the Delayed certificate was not considered real. He finally received his passport but had to be assisted by his local senator in obtaining the necessary documentation. If you would like to read about his story click here.

I digressed a little, but I wanted to share with you the reason why it is important to preserve cemeteries. The website "Preserve Our Cemeteries" provides a searchable index for the following areas: Hastings, Northumberland, Prince Edward County, Peterborough, and Victoria Canada. Once you have navigated to the index page of the site, you will be able to select the area of research by utilizing the drop down box for the county. Once the county has been selected, you will then be able to select the specific township you would like to research. The information that is available for viewing varies for each location.

If you would like to research in this area, click Preserve Our Cemeteries. Have fun!