Names in Stone - First Impressions | Family History Tracing

Names in Stone - First Impressions

2 Comments

Yesterday I saw a link for the website NamesinStone.com, over at AncestryInsider, and wanted to take a look at the site. Personally I have been thinking in my head for the past month or so on how to create a site just like they are presenting, so it should be interesting to see how they have developed the site, and how usefull it is.

Off the bat, there are two types of accounts, free, and advanced. The advanced account is 39.95 a year, or 7.95 a month payment. If you pay the annual account fee, its about 3.50 a month, just a heads up.

Currently they have cemeteries from California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, and Vermont.

I believe below is the total list of cemeteries currently mapped over the US:

Cleveland Town Cemetery
Pleasant Grove City Cemetery
King City Cemetery
Fairfield Cemetery
Waterflow Cemetery
Mendenhall Family Cemetery
Kaysville City Cemetery
West Jordan City Cemetery
Wellsville City Cemetery

One thing about that list is that I dont really have a clue where each of those cemeteries are located (this was provided on the right side pane called "Recently Added", maybe the could add the city/state for each cemetery there. Might try and suggest this.

There is the function to do a basic search from the homepage, and it can search all cemeteries, or narrow down to state/cemtery. I did a search for "DECKER" right now, and it showed 11 names. I clicked on one names, and it show birth/death dates, and parents name (I believe that the parents names are "community" contributed information.")

To see the graves in the cemetery it shows a grave map with box's for each grave that you can click on to get more information about that grave site. I am not sure, but I hope that they add the ability to show the tombstone also right when you click on the grave.

Decorations for the graves cost 9.95, and you can add a tombstone picture, or create on yourself. Unsure at the moment if you add your own photo if it will cost money. All decorations will stay on the grave for three months. *Decorations are for the digital graves only*

Overall I believe its going to be a great resource for genealogy, its pretty much what I had in my head (I guess I was a little slow to the ball on it). There are something's that I wish were differant, but it would be way more bandwith intensive. I would have loved to see something like Google Street View (like a previous post) for the cemtery, where you can virtually walk the cemetery. Can't wait to see when the cemeteries that I need are added. In future posts, I will try and go over how you can add a cemetery to the site.

About Post Author

Xfaith

David has been an avid home genealogist for 15 years, researching surnames: DECKER, KONDRC, MACZEK, HOPFENGARTNER, PERUTZ, LEDERER, and more.

2 comments:

JoLynJanuary 26, 2009 at 1:06 PM
I think I can help answer your questions about Names in Stone. I write a blog called Grave Mappers that helps people map cemeteries on the website. #1 - To see the list of cemeteries already added, you click on a state and it will give you the total list for that state. The list you printed probably came from the recently added list, because there are many more cemeteries than that in the database. #2 - Headstone photos - If the cemetery has the photos for that grave, they will show on the Source: Cemetery section. If someone has added the photo, it will show when you click on the Community section when you are on the grave. If not, anyone can add photos in the Source: Community section. It's easy to upload any digital image or file - like headstone photos, photos of the person, obituaries, death certificates, etc. #3 - You can contribute anything to the site with the free membership. #4 - The great thing about the site is the capability for anyone to create an interactive cemetery and add it to the website. On the home page, under Map a Cemetery, click on Learn More. There are unique on-line mapping tools that you use to create the cemetery right on the website - they can be used for cemeteries up to about 300 graves, like family cemeteries or small town, volunteer-managed cemeteries. I have created several cemeteries and it is so easy! I mapped the Mendenhall Family Cemetery that you mentioned and am currently mapping the American Fork Pioneer Cemetery. The Names in Stone team welcomes our suggestions on how they can make the site more user-friendly. Come visit www.gravemappers.blogspot.com to learn more!
JoLynJanuary 27, 2009 at 9:11 AM
I think I can help answer your questions about Names in Stone. I write a blog called Grave Mappers that helps people map cemeteries on the website.

#1 - To see the list of cemeteries already added, you click on a state and it will give you the total list for that state. The list you printed probably came from the recently added list, because there are many more cemeteries than that in the database.

#2 - Headstone photos - If the cemetery has the photos for that grave, they will show on the Source: Cemetery section. If someone has added the photo, it will show when you click on the Community section when you are on the grave. If not, anyone can add photos in the Source: Community section. It's easy to upload any digital image or file - like headstone photos, photos of the person, obituaries, death certificates, etc.

#3 - You can contribute anything to the site with the free membership.

#4 - The great thing about the site is the capability for anyone to create an interactive cemetery and add it to the website. On the home page, under Map a Cemetery, click on Learn More. There are unique on-line mapping tools that you use to create the cemetery right on the website - they can be used for cemeteries up to about 300 graves, like family cemeteries or small town, volunteer-managed cemeteries. I have created several cemeteries and it is so easy! I mapped the Mendenhall Family Cemetery that you mentioned and am currently mapping the American Fork Pioneer Cemetery.

The Names in Stone team welcomes our suggestions on how they can make the site more user-friendly. Come visit www.gravemappers.blogspot.com to learn more!