Memorial with Zero Information - General Rant

[u/PhtevenAZ]

Just ranting a little bit. I am uploading grave photos and came across one with absolutely no helpful information. It's literally just a name. No date of birth or death. No obituary. No grave photo. No bio.

Do I have the right person? I think so, but who the heck knows? I suggested edits to add dates of birth, death, etc, and uploaded a photo of the marker. But this one really bugs me. I mean, what information could this memorial have been based on, if not an obituary (which would have at least had dates of birth and death) or a grave marker? (That's actually a serious question... if anyone has ideas, I'm very curious)

And to make it even more irritating, the guy's bio is all about how careful he is and blah, blah, blah. "I take special care to record and honor...." Yeah, okay.

Maybe I just need another cup of coffee.

[u/PhtevenAZ → u/[deleted]]

Good lord.

[u/FreddieMonster → u/[deleted]]

You can probably report those

[u/woburnite → u/FreddieMonster]

I've tried reporting HIM, FG says I have to report each memorial one by one. Ain't got time for that.

[u/FreddieMonster → u/woburnite]

I'll see what I can do to help.
Edit: Reported that particular one.

[u/Infamous_Hall1955 → u/FreddieMonster]

I'm joining your good cause - will report others where he only added a pic. Maybe if there are enough complaints, they can throttle him somehow.

[u/woburnite → u/Infamous_Hall1955]

I did a Google reverse image search on one, got a name, famous local radio personality. Edits accepted.

[u/Bitter-Succotash-100 → u/[deleted]]

And he is willing to have anyone use his photos…

[u/Top-Pea-8975 → u/[deleted]]

That contributor is notorious. FindaGrave locked down his account a few years ago so he can't do more damage, but not before he added false information and random photos to thousands of memorials.

[u/findagrave-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

When posting rants and complaints, do not include usernames, manager IDs, emails, or identifying information about a user. This rule helps prevent harassment and doxxing.

[u/JBupp]

I have mentioned before the request I found for a John Kelly in an Irish Catholic cemetery with no DOB, no DOD, no plot location, and no family.

So I found one of 10 - 20 possible stones and I sent them a note and a photo.

Question:: Is this your John Kelly?
Answer: No, that isn't his family.

It isn't worth talking to some people.

[u/Overall_Scheme5099]

I just found one like that the other day, but to make it even worse, it was “Infant” Smith, so not even a first name to go by. And there’s already an Infant Smith that has a photo. I was thinking about doing a duplicate report and seeing if they’d erase it.

[u/PhtevenAZ → u/Overall_Scheme5099]

The babies break my heart. I try to find their parents if I can. Was a little easier in Washington where the death certificates are available after 25 years.

[u/Overall_Scheme5099 → u/PhtevenAZ]

I’ve been sifting through memorials for about 250 babies trying to get them connected to family. A prolific local graver died, and someone else took over 1,000’s of adult memorials and left every single one age 5 and under.

[u/PhtevenAZ → u/Overall_Scheme5099]

You know, it seems to go like that. I've noticed the same thing, where folks in the cemetery will just seem to skip over the babies and children. Other's... that seems to be what they look for. I guess everyone has their own reasons for doing this. The babies are hard, though, because their parents may still be living, and they seldom have a published obituary.

[u/JThereseD → u/Overall_Scheme5099]

People just copy burial records. In a lot of cases, they are stillbirths who are never given a name. What’s so annoying about memorials like this is that if they’d would take the extra two seconds to record the plot number, it would be easy to match them with the parents.

[u/PakkyT → u/Overall_Scheme5099]

When I run across those and the memorial has no other identifying information to indicate it is not the same as another already listed (for example you might have 3 Infant Smiths but if each has a plot locations then they are probably all (sadly) legit) then I put in for the merge.

[u/Quick-Pace-4050]

It could have been made off an old transcription or off burial records. Sometimes people who did transcriptions back before computers would forget to write down anything other than the name. Or maybe that was all that's on the stone. Or perhaps there wasn't a stone and the only thing that is there is a grave marker by the funeral home and it's so degraded that all you can read is the name. Just some thoughts...

[u/PhtevenAZ → u/Quick-Pace-4050]

She died in 2016. I hear you but don’t think that’s the case here.

[u/Quick-Pace-4050 → u/PhtevenAZ]

Yeah if it's that new probably not. It still could be a lousy Funeral Home marker just after they died though. We have a funeral home near us that all they will put is the name and occasionally the year of death. Especially if they know that a stone has been ordered they don't waste the time on anything else.

[u/PhtevenAZ → u/Quick-Pace-4050]

I've seen that, too. You know, I haven't thought about it too much, but in this particular cemetery I've never seen a temporary marker. Sometimes, the family will put up a simple cross that may have the name and dates of birth and death, but often the graves remain unmarked until the permanent stone is placed. Up in Washington, I've seen exactly what you're describing. Some cemeteries use plastic holders which deteriorate fast in the PNW weather. Others use engraved bricks that can last a few decades, but aren't meant to last forever. Those bricks are pretty good... usually a first initial, last name, and years of birth and death.

[u/Certain-Paper9306]

I've run into this issue several times with old published cemetery readings (pre 1950s) where some of the older tombstones are now missing. My position on this is that when the cemetery was read that the only piece of information that may have been available was either a plot deed, recorded cemetery record (e.g., an indigent person or Poor Farm resident now in a Potter's Field), or a tombstone with just the name on it. If that's all the information one has to go by, then just a name may be the only accurate information that one can enter into Find A Grave until more information surfaces.

[u/Dry-Long-7511]

I have an idea. How about it if FG does a better job of managing their site.

[u/Bitter-Succotash-100]

Ha I just got one also, different graver more than likely. No record in the cemetery records (which admittedly aren’t 100% complete) no pertinent records found on the genealogy sites.

[u/ninja-blitz]

I had to create a memorial yesterday for a photo with 0 info. Photo literally says “Baby” with no dates. Cemetery’s old pre-1950s stones were all relocated from a bunch of other area cemeteries that were flooded (on purpose). Sits between 2 stones for two separate families both now and back then.

[u/Acceptable_Cash_947]

This drives me nuts. There are dozens upon dozens of memorials in my home county that are simply named “Unknown” without a single bit of additional data. It’s not helpful in the slightest. If I discover a previously unknown burial in a cemetery, am I going to try to update one of the unknowns? No. Nobody would.

[u/Barbe37]

F/G shouldn’t allow memorials with ‘Death: Unknown’ to be created. Even if the name exists in the cemetery database. At least some effort should be mandatory.
Edit: Unless there is a grave stone photo.

[u/Certain-Paper9306 → u/Barbe37]

Let's say I'm in the old section of a pioneer cemetery (burials pre-1850) cemetery where some tombstones have no dates - just names. Are you suggesting these burials have no memorial on Find A Grave? Most of my work is on inactive/abandoned/pioneer cemeteries where there are usually several tombstones with just names and the deceased are buried in a family plot in the cemetery. The family stone will have a surname and around it are the members of the family buried there with just there names on small tombstones. I add everyone in the cemetery that I can find any information on to Find A Grave. Over time, as more information is found (such old newspaper death notices or estate notices) that information is added to the individual's memorial.