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Paul recording headstones at cemeteries in the Kitchener area
Gail Martin photos: Volunteers Paul Gross and Sharon Wilson spend some
time recording information found on a tombstone in Elmira Union Cemetery.

2008-08-20_10-31-54_Cemetery.jpg
http://www.elmiraindependent.com/

Volunteers with the Waterloo Region branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society enjoy a break from their labours at Elmira Union emetery. Marion Roes, Sharon Wilson, Paul Gross and Cynthia Stapells — have been kept busy updating cemetery transcriptions this summer.

Gail Martin

Independent Editor

A group of amateur historians is spending a good part of their summer roaming through area cemeteries — all in the name of preserving local history.

The Waterloo Region branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has been updating cemetery transcriptions all summer long, hoping to ultimately create searchable CDs

for area genealogists. There are approximately 134 cemeteries in Waterloo Region —

those that are abandoned, and those that are still in use. The OGS has made it a point to visit them all. This past week, they were hard at work at Union Cemetery in Elmira.

The cemetery was started in the late 1800s, on land provided by the Klinck family.

There are tombstones dating back to the 1880s in the cemetery, some of which are so worn away with time that the original names and dates have been lost. This is, in part, the reason that the society has made cemetery records one of its major projects. Information found on tombstones can easily be lost with time, unless it is recorded now.

Updating cemetery transcriptions has been an ongoing project for the society, ever since it first created the records in the late 1980s. Over the years, more than 40 area volunteers have taken part in the project. Since the project started, the group has made an effort to keep these records up to date. According to volunteer Marion Roes, cemetery records are the best source of information for anyone who is researching a family tree.

“My thoughts, and other people agree with me, is that cemetery transcriptions are one of the most important and useful things to research your family,” said Roes. There is a limited amount of information available online, notes Roes.

“If you know the name, and have a transcription of the cemetery it is in, you can go to the cemetery and look around,” said Roes. Often, she said, you can find other family members you didn’t know about, or get little tidbits of information from what is inscribed

on a tombstone. Paul Gross, who is coordinating the project, said the volunteer work has enabled him to learn more about this area, and to see the various customs local groups have, when it comes to burial.

For instance, local Amish cemeteries have markers that are so small, they are barely visible from a distance. Other cemeteries, however, may have markers that are almost

ostentatious in their presentation. Gross has also used the time to help augment his research into his own family tree. By visiting with the other volunteers who are working at the cemeteries, Gross has been able to find out more information about his ancestors.

That’s par for the course, according to Roes. “When you are out here, you usually

find information,” said Roes. “You always find another tidbit.” As part of the project, volunteers are recording everything from the date of birth and date of death, to

epitaphs recorded on the marker. They also relate this information to a map of the cemetery, so that it is a little bit easier for researchers to find the graves of their long-lost ancestors. They are even willing to do a little maintenance on the side. Roes said that there are times that ground markers get covered over with grass and dirt; if the historians can find them, they’ll dig them up. “We’ll make them visible again for awhile,” said Roes. The group will be working throughout the rest of the summer to ensure their information is complete. Then, Gross will go over the information, to again ensure nothing is missing. Once that is complete, a CD will be made of each cemetery, and will

be available for purchase. The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) was formed in 1961 in

Waterloo, Ontario by members of the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society. It was felt that there was a need to gather others who, like themselves, were interested in the pursuit of family history. The Waterloo-Wellington Branch of OGS was formed in 1972

and on Jan. 1, 2001, Waterloo and Wellington became two separate branches of the society. The Society has branches covering all parts of Ontario and has more than 5,000 members.

For more information,

visit www.waterlooogs.ca