How reliable is Find A Grave Info as a Source?

+29 votes
10.7k views
Is this a reliable genealogical source since there doesn't appear to be much checking of initial record input when creating a new Find A Grave Memorial?
in Genealogy Help by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
retagged by Robin Lee
I find it reliable to a large degree, but they do have a lot of incorrect burial locations. Some of the members are unwilling to change them and can get very defensive if politely informed of the correct location. One member has a lot of memorials he has added. For the first 50,000, he was using cemetery records and visiting cemeteries. Those are very accurate in terms of where the people are buried. About 10 years ago, he switched to obit only adds. Obits have a good level of reliability, but the cemetery can be wrong. Same goes for death certificate.

I had a case earlier this week where a photograph with GPS had the person in one cemetery, but when I checked Find-A-Grave, someone had added them to a different cemetery in a different county. They assumed the name of the funeral home was where he was buried because it is has a cemetery.

Another issue is when an obit misnames the cemetery. In my uncle's obit, it says one cemetery, but that cemetery doesn't exist and the correct one has three different locations. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the records and the three cemeteries are in gang territory 700 miles away.

One of its worst problems is the Burial Unknowns (BU) and duplicates, estimated to be a very large number. Many people will create a Burial Unknown or add them as cremated to get around the system or to add someone when they don't know where someone is buried. For the straight BU, it is supposed to be for the recently deceased. For example, my great grandfather wouldn't qualify because he's been dead a while. I don't know when or where so I haven't added him. Been searching for him for over a decade and don't expect I can find him within the 30 day time limit for the basic BU. To avoid getting busted for adding someone as a BU, some people add them in one of the cremated categories.

I won't add someone unless I have seen the grave or talked to the cemetery staff unless I have multiple sources documenting the same cemetery. People do get moved. I found an old headstone in a cemetery and talked to cemetery staff. He was dug up, cremated, and taken back to southeast Asia when his family moved. On Find-A-Grave, he's still in the old cemetery and the person is unwilling to move them.
Thank you Paul, I appreciate your thorough & thoughtful answer to my question.
Douglas, you are welcome.
Update for those who use Find-A-Grave. A number of its users are removing the memorials they added in protest against Ancestry.com's acquisition of the site. Among the group are several members who added 30,000 - 100,000 memorials. One lady has removed over 27,000 of the 30,000 she added and is working on removing most of the remaining 3,000. If you use Ancestry, MyHeritage, or another site that searches Find-A-Grave and you come across a broken link, it may be a result of a person removing the memorial.

When the sale happened, a lot of people said they would remove them, but many thought they wouldn't follow through.
Wow, Paul. That's amazing. I hadn't heard about that. Thanks for sharing this.
You are welcome. I figured some of the people who made the claim wouldn't do it, but thought a fair amount would delete the memorials and/or photos. I saw the comment about the 30K user on the Find-A-Grave forums several weeks ago. With 109 million memorials, it would be hard for the average person to track which memorials had been deleted unless a person was tracking specific memorials. Would be nice if there were an easy way to track which memorials get deleted.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if this former Find-A-Grave member could be persuaded to share her information with Wikitree instead?  smiley

I have also found mistakes in dates on some of the memorials, but for the most part I find the information quite useful, especially in tracking down family members when they are included.
Paul, great summation.  Look at Find-a-Grave as a secondary source, don't ignore it.

Thank you for your insights. I have the same issues. I found that the website had the right cemetery name for my father-in-law but the wrong county in Iowa (Burr Oak Cemetery). I filed a correction but it was never changed. 

There must be some money involved for posting burial information but I have never been able to confirm it.

Possibly that is because the 'wrong' cemetery was used because there might be the same cemetery name in both locations.  Anyone with an account can create a Find A Grave and you don't get paid for posting anything.

10 Answers

+17 votes
 
Best answer
I know this probably isn't the popular approach here, but I like to link to FindaGrave profiles whenever I find them.  I certainly think it's better if there's a headstone photo there, but sometimes other information is present, like obituaries and references to other sources.  I won't use unsourced dates and relationships I find there, but I leave the link in my sources anyway as a trail for future users to follow.  

FindaGrave is a work in progress just like WikiTree, so I hope some profiles there that don't have headstones or sources will have them in the future.  I've been known to request photos from time to time there just in case there really is a headstone visible and readable.  There are tons of eager volunteers there that you won't find anywhere else.
by Kyle Dane G2G6 Pilot (111k points)
selected by Joelle Colville-Hanson
Good Answer! Yet I have found some of the HEADSTONES have the wrong dates, found two just this week. Yes, FindaGrave has mistakes just as WikiTree.
+18 votes
Once again must check all sources can be documented. But findagrave is great for the photos and sometimes includes the obituary copied with source and date information.
by Living Knight G2G6 Mach 3 (37.5k points)
+27 votes
Find A Grave information (aside from burial location and headstone inscription, which tend to be highly accurate) tends to be as (in)accurate as any other user contributed material.

Obviously, entries that show they have been researched at least a little are likely to be better (on the whole) than those that claim relationships between people with no other reference material or discussion. As with any other user contributed content - independent checks are always in style.

When it comes to unsourced content Immediate family may add information based on oral traditions that could be accurate or could be fabrications; usually best to treat them as research leads and look for other sources that substaniate the claims.
by Rob Ton G2G6 Pilot (288k points)
Headstone inscriptions aren't always accurate. My great grandfather's headstone had his name spelled wrong, as Isiah Kabrich, when it should be Isaiah. Older cemetery record have mistakes, also. No source is 100% reliable as we fallible humans keep the records. I try to get two or three (or more) sources for a fact, then weigh the information to get as close to fact as I can.
+12 votes

I have adopted hundreds of Smith profiles with no sources.  If I am able to find a memorial on FindAGrave, that is at least some kind of information to add to these profiles.

If the FIndAGrave memorial has a photograph of a gravestone with seeming good information, I enter a link to the memorial page under my Photgraphed Primary Sources section of the Biography.  If there is no photograph, or if the data seems twitchy, I enter the link under Secondary Re-Sources. I make note of any conflicting data in the Biography section.

I know that there are various definitions for primary and secondary resources, however, I consider a primary source as an original record, or photograph of the record, that was created at or near the time of an event (birth, death, baptism certificates; census pages and gravestones).  I consider everything else a secondary re-source. This is a fairly straightforward, easy to understand and apply definition set, at least for me.  ;) 

by Kitty Smith G2G6 Pilot (638k points)

I have used Find-a-Grave material as a source, especially if there is a photograph of the headstone and the name/dates agree with other source info.

I have even included photos (from Find-a-Grave) of specific proven individuals when I don't have other photos.

+13 votes

I'm adding an answer here to bring this topic back to the top in hopes that people read it (again), as I've been seeing a lot of reference to relying on Find-A-Grave as a good source. It's source, and if used, you should cite it. But be careful. As Rob Ton indicated, it's as accurate or inaccurate as any user-contributed information on the Internet. 

When looking at Find-a-Grave pages, see if the person cites their sources. If not, the  reliability of the information is like any other unsourced family tree on ancestry.com or elsewere online.

Even when looking at photos of gravestones, assess the gravestone for the age it is relative to the time of death of the person. It was (and may still be) common practice to add gravestones decades if not centuries after the death of the person buried there. The vital information on such a gravestone is not as strong of evidence as a gravestone made at the time of the person's death.

 

by Jillaine Smith G2G6 Pilot (895k points)
I am seeing memorials on Find-A-grave which are being created from information on Ancestry.com without any research. Also, there are memorials listing a cemetery location when the true location of the person memorialized is either unknown or is different than what is referenced.  Additionally, there are memorials created without any headstone pictures and the later addition of a photo causes the initial memorial to become inaccurate.  I am becoming wary of Find-A-Grave memorials which I cannot verify or do not include photos.
All good points, Michael. It's good to be wary.
Unless I know the person or can independently verify a grave location, preferably with either a minimum GPS photo or one or two reliable sources, I take it with a grain of salt. For GPS locations, I look for another source and check the GPS location matches the location of the cemetery. Same goes for when I add a person to a cemetery and when known, I add the GPS.

Some of the problems I have noticed are people randomly placing people in cemeteries, frequently to avoid appearing as a duplicate or simple laziness, people using obits or death certificates without verifying through another source, and those who are determined that John Doe is buried in the wrong cemetery.
 

With obits, it's not only the possibility of the wrong cemetery being listed, but in misnaming a correct one. with death certificates, they may only list Denver cemtery and people assume that's the name of the cemetery. In both cases, they won't list the correct  cemetery if the person was reinterred or the family changed their mind after listing the cemetery;

I agree on the headstone. I was at a headstone dedication for the first two burials, twins, in the cemetery. They were buried over 125 years ago. Death certificates only listed one gender and no names.
I am bringing this subject up again in hopes that people will read through this discussion.   More and more I am seeing "virtual cemetaries" created on FindaGrave that document some of the "bad data" that we have all discovered as we work on Wikitree.   There are memorials that are in direct conflict with the REAL burial information.   I suggest that if there is no headstone, no actual cemetary or cemetary record, that Find a Grave is NOT to be used as a source.   I have asked for background information on several of the memorials that I believe are incorrect, and I am usually directed to some totally unsourced family tree on rootsweb, geni, etc.
Robin, Find-A-Grave allows "Virtual Cemeteries" as in cemeteries where you can add people. For example, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=48186744 has several. I have a couple of private ones set up for Wrong Cemetery or Wrong Information. If you mean fake cemeteries, like several of these, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=csr&CScn=Saint+Vincent&CScntry=4&CSst=20&CScnty=1144, it's bad enough Find-A-Grave officially made two of each of the numbered ones as noted in the cemetery notes, but there are a number of unofficial duplicates like http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2541135 Also seen fake ones or ones created because the obit or death certificate either used a vague cemetery name (Wichita Cemetery, CIty Cemetery, etc.) or misnamed the cemetery. In his obit, my uncle is listed as buried in Lovisa Street Cemetery in New Orleans. A later obit mentions St. Vincent de Paul #2 on Louisa Street. I haven't added him because I don't know if that translates to #1 Louisa Street or #2 Sonia Street on Find-A-Grave.

I don't rely on headstones photos as a safe source as I found several where the headstone is correct, but the person added them to the wrong cemetery in the wrong county. Maybe they got confused as to which cemtery they were in when they took it or they crossed a boundary and didn't realize it was a different cemetery. There are several in town next to each other and there may not be a notice you switched from being in cemetery A and you are now in cemetery B. Gets even more fun if they used GPS and the GPS is off enough to put them in a nearby cemetery.

Cemetery records can be off. Meet Mary Gates, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33258710 Buried in 1911 in Maple Grove. Between 1915 and 1918, she was dug up, moved to Los Angeles, move back to Maple Grove, dug up and moved to Salt Lake City, and finally re-buried for the last time in Maple Grove. When I first checked with Maple Grove, they said she wasn't there. After additional research, I was able to verify with a plot location. Turns out the cemetery assumed her last burial was her death year until I asked them to check. Highland, which is across the street from Maple Grove, kept such poor cemetery records there is no way to know how many missing burials weren't recorded. It is estimated as many as 200 - 2,000+ aren't recorded in the cemetery records.

A local graver has over 110,000 memorials he added. The first 80,000 were added through walking the rows or from cemetery records for the unmarked. The last 30,000+ are from obits and these are the ones I find are most likely to be in the wrong cemetery.  

Somebody added my cousin to a V.A. cemetery. From the V.A. website, he's not there, but someone with a similar name who died four years later is buried there. I called the cemetery and verified he's not there. For now, I haven't requested a cemetery change as I don't know where he is buried. I expect he's probably on his widow's mantle if he wasn't scattered across the mountains of Colorado. I am trying to find an alternate way to determine for sure as I don't know the widow well enough to raise the question.

I treat all of the memorials as I do trees on Ancestry - a possible starting point which may or may not be accurate. I had a great example where the wife remarried and her headstone didn't match the name (Sarah C. vs. Carrie with her last married name as listed on cemetery records),  but looks like the memorial manager went ahead and changed her name to match the headstone. The downside there is people who only knew her by her last married name will no longer find her on the website. Or Bettye Benson http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=112111963. If you didn't know she had died a Benson, you wouldn't find her on Find-A-Grave as her maiden name isn't listed even though it's on the headstone along with the last names of all five husbands she outlived.
FindaGrave is a census of graves, not a census of people. FindaGravers should enter the name on the headstone, even if it differs from that person's "real" name in legal records, or the "real" name that family or friends called her. It's OK to expand on what's on the gravestone (e.g. OK to change C. Smith to Charles Smith, or to enter a nickname) but if family decided to have her buried with her first husband's surname, then that's what should go in FindaGrave.Just remember... it's a census of graves, not a census of people. When you enter info into the search engine, it's to find a grave. Each record shows that someone found a grave.
+8 votes
One Find-A-Grave source I used had one of my ancestors fighting in a war when he was five years old.

     So don't do a "cut-and-paste" job with Find a Grave.
by Dan Sparkman G2G6 Mach 2 (25.3k points)
Don't do copy/paste jobs from anywhere!
+6 votes
I personally have found a lot of mistakes when it comes to the bios. and mislinked relatives two of my relatives were linked to grandparents as parents , and I found one relative who died in 1749 said to be located in a certain cemetary that was not established till 40 years later in 1793  later found information that he was probably buried on his own property, but that being said I also found a lot of good information there too there is one person who manages some memorials   in Pennsylvania around Bucks County who is also a part of Bucks County geneological society (I've seen his name on information transcribed for them) and his memorials are always very well reasearched and many managers will get back with you when you ask questions as to where they got there information so you can judge for yourself . I think like everything else it depends you still have to double check and tripple check don't just assume its right and I'm always cautious when there is no stone shown, and it is not impossible for stones to be wrong either .
by Charissa Currie G2G6 Mach 1 (12.7k points)
+6 votes

I have found findagrave.very valuable - (edit - to lead you in the right direction, it can show you where people moved and when, though not always accurately, when they died.)  Like all sources, of course it is prone to error.  I do have one big hang-up with findagrave though.  It enoucrages, in a way like wikitree, quantity over quality.  There is a subsection of "mega-users" who have uploaded tens and hundreds of thousands of graves.  The problem is, many of these are BURIAL records from cemeteries, and are passing off dates of burial as dates of death.  Then his bad information gets passed around the internet as fact.

Findagrave has a dreadful, simply awful search engine, very limiting.

by Michael Palmer G2G6 (9.4k points)
edited by Michael Palmer
Agree that Find a Grave has value, particularly the headstone photos.  Though even those can occasionally have errors.  To me, the worst thing about the site is that some of the memorial pages are derived from horribly inaccurate genealogies without sources to support anything!  I guess the short answer is that it's useful, but what you find there shouldn't automatically be accepted as established fact.
So true Fred - I'm finding more and more that the Find A Grave links, in my searches, are for "Virtual Cemeteries" and there are no burial sites, just Biographies that are often Oral Myths.  If the entry is the result of a human walking the cemetery, photographing and using the data from the headstone, I do consider it a legitmate source, that may have an error, but the person did exist and the names/dates are most likely close to accurate. All the added info and the non headstone entries I view as unusable.

Where there are links to other family members, they can be very wrong - putting children in the wrong families. I suspect that some of those family links are computer generated.
I should add a comment about "calculated relationship."  This is an unfortunate choice of words by Find a Grave web programmers.  Anytime you connect children to their parents on Find a Grave, the children show up on the parents' memorial pages as "calculated relationship."  This makes it sound like the connection is computer generated, or some such.  Not the case.  It's there because a user put it there.  That, of course, doesn't preclude it being wrong, but the "calculated relationship" thing just confuses people for no reason.
What non members might like to know is that Find A Grave auto approves everything everyone sends to pages after 21 days. If a member is taking a break from Find A Grave it's just added to their pages. They do not get notified of this.

If they are checking in often, they will see the edits waiting to be declined or approved. But almost no one sends any proof with edits. Not only that, other members will bully them into accepting the edits regardless.

So if you see some things on a Find A Grave memorial which make no sense, it is possible the website itself added the information, or the person was brow beaten until they did. If they decline it, the other members will have an unholy tantrum and report it to the admins and no one wants that. The admins have a bad reputation for siding with the bullies and banning their victims.

I would NOT count on anything there being accurate. Even the stones can be made wrong to begin with or placed on the wrong person's memorial. If you see family links? Disregard! Find A Grave is no better than the worst sites online. In fact that is usually where people pull their "information" from to add to the Find A Grave pages. If anyone balks at adding unverified dates or family relationships, they are bullied until they cave. People have been cyber stalked and even stalked in real life over disputes there. No one there values proving things. They value getting their way.
The links are in one sense computer generated. Other members send the links and edited information. But the website approves it automatically after 21 days.
The social pressure there is so great to accept everything everyone sends that it might as well be computer generated. Try declining something or asking someone for their sources. A lot of people have quit making pages or left because of the harassment.

"Find A Grave auto approves everything everyone sends to pages after 21 days."

I have also seen the opposite problem.  I have sent a couple corrections where I had rock solid sources.  The memorial manager is active, but not contactable - no email, comments page disabled.  Got a response back from noreply[at]findagrave.com (or something similar) that said something like, "My records disagree."

No discussion, no way to present my sources.  I sent the info to Find a Grave, but never heard back.

+8 votes
Just yesterday I was looking at a profile. I assume the information for the person they had there is correct, but they have her attached to the wrong family. I guess because she was born about the right time in Kansas, they determined that it was the daughter of this family. I found the obituary for both of the parents that she was attached to and found that the correct daughter died in Oregon instead of Illinois and of course married someone completely different, so you definitely have to be careful.
by Cathy Bennett G2G Crew (650 points)
+8 votes

I created some memorials there in the past, but, I have become alarmed with what is going on there now. I just noticed today that there is an editor there that is making things up and creating duplicate memorials and then apparently taking control of memorials using fake cemetery information. It's crazy.

For instance, he has knighted most of the early Maryland Beauchamp family from the 1600s by creating memorials and listing them as "Sir." He uses the Medieval era "de" before the name creating "de Beauchamp" when the was only Beauchamp. He adds the all to a cemetery in the area where they lived but one that appears to have been created about 150 years after most of them died.

So, people might be saying, he's just one individual. Yes, but, in 3 years he has only created 284 memorials, but, somehow he is in control of 15,333! If this person has added his fake dates and names, burials and titles to over 15,000 people in 3 years he can completely play havoc with any residual veracity Find A Grave retains.

I tried to point out this problem at Find A Grave and I was told I could enter corrections for this anonymous users edits. I would have sent the editor himself a message but of course he doesn't accept them.

So, no, Find A Grave really isn't a good source anymore, unless the actual stone is photographed because like everything else online it is susceptible to fraud.

by E Borgman G2G2 (2.1k points)

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