Have You Found an Ancestor's Coffin Plate?

May 15, 1790 Coffin Plate Manufacturer's Ad

The history of Coffin Plates or casket plates is a long but not very well documented one. Coffin plates are decorative adornments attached to the coffin that contain free genealogical information like the name and death date of the deceased.

Coffin Plate Thomas Dalton 1829

Generally made of a soft metal like lead, pewter, silver, brass, copper, zinc or tin. The different metals reflect the different functions of the plates, or the status and wealth of the deceased. For a basic funeral, a simple lead plate would be lettered with the name, date of death and often the age of the departed, and nailed to the lid of a wooden coffin. But high status people could afford a plate of a more expensive metal and elaborate design.

The oldest coffin plates that I have seen date from the 17th century (1600~1699) and were at that time reserved for people of some stature. As time went on more people were able to afford the luxury of a Coffin Plate and with the coming of the industrial revolution the cost of the plates went down so much that by the middle of the 19th century almost every family could afford to have one put on the coffin of their loved one. ^FN1

Some of Brian L. Massey's private collection of Coffin Plates

These are just the start of the over 150 coffin plates that are online on Ancestors At Rest.

Geo W Abbott 1860~1879 Found in U.S.A.
Henry M Adams 1838~1900 Found in U.S.A.
Sarah A Adams 1824~1877 Found in U.S.A.
Sophia Jane Aitcheson 1862~1904 Wellington County Ontario.
Samual Adam 1799~1874
Lucy Andrews 1790~1869
Robert Andrews 1786~1870
Lauuelina Jane Armand 1841~1866 Massachusetts.
Mary M Atherton Found in New England
Wilbert Avery 1860~1890 Found in Massachusetts.

Continue searching for your ancestor at Index to Coffin Plates

^FN1Important Note: Brian L. Massey wrote this article and more, all of which is published on his AncestorsAtRest.com website. It was taken without permission and posted verbatim on Wikipedia. Trying to get it taken down has been unsuccessful.

The Mystery of Hilda's Foot

My friend and fellow genealogist, Katherine R. Willson posted this intriguing burial card on her Facebook page.

The burial of Hilda's foot apparently took place in Union Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1919. 

Katherine wanted to know if any of us in the genealogy community had ever seen anything like this. We had not. But of course, being avid genealogists, several of us went on a hunt for Hilda, hoping to find out what the story was behind this odd burial.

As you can probably imagine, we had a lot of guesses as to how Hilda lost her foot and perhaps more importantly, why she had it buried. Was her body destroyed in an accident and only the foot remained? Was the foot amputated for health reasons and her religious beliefs required that she bury the foot until she died and could be buried with it?

Then I found the following story in the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin) 04 Aug 1920, Wed Page 10 which explained what happened to Hilda and her foot.

 

 

Hilda died April 15, 1950 and her obituary reveals she was 66 years old. 

Milwaukee Journal Monday, Apr 17, 1950 Milwaukee, WI Page: 37

It remains a mystery as to why Hilda had her foot buried in one cemetery and her body in another.
 

Funeral Cards - an Overlooked Genealogy Resource

Funeral cards are an overlooked free genealogical resource. They often contain both the Birth date and Death date and can be used as a substitute for vital records. Technically they are not a substitute for vital records as the person giving the info might not have known for sure when the deceased was born or died but they can be used with caution, just as genealogists should use death certificates.

Unfortunately these valuable resources are scattered and there has not been a single repository for this resource until now. AncestorsAtRest.com is working on  creating the largest funeral card database online.

To view the list of funeral card names, please choose a Funeral Death Card by location or by Surname Letter. Please Note: A lot of the funeral cards and Memorial cards on Ancestors At Rest do not have a known location so it is important that you look for the ancestor you want to find by surname.

 

 Choose from the following:

[A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I,J][K][L][M][N][O][P,Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][Y][Z]

Online New Netherland New York Church Records

Do you have ancestors who settled in New Netherland (New York) in the 17th Century? If yes, you won't want to miss these free online church records

  Records of Baptisms of the Reformed Church at Machackemeck (Deerpark), Orange County New York 1716-1827 [New May 2008]
  Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam/New York -- Baptisms 1639 to 1801
  Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam/New York -- Marriages 1639 to 1801
 Membership Lists of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam/New York 1649-1701
  Records of the Reformed Church at Conewago - Marriages 1789 to 1793
  Flatbush RDC Consistory Books, Kings Co. Long Island NY - Coordinated Records of Marriages and Baptisms from the Flatbush RDC Consistory Books And the Registers of its Daughter Church at New Lots Kings County, Long Island, New York, Baptisms 1792-1872 and Marriages 1787-1872
  Reformed Dutch Church of Flatlands, Long Island Baptisms 1747-1802
  Reformed Dutch Church of Gravesend Baptisms 1715-1805
  Reformed Dutch Church of Gravesend List of Members 1763-1805
  First Reformed Dutch Church of Newtown, Long Island Communicants 1741, Baptisms 1736-1845, Marriages 1835-1846
  Baptisms for St. George's Church Hempstead, Long Island, New York 1760- 1763
  Reformed Dutch Church of Woodstock, Ulster Co. -- Baptisms 1805 to 1889
  Grace Church, Jamaica (Queens) Baptisms 1710-1731
 Grace Church, Jamaica New York Baptisms 1780-1810
  Grace Church, Jamaica (Queens) Burials 1710-1731
  Grace Church, Jamaica New York Tombstone Recordings
  Grace Church, Jamaica (Queens) Marriages 1710-1731
 Grace Church, Jamaica New York Marriage Records 1769 to 1810
  Miscellaneous Church Records from Jamaica, Flushing and Newtown New York. Communicants 1791-1794 | Baptisms 1790-1802 | Marriages 1790-1810 | Deaths 1790-1795

Church Records of New Netherland/New York on the Olive Tree Genealogy

Burials at Highgate Cemetery London UK Now Online

Highgate Cemetery in London England is chock full of very well-known personalities such as Karl Marx, Christina Rosetti, George Elliott, and my personal favourite - scientist/Mathmatician Michael Faraday. Singer George Michael also lies there.

Details of all 160,000 burials between 1839 and 2010 at the cemetery have now been made available online. Deceased Online has been digitizing the burials for the public to freely consult. There is a small fee to download the actual record.

Read more on the Evening Standard Highgate Cemetery reveals all 160,000 burial records for first time

Burials, St. Paul's Church, Chester, Delaware Pennsylvania

Burials, St. Paul's Church, Chester, Delaware Pennsylvania

A recent bout of housecleaning, mainly purging and sorting my overstuffed filing cabinets brought these two images to light. Unfortunately I don't recall where I originally spotted them, so cannot give a source for the information. But I hope they will help you with an ancestor.  

 1822
Sept. 20. Maria Bond
Sept. 27. Isaac Bond
1823
Jan. 13 Charles McGee
May 8 Elizabeth Crosby
June 3 Elizabeth Fuller
Aug 3 John Noble
1825
Aug 30 Margaret Kerlin
Dec. 4 Edward Minshall, Sr.

1826
April 12. Matthias Richards Sayres
May 28. Henry G. Kerlin, service by Rev. J. M. Douglas
Sept. 23 Edward Hinshall
Sept. 12 Eliza Smith
1827
Feb. 28 Ann Eliza Crosby
Dec. 11. Joseph Piper
Dec. 25. Peter Deshong
1828
Feb. 12 John P. Crosby
July 6. Pierce Crosby Jr
July 14. John Liddons/Siddons
July 28. John Downes/Lownes
Sept. 21. Thomas Lyons
Sept. 28. David Veidy?
1829
Mar 4. John Hart of -- -- Graveyard
April 10 Elizabeth Davis
Dec. 17 Capt. William Anderson
1830
May 17. John Pierce, Snr, at the grounds of St. John Concord
July 19 Rebeccah Lownes

More About the 10M Irish Catholic Parish Registers Coming in March

Drumgooland Parish Baptisms 1833

Ancestry.com will be launching the Ireland Catholic Parish Registers online in March of this year. With more than 10 million Catholic Parish records, this launch will help create the largest collection of Irish registers available online.

Here's some facts to keep us all anticipating this debut!

The collection means that Ancestry.com will have over 55 million Irish records and will provide the largest collection of Irish Catholic parish records available online.

The collection is made up of Baptism, Marriage and Burial records from over 1,000 Catholic parishes across the whole of the island of Ireland - both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

Baptism and Marriage records make up the majority of the collection and Burial records can be found primarily for parishes in the northern regions.      


Ancestry.com has indexed records from over 3,500 parish registers. This is the first time that the collection has been indexed with the images linked online.

10 Million Irish Catholic Parish Records Coming Online!

More than 10 million Catholic Parish records from Ireland are to be published online by Ancestry.com, the world’s largest family history resource. The collection means that Ancestry will have over 55 million Irish records and will provide the largest collection of Irish Catholic parish records available online.

The collection is made up of Baptism, Marriage and Burial records from over 1,000 Catholic parishes across the whole of the island of Ireland - both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Baptism and Marriage records make up the majority of the collection and Burial records can be found primarily for parishes in the northern regions.

Ancestry has indexed records from over 3,500 parish registers. This is the first time that the collection has been indexed with the images linked online.

John Slyne, VP, International Operations at Ancestry comments: “The Ireland Catholic Parish Registers is the single most important collection needed to trace Roman Catholic ancestors in Ireland in the 1800s and we are delighted to make it available through Ancestry.  Providing the very best Irish records to our members is important to us and this collection helps us do that, taking the total number of Irish records to over 55 million.  It also means we continue to provide the largest online collection of Irish Catholic parish records available anywhere which is good for those in Ireland and also those across the World with Irish roots.

The collection is set to go live on Ancestry.com in March 2016.

More Cemetery Walks Online

Videos 5 and 6 of the Vasey United Cemetery Walk are now online on Olive Tree Genealogy Youtube Channel.

You can also view transcription for a group of tombstone photos taken in Vasey United Cemetery on April 2nd 2005 on AncestorsAtRest

The video of a Cemetery Walk through Wyebridge Presbyterian is now online on Olive Tree Genealogy Youtube Channel

Tombstone of William A. Hounsome in Wyebridge Presbyterian Cemetery

You can also view some still photos and a partial transcript of Wyebridge Presbyterian Cemetery on AncestorsAtRest