Since I’ve lost quite a bit of information that I had entered in my family data program (Family Tree Maker 2011) due to the computer crash on Election Day, the thought of recreating everything I’ve lost has overwhelmed me. (Public Service Announcement: Don’t let this happen to you! Back up! Back up! Back up! And then make sure a copy is in the cloud!)
Some of that lost data was from cemetery information from Find a Grave. My plan of attack – is to begin alphabetically in the list of individuals in my data program – and search for their date of death (if I don’t already have it), cemetery location, and other pertinent information. Needless to say, two individuals in and I’ve discovered children of a couple I didn’t know existed complete with birth and death information. I always finish off by entering the Find a Grave Memorial Number in my database – then I know that I saw the record on Find a Grave.
Generally, as I locate the burial/cemetery information – especially if it’s in Ohio – I go to FamilySearch and search for a death record. Not only will that give me a second source of documentation, but sometimes it gives a burial date and perhaps a more specific death date than what is listed on Find a Grave.
(Public Domain Image downloaded from FreeStockPhotos.biz)
I am glad you found some children that you did not know existed so I know it was hard losing all that info on your computer but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I was told I had a brother who I guess was stillborn, any way I was told that he was buried in a cemetery called Brethren and I found that cemetery but I could not find which grave is his for he is listed as baby Harbin. We went there but most all the graves or marked with a brick that says baby and that is it. We tracked down the caretaker and asked him if he could find out which grave it was and he said that the cemetery has very limited info and that he knows the baby is there but he does not know which grave it is. I just felt like sharing this have a good day and I hope it does not take you to long to replace all the info that was lost.