I'm a retired Legal Admin. photographing many cemeteries in Macomb, St. Clair, Lapeer & northern Oakland Counties, etc. I have 2 DAR ancestors (Gen. John Patton) & belong to several historic societies in 7 counties in Michigan & Pennsylvania. As a cemetery walker, I enjoy visiting cemeteries to take headstone photos. Walking & Bending has improved my health & blood pressure to 117/70. I also take additional photos & focus on the older stones & Veteran's markers before they fade to preserve history for future generations.
My favorite hobby is taking photos of older headstones since it won't be long before they are unreadable, broken or plowed over.
Hope my photos help someone else in their genealogy hunts, and these postings may help you make a connection. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REQUEST TRANSFERS OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS TO ENHANCE THEIR PROFILES if you are active, polite, honest, & THERE ARE NO CONFLICTS IN RESEARCH. My only interest in being a member of Find-Grave is to help others locate the final resting places of their loved ones. Many people have helped me in such a way and I appreciated all the work they have done. This is my way of passing their efforts forward. Many thanks to those contributors who were gracious enough to transfer the memorials for my close family members, outside of the FAG guidelines, even though they were not obligated to do so.

I have lived in Michigan all of my life. My ancestors came to America from Ireland, England, & Germany beginning in the late 1700's & early 1800's and settled primarily in Pennsylvania; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Canada. My family lineage names are: Shaw, Irvin, Patton, Little, Orr, Hawkins, Lindsay, Irwin, Stattenfield, ANTES, Bartholomew, Campbell, Lutz, Lucas, Pardon, Ritz . . .

NOTE: You have my permission to use any photo I've taken and posted on FAG in your own family research (i.e. ancestry.com), as long as it is not for profit, and not re-used on find-a-grave. A note of credit would be appreciated, but not necessary. I'm photographing to share and for others to use...
If I add a headstone or family monument to a memorial that already has a photo, it has nothing to do with you. Many times it's just a crisper image, or a closeup, or a different angle in better lighting; or sometimes it's just because I have a lot of heart involved in a person's memorial. The main reason is that older headstones deteriorate rapidly so preservation of their current images is important.
I appreciate the opportunity that Find A Grave gives everyone to learn and share. If you want to review or add to what is already shown, or discuss a posting please contact me VIA the EDIT button or email. Pls do not post lengthy questions on the message board - that is not where they belong. I love additions and updates! I am more than happy to link family members and make approved corrections.

Public records are a wide variety of records that are being kept by the government and are open to the public under the freedom of information act. They include marriage records, divorce records, court records, birth records, death records and many more.
In most of the U.S., by law, cemeteries are required to keep records regarding burial or cremations of individuals. Cemetery records will usually contain the name of the deceased, the date of passing and location of burial within the cemetery itself. Cemetery records are also required by the cemeteries themselves, as they need a means to make sure they are not using the same burial plots to bury multiple individuals. Therefore, it is not unlikely that the cemetery records hold an exact index of the grave and in some cases, a map may also be available. In some cases, the cemetery records may hold additional information such as maintenance requirements at the request of the family, landscaping and so forth. It is also not unlikely to have information on the burial itself, the making of the headstone and specific text that was requested for it. The text itself is valuable as it often indicates existence of relatives or information on the deceased itself. Although, on some older records in the early-mid 1800's, I've discovered the only record is "occupied" with no name, but each jurisdiction is unique. Some of the records kept by churches attached to little graveyards may even contain marriage, baptism records/witnesses.

I'm a retired Legal Admin. photographing many cemeteries in Macomb, St. Clair, Lapeer & northern Oakland Counties, etc. I have 2 DAR ancestors (Gen. John Patton) & belong to several historic societies in 7 counties in Michigan & Pennsylvania. As a cemetery walker, I enjoy visiting cemeteries to take headstone photos. Walking & Bending has improved my health & blood pressure to 117/70. I also take additional photos & focus on the older stones & Veteran's markers before they fade to preserve history for future generations.
My favorite hobby is taking photos of older headstones since it won't be long before they are unreadable, broken or plowed over.
Hope my photos help someone else in their genealogy hunts, and these postings may help you make a connection. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REQUEST TRANSFERS OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS TO ENHANCE THEIR PROFILES if you are active, polite, honest, & THERE ARE NO CONFLICTS IN RESEARCH. My only interest in being a member of Find-Grave is to help others locate the final resting places of their loved ones. Many people have helped me in such a way and I appreciated all the work they have done. This is my way of passing their efforts forward. Many thanks to those contributors who were gracious enough to transfer the memorials for my close family members, outside of the FAG guidelines, even though they were not obligated to do so.

I have lived in Michigan all of my life. My ancestors came to America from Ireland, England, & Germany beginning in the late 1700's & early 1800's and settled primarily in Pennsylvania; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Canada. My family lineage names are: Shaw, Irvin, Patton, Little, Orr, Hawkins, Lindsay, Irwin, Stattenfield, ANTES, Bartholomew, Campbell, Lutz, Lucas, Pardon, Ritz . . .

NOTE: You have my permission to use any photo I've taken and posted on FAG in your own family research (i.e. ancestry.com), as long as it is not for profit, and not re-used on find-a-grave. A note of credit would be appreciated, but not necessary. I'm photographing to share and for others to use...
If I add a headstone or family monument to a memorial that already has a photo, it has nothing to do with you. Many times it's just a crisper image, or a closeup, or a different angle in better lighting; or sometimes it's just because I have a lot of heart involved in a person's memorial. The main reason is that older headstones deteriorate rapidly so preservation of their current images is important.
I appreciate the opportunity that Find A Grave gives everyone to learn and share. If you want to review or add to what is already shown, or discuss a posting please contact me VIA the EDIT button or email. Pls do not post lengthy questions on the message board - that is not where they belong. I love additions and updates! I am more than happy to link family members and make approved corrections.

Public records are a wide variety of records that are being kept by the government and are open to the public under the freedom of information act. They include marriage records, divorce records, court records, birth records, death records and many more.
In most of the U.S., by law, cemeteries are required to keep records regarding burial or cremations of individuals. Cemetery records will usually contain the name of the deceased, the date of passing and location of burial within the cemetery itself. Cemetery records are also required by the cemeteries themselves, as they need a means to make sure they are not using the same burial plots to bury multiple individuals. Therefore, it is not unlikely that the cemetery records hold an exact index of the grave and in some cases, a map may also be available. In some cases, the cemetery records may hold additional information such as maintenance requirements at the request of the family, landscaping and so forth. It is also not unlikely to have information on the burial itself, the making of the headstone and specific text that was requested for it. The text itself is valuable as it often indicates existence of relatives or information on the deceased itself. Although, on some older records in the early-mid 1800's, I've discovered the only record is "occupied" with no name, but each jurisdiction is unique. Some of the records kept by churches attached to little graveyards may even contain marriage, baptism records/witnesses.