I watched my aunt spend decades on foot, write letters of inquiry and spend hours in libraries and on the phone, tracing our maternal line back to three different passengers on the Mayflower. And I have traced my paternal line back to 1600's Switzerland. It's so easy now to do ancestor research online. And so easy to make multiple errors by clicking someone else's unsourced data in a family tree!

Any data I have added to a memorial that I have posted or suggested additions/corrections for has been well researched from hard copy sources, digital archives, reference libraries, historical society files, and archived documents such as wills, probate records, church marriage/birth/death records, and census reports. I use many different sources to verify and corroborate facts before posting.

I know the frustration of finding a long lost relative's grave on Find A Grave, but only seeing the year of birth, year of death and partial name entered, and no headstone photo, link or bio. So, I am adding as many headstone photos, and linking family members, as well as writing bios for memorials from cemeteries from the 1700, 1800 and early 1900's in my local area.

I work from actual headstones first, not from published lists of graves, and I confirm my photo data with Federal census records, town records, historical county records, birth, marriage and deaths from church records, old newspaper articles, and Federal mortality schedules. Every fact for any photo or memorial I post has been thoroughly researched. I have spent many hours trying to translate and/or decipher worn away letters on hundreds of old headstones.

If you send me an edit, please cite the source of the edit information. And please do not add photos of chalked headstones to my memorials. Chalking ruins the hundred year old stones and is against Find A Grave headstone photo rules.

If, in turn, my helping others to find their ancestors, will lead to someone discovering my long lost pre-1824 Penna. Shaffer kin and their burial places, then the kindness will come full circle.

Working to decipher the words on the oldest headstones, before they become too weathered to read, is not just my hobby, but a way to preserve our past for future generations. I do so love a challenge!

I watched my aunt spend decades on foot, write letters of inquiry and spend hours in libraries and on the phone, tracing our maternal line back to three different passengers on the Mayflower. And I have traced my paternal line back to 1600's Switzerland. It's so easy now to do ancestor research online. And so easy to make multiple errors by clicking someone else's unsourced data in a family tree!

Any data I have added to a memorial that I have posted or suggested additions/corrections for has been well researched from hard copy sources, digital archives, reference libraries, historical society files, and archived documents such as wills, probate records, church marriage/birth/death records, and census reports. I use many different sources to verify and corroborate facts before posting.

I know the frustration of finding a long lost relative's grave on Find A Grave, but only seeing the year of birth, year of death and partial name entered, and no headstone photo, link or bio. So, I am adding as many headstone photos, and linking family members, as well as writing bios for memorials from cemeteries from the 1700, 1800 and early 1900's in my local area.

I work from actual headstones first, not from published lists of graves, and I confirm my photo data with Federal census records, town records, historical county records, birth, marriage and deaths from church records, old newspaper articles, and Federal mortality schedules. Every fact for any photo or memorial I post has been thoroughly researched. I have spent many hours trying to translate and/or decipher worn away letters on hundreds of old headstones.

If you send me an edit, please cite the source of the edit information. And please do not add photos of chalked headstones to my memorials. Chalking ruins the hundred year old stones and is against Find A Grave headstone photo rules.

If, in turn, my helping others to find their ancestors, will lead to someone discovering my long lost pre-1824 Penna. Shaffer kin and their burial places, then the kindness will come full circle.

Working to decipher the words on the oldest headstones, before they become too weathered to read, is not just my hobby, but a way to preserve our past for future generations. I do so love a challenge!