I began to understand the importance of cemeteries when I started researching my family history in 2009. While on an extended visit home in 2011, I was telling my father about Find a Grave and all the information found there. At that time, he was on the cemetery committee for Hoover First United Methodist Church (Patton Chapel). He told me their records were incomplete because the church and records had been lost in two separate fires and the current cemetery information was manually entered in a book. Since I had some time, I started trying to transfer the records from the cemetery book to a simple Excel spreadsheet so the records could be easily updated and saved for the future. What I thought would take a couple of hours is still a work in progress. Any errors in transcription will be changed when confirmed. I will also try to add other information as it’s provided by family members and others. However, In the future, this information will be listed under notes instead of changing the known information from the headstone or written records.

In an effort to preserve it for the future, Patton Chapel Cemetery was also listed on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register in 2013.

While my project was important, it was minor compared to the efforts of thousands of contributors to the Find a Grave project. The people who regularly record information, take pictures and volunteer their time are the true heroes. They are the ones that bring families together and make sure no one is forgotten.

I began to understand the importance of cemeteries when I started researching my family history in 2009. While on an extended visit home in 2011, I was telling my father about Find a Grave and all the information found there. At that time, he was on the cemetery committee for Hoover First United Methodist Church (Patton Chapel). He told me their records were incomplete because the church and records had been lost in two separate fires and the current cemetery information was manually entered in a book. Since I had some time, I started trying to transfer the records from the cemetery book to a simple Excel spreadsheet so the records could be easily updated and saved for the future. What I thought would take a couple of hours is still a work in progress. Any errors in transcription will be changed when confirmed. I will also try to add other information as it’s provided by family members and others. However, In the future, this information will be listed under notes instead of changing the known information from the headstone or written records.

In an effort to preserve it for the future, Patton Chapel Cemetery was also listed on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register in 2013.

While my project was important, it was minor compared to the efforts of thousands of contributors to the Find a Grave project. The people who regularly record information, take pictures and volunteer their time are the true heroes. They are the ones that bring families together and make sure no one is forgotten.