Genealogy Basics

How to Find an Ancestor's Grave

By Monte Horton · October 29, 2026

A grave is more than a final record. The stone can give exact dates and family names, and the people buried beside your ancestor are often parents, children and in-laws you haven't found yet.

Step 1: Check the death certificate

Many death certificates include a line for place of burial, sometimes with the name of the funeral home. Twentieth-century certificates are especially likely to have it. Start here.

Step 2: Find the obituary

Obituaries usually name the funeral home, the cemetery, and the surviving family. Look in:

• Local newspapers, through Chronicling America (free) or library newspaper databases
• Funeral home websites, for more recent deaths
• Library obituary indexes, which many local libraries keep

Step 3: Search the online grave sites

Search with less information first: surname plus county often works better than a full name and exact dates.

Step 4: Go local

If the online search comes up empty:

• Cemetery office or sexton. Many cemeteries keep plot books showing who bought each lot and who's buried in it, including graves with no stone.
• Churches. Rural families were often buried in a church cemetery. The church may keep burial records.
• County and genealogical society cemetery surveys. Volunteers have walked and transcribed many county cemeteries; check the county's USGenWeb page and the local library.
• The funeral home, if it's still in business. Old records may show where they buried someone.

Step 5: Think about where families were buried

• Near where they died, or where they came from. Bodies were sometimes taken back to a home town.
• Family plots. Look at the stones around the ones you know. Parents, children and siblings are often together.
• Unmarked graves. Many people, especially children and those who died poor, never had a stone, or the stone has been lost. The cemetery's records may be the only proof.

When you visit

• Photograph the whole stone, front and back, and the stones around it.
• Don't use shaving cream, chalk or wire brushes on old stones; they damage them. Raking light, using a mirror or the low sun to shine across the face, makes worn lettering readable.
• Note the location so the next relative can find it.

Record what you found

Add the cemetery, plot location and a photo of the stone to the person's family group sheet, with where you found the information. A grave photo next to a portrait of the same person is one of the most treasured pages in any family album.