Cemetery Research

I think this site provides some excellent tips for conducting cemetery research.

I hope it's helpful!

curious

I wonder where this is in the Woodlands Cemetery? Quite the expression on his face, isn't it?

Thanks to Maria Reilly and her flickr photo.

Warmed Up

I just finished a terrific book by Lisa Rogak called "Death Warmed Over." It's a book of funeral customs, by country or ethnicity, and accompanying recipes.

One of the customs is for the Amish, quite a few of whom live about an hour outside of Philadelphia. Here's the recipe for Funeral Pie, a recipe for which can be found here.

Enjoy!

Digging Up Bones

If you're searching for a particular person buried in a particular cemetery, you may want to check the online OPAC of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to see if they have records for that particular cemetery.

Many of the records are on microfilm, but some are in bound volumes you can just pull down off the shelf. It costs $6 to visit the library if you're not a member.

They have a wide variety of cemetery records, especially for ones located in Philadelphia and the near suburbs. You might be surprised what you find!

funeral customs

I'm reading a great book called "Death Warmed Over" by Lisa Rogak. It's basically about funeral customs all over the globe...from places as diverse as Egypt, Holland, and Iran. It's really fascinating, and I highly recommend it!

Hopping

Hi all, sorry it's been quiet around here for a little while. The holidays were pretty hectic (in a fun, good way!) But I'm looking forward to sharing more pictures with you and writing a lot about our local cemeteries. Please keep watching this space...more to come very soon. Happy holidays!

St. Peter's

Hello all, apologies for not posting a bit sooner! This time of year can be pretty hectic.

Just last weekend, I was walking through Society Hill, and came upon St. Peter's Episcopal Church cemetery, at 4th and Pine. St. Peter's was the church for many of our founding fathers, and there are several famous notables interred here, including George Dallas, the 11th Vice President of the United States.

I saw several unusual headstones and monuments here whose style I've not seen anywhere else, including the one in this picture. (There were several monuments like this, where the carved cross appears almost to be draped sideways over the top.)
I'll post the rest of the pictures very shortly.