Grave Hunter Standards for Transcribing Headstones A DISCUSSION PAPER - by B. W. Hutchison, Esq. B.Comm., C.M.A. As Stephen Hayes writes in the 1st quarter 1991 issue of Genealogical Computing, "many genealogical societies have been transcribing and indexing tombstone inscriptions and records of religious bodies that could be useful for genealogical research". Indeed, the flurry of activity in this area is immense and it seems that the spawning of such interest has exploded in the past 25 years. I grant you, the act of recording monumental inscriptions (tombstones) has been an ongoing activity since probably the turn of the century but certainly has not seen the kind of growth we are now experiencing in the subject. With the ever-increasing enthusiasm for active genealogical research by the masses, have these associated areas also developed. Cemeteries were once an important part of our culture. We celebrated the birth of our living and mourned the loss of our dead but, in turn, families and family members remembered those that passed-on and celebrated their rebirth. In fact, many eastern cultures still maintain this active involvement with the deceased in their everyday lives. Life and death are simply extensions of each other. Over the centuries however, we here in the West see the cemetery as a vile and cold place. A place of insignificant necessity. Somewhere to place our dead and depart, never to return except in our own death. How many of us have been to our family's headstones recently? How many of us even know where our family members are buried? I suspect that the numbers would be few but nevertheless, it is encouraging to hear that so many people, genealogists and otherwise, have developed a renewed interest in the local & distant cemetery. The cemetery is a time-capsule on our own lives. It is the earliest archival of people, places, events and life-styles to the past. A 'window on history', ours and that of others. How many of us have felt a sense of interest and excitement after walking through the rows of a cemetery and reading the inscriptions. I grant you, when the moment is immediate and personal the sense of loss and pain is immense, but as a by-stander and a spectator of history, it is a very interesting encounter. In the following I have attempted to identify reasons and objectives for the standardization of cemetery material, and in particular, monumental inscriptions. I must say firstly that I have had a great deal of experience both, compiling monumental inscriptions (headstones) and in using the material logged, but I am in no way an expert on this subject and I certainly feel, with the wealth of knowledge out there, that even the suggestions I am posing here can be greatly improved upon by others!! Based upon my own personal experiences I have undertaken to identify what I feel are the important attributes for "standardizing" the transcription and reporting process of monumental inscriptions. I hope I have done the exercise some justice by presenting this discussion paper!! Needless to say, the undertaking of recording tombstone inscriptions is becoming a more discussed and exercised endeavor over the past two decades and it certainly goes without saying that the methods and tools for doing this are as numerous as those that undertake the activity. Even in my own country of Canada, the number of different methods of recording this kind of information are too numerous to count. Some record complete headstone inscriptions while others use various abbreviated forms. Some create partial lists, recording only stones/markers with dates prior to some designated period while others do complete archeological mappings and recordings for an entire cemetery. Still others, avoid recording extraneous carvings/ emblems/poems while the remainder overkill by recording the most superfluous of epitaphs and mortality emblems. Just what is it we are trying to accomplish and for whom? I think without question we need to ask ourselves these two points and then try to develop a framework of thought around that. Firstly, however, we need to ascertain just why we want to standardize data collection and recording of monumental inscriptions? I believe it is in our best interests to standardize this area in order to better facilitate data gathering practices, data manipulation & reporting practices and data archival interests. I am not convinced that any of these higher interests are well-served without standardization, given the immensity of the source material we have in the world to provide for. Secondly, to answer 'for what purpose and for whom', I personally see at least three users of this material within our current time-frame: the genealogist, the cemetery administrator, and the local archivist. The interests of each are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The genealogist is interested in data compilation that will identify individuals and facts on those individuals that will further allow him/her to increase their "extension factor" on pedigree development. As such, he or she is interested in the prime vital statistics (ie., birth/marriage/death information) and secondary statistics that supplement the primaries (such as names of parents, spouses, children, residences, occupations, etc.). He/she in no way wants the material censored, altered or abbreviated to satisfy recording or archival purposes. The cemetery administrator, on the other hand, is interested in data that identifies individuals buried, their locations & contents, and the dates of those burials. The prime concern is to provide for the accurate cataloguing of plots, locations and contents. He/she is only interested in monumental transcriptions where the official burial records are lacking information on these older burials. In no way, is the monumental transcription a replacement for the official cemetery burial register. He/she is in no way interested in the carvings and inscriptions of the headstone as they relate or differ from the official records. Lastly, the interests of the local archivist, most closely matches that of the genealogist. He/she is interested in data recordings that will enhance the local history of the area, its people, places, events, and life-styles for the periods. By collecting and maintaining, archivally, such records the archivist and the community develop an increased sense of their own local history, their people, and a document to endure for future generations. They are somewhat interested in the details of the data but more in what they do for others using the material. So, with the interested parties and objectives, as I see them, laid out I recognize a couple of prime concerns that we need to address if some form of 'standardization' and overall benefit is to occur with the transcription of this kind of material. Namely: 1). - data transcription that will document fully the contents of the headstone inscriptions & carvings, abbreviating or eliminating extraneous connecting words but maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the material therein; 2). - maintaining a transcription that will allow for the quick reference of persons and grave markers contained therein; and 3). - developing a document that, as a final product, will be well organized and properly catalogued for archival purposes as well as represent a complete authority on the cemetery being recorded. Therefore, with these constraints and interested parties in mind, I developed what I felt were the important data items for recording monumental inscriptions and to which I have found to be the elements necessary for standardizing such material, both for paper-made record keeping and software archives. I am currently keeping all my cemetery transcriptions on a new program from COMMSOFT called 'SESAME', and find it a relatively effective tool, for me, but any spreadsheet program would probably work just as well. I personally would like to see a specialized program (commercial, shareware, or otherwise) developed to facilitate all these interests better but I must leave that up to those more intellectually astute in those matters than I. As some may be aware, there are a number of shareware programs currently being developed to accommodate this need, all lacking some major & minor elements but nevertheless present a wonderful start on the discussion of this subject. To be more specific on what I use and see as those requirements for data collection & reporting, I have broken my cemetery material into the following data elements. Everything should be recorded, regardless of methodology undertaken, as shown on the headstone. No assumptions are made when I transcribe tombstones but connecting words that serve no documentary purpose I ignore: I. FILE (CEMETERY) INFORMATION: This section of my file documents the cemetery location and description of the cemetery itself in a directional way. As well, it presents a narrative on the history and other facts of the cemetery, the recording and other sources referencing the place or persons contained therein. It serves as an overall 'source and comment' section for the entire recording: A). File Source Reference Section - (1). Country of Cemetery (2). Province/State of Cemetery (3). County/District/Region of Cemetery (4). Township/Sub-District/Parish of Cemetery (5). Cemetery Name, Location & National Map Reference No. B). Cemetery Information - (1). Historical Notes on Cemetery (2). General Cemetery Layout & Condition (3). Name of Cemetery Recorders & Date of Recording (4). Miscellaneous Comments of Transcription (eg. Complete Transcription or Pre-XXXX [Year] Inscriptions Only) (5). Hand-drawn Map of Cemetery & Gravestones Within (6). Other Consultable Sources - (a). Publications (b). Repositories II. GRAVE MARKER DETAILS: The Grave Marker Section of the file documents, line by line, the inscriptions found within the cemetery based on the scope of the recording being undertaken. As well, the recording documents the specifics on the marker. All inscriptions are recorded as inscribed ignoring extraneous connecting words. Markers that are partially unreadable need to be recorded as such by using a question mark (?) for each character found illegible. Of course, not every headstone is going to have all these data elements but, at least the fields are available should they be there for you to record: A). Grave Marker Information - (1). Grave Number (Assigned Sequentially for Each Headstone) (2). Grave Location (Section, Row, Grave/Lair; and/or Descriptive Text) (3). Marker Type (Flat [F], Tabletop [T], Obilesk [O], Wall-Plaque [W], Chest Tomb [C], Upright [U], Square Monument [S], Crucifix [X], Church Windows [CW], or Church Wall Carving [WV]) (4). Marker Color & Material (Sandstone, Marble, Concrete, Wood, Slate, Metal, Granite) (5). Marker Condition (Unreadable [U], Broken [B], Poor [P], Good [G], Excellent [E]) (6). Marker Placement (Sunken [S], Upright [U], Fallen [F], In-Pile [P], Missing/Removed [M]) B). Name of Person Buried - (1). Given Name(s) (2). Surname (Use Capital Letters) C). Relationship Codes - (1). ID (Sequentially unique numerical code that identifies every individual in the cemetery [ie. 1, 2, 3, 4...]) (2). ID Extension (The ID to whom he/she is related to as per the headstone inscription) (3). ID Extension Relationship (If noted, identifies the relationship of the person being recorded to that of someone else on the tombstone - eg., brother = bro sister = sis mother = mo father = fa wife = w husband = h child = ch eldest child = 1ch second child = 2ch son = son daughter = dau eldest son = 1sn second son = 2sn eldest daughter = 1da second daughter = 2da grandchild = gch granddaughter = gda grandfather = gfa grandson = gsn first wife = 1w second wife = 2w unrelated = unr (4). Married/Single/Widowed (If noted) D). Occupation (If noted) E). Residence of Deceased (If noted) F). Event Information of Deceased - (1). Birth Date (If noted) (2). Birth Place (If noted) (3). Death Date (4). Death Place (If noted) (5). Burial Date (If noted) (6). Burial Place (If noted) G). Age of Deceased at Death H). Cause of Death for Deceased (If noted) I). Spouse of Deceased (If noted) J). Parents of Deceased (If noted) K). Emblems - ( 1). Emblems of Mortality (Of little genealogical value but important for archeological mapping) - Skull & Crossbones - Hour Glass (or Sand Glass) - Cherub - 'Memento Mori' - Coffin - Deid Bell - Skeleton - Figure with Dart - Scythe - Resurrection Scene - Crossed Spade & Shovel - Adam & Eve with Serpent & Fruit Tree - Biblical Sacrifice Scene of Abraham & Isaac with the Angel (2). Emblems of Trade or Occupation (A brief summary) - Tailor (Tailor's Goose [Iron] & Scissors - Hammerman, includes Smiths (Crown, Hammer & Anvil) - Baker (Rolling Pin & Peil with 3 Baps.) - Butcher or Flesher (Axe, Steel, Knife & Cleaver) - Wright (Compasses) - Farmer (Swingletrees, Flail & Caschrom or Stook of corn & Type of Coulter) - Shoemaker (Cordiner's Knife, Nippers, Solecutter & Awl) - Miller (Mouline, Mill-Rind & Mill-Pick) - Mason (Mell, Wedge & Level) - Mariner (Sextant & Cross Staff) - Maltman (Mash-Oar & Fire-Hook) - Weaver (Loom, Shuttle & Stretchers) - Gardener (Rake & Spade) - Merchant (Figure 4 sign & Scales) - Barber (Bowl for Bleeding & Razor) (3). Miscellaneous Emblems - 'M' at the top of a triangle, eg. ___ / M \ /A H\ /-------\ for 'Master' (a university degree). For example, on an inscription for a Minister, university graduate. A row or columns of initials like: AH MB AH MH GH JH CH would be for the husband (AH), wife (MB), and children (AH, MH, GH, etc). (4). Poem Inscribed? (Yes or No - Record in detail if creating an archeological mapping of cemetery) L). Date of Inscription/Name of Informant(s)/ Informants Address (If Noted) M). Miscellaneous Comments on Individual (Use " " and/or Column Connector Codes if Required- a concept I use to connect text in one column to data placed in this Miscellaneous Comments column without having to rewrite sections) N). Other General Miscellaneous Tombstone Comments (A source reference section applicable to the marker as a whole rather than the individual lines of the recording) III. CEMETERY BURIAL RECORD INFORMATION: This section cross-references the official burial records information of the cemetery (if any) to that found on the headstones. The information in most cases will be the same, but one may find discrepancies. As well, many older cemeteries have no burial records or have burial records and no remaining headstones, so the two areas need to be investigated when doing monumental recordings and need to be documented separately: A). Event Information - (1). Burial Date B). Age C). Cause of Death D). Undertaker E). Medical Attendant F). Names & Addresses of Informants G). Miscellaneous Comments IV. INDEX OF SURNAMES: Finally the section at the end or the beginning of the document needs to capsulize the contents of the recording by developing a list of surnames recorded and the marker numbers associated to the surnames for easy reference: Surname.............................Marker Number(s) Again I must reiterate to all those reading my comments that I am sure, not only can my points be improved upon but also the methodology for reporting these different data elements can be refined. I do not have all the answers nor do I want to give the impression I have!! I have simply attempted to rationalize what "standards" we might incorporate in this subject if we standardize transcriptions at all!! As Stephen Hayes asks in his article, "Is anyone acting as coordinator for developing standards for transcribing ... such information?" I must commend him for offering to coordinate the standards process for baptism and marriage registers in Christian churches and am certainly willing to assist in doing the same for cemetery transcriptions. Any comments and suggestions may be sent to me at the following address: Mr. Brian W. Hutchison, 908-34th St. S.E. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2A 0Z6. The topic may also be discussed on the International Genealogical Conference on Fidonet.