In last night’s “Introduction to Genealogy”, I took some time to discuss the web site www.findagrave.com. I explained that it’s certainly not a “Primary Source” as the data is uploaded by volunteers who scour public records, family stories and even obituaries. Many volunteers are well intentioned and put up either their own family’s information or the information of their friends or clients. Very ofter, a person or a group may take on a “project” whereby they will use a specific data base and upload GOBS of information. I fall into all of these categories: 1) Family data; 2) Data on the family of friends and clients; 3) Cemetery logs; or 4) just from casual walks through cemeteries after finding a specific individual or individuals.

At any rate, these sisters, who are in their late 60’s or early 70’s (I certainly won’t reveal even though I’ve found them in the 1940 census!) asked if I could look in Island Pond Cemetery in Ludlow for their grandfather. I cautioned that the only way he’d be there is if a volunteer uploaded the information. That could be a relative or just someone who, like myself, will put up data for any number of reasons. They were disappointed that “William Williamson” wasn’t there, but it provided a perfect opportunity too show everyone in the class how the program works. So, based on the data the sisters had (and the research I’ve already done for them) the whole class became a part of uploading their grandfather to the site.

“Now”, I asked, “is your grandmother here as well?” As it turns out, she was Catholic and was buried in St Aloysius Cemetery in Indian Orchard, MA. William wasn’t Catholic and was buried in the secular Island Pond Cemetery in Ludlow, MA a few miles away.

Now is when it gets slightly weird. Someone had already uploaded Minnie Williamson, the grandmother. As I scrolled down, I discovered who that volunteer was…..me! I uploaded it a couple of years ago, probably after finding some other memorial that had been requested. I have no memory of it specifically. The relly weird part? On the tombstone and entered with his own memorial was an infant named “Wallace” who was born in 1912 and died in 1913. The sisters gasped and stared at each other! “Did you know about Wallace?” they asked each other almost simultaneously. Neither knew of “Uncle” Wallace….a family secret revealed!!