Where to arrange to have your ancestors buried

One of my 32 great-great-great grandparents (my mother's father's father's mother's father, ~1771-1822) turns out to have been buried in Mound View Cemetery, which overlooks the town of Mount Vernon, county seat of Knox County, Ohio. I recommend that you arrange to have yours buried there too, if possible. Let me count the ways:

* Twenty-five years ago the local chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society completed readings of all the county cemeteries, including checks against the burial records (which picked up one of my relatives, the last of her line -- evidently nobody was left to add her name to the stone).

* The resulting two-volume cemetery compilation includes maps at two (sometimes three) different scales including lot numbers and owners' names.

* The cemetery roads themselves have the section numbers painted on them, so it is possible to find a given grave marker without hiking for miles.

Another excellent place to be buried, for similar reasons, is Erie, Pennsylvania. What's your favorite?

Words from Ohio -- Fall OGN

I learned several things from the Fall 2012 Ohio Genealogy News:

* The Ohio Genealogical Society writing contest will be open during January and February 2013, up to four entries per person. Winners will be published in either OGN or the flagship Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly, so pay attention to the rules, which reflect their length and formatting requirements. Writers whose  potential subjects evaded Ohio (not an easy thing to do!) should consult Kimberly Powell's listing of writing contests at About.com.

* Aubrey Brown chased a series of scattered records to learn more about the forgotten residents of the Knox County Infirmary, AKA Knox County Poorhouse, AKA Mount Vernon Bible College: two ledgers of monthly expenditures preserved in the county archives; microfilmed newspapers with occasional notes mentioning the place; County Commissioners' Journals; and the US Census. The changeability of the name, the scarcity and dispersion of records, and the value of county commissioners' records are all themes that extend beyond Ohio.

* Shelley Bishop's article on finding, reading, and researching with blogs includes a list of "20 Great Ohio Genealogy Blogs." Chances are you'll find some you didn't know about -- I did.

* Like laws, library acquisition notes are a nifty "secret entrance" to genealogy. Thomas Stephen Neel, who directs the OGS Library, reports that the library has acquired Kenneth Weant's ten volumes of newspaper abstracts covering '49ers who passed through Missouri during the Gold Rush (1849-1853), including of course many Ohioans and other Midwesterners. Researching these folks has much in common with researching infirmary residents, so all help is welcome. The library is also aware that the 20th century is now history, having purchase digitized records of Warren County, Ohio, marriages 1963-1979. As Neel writes, "The time period is after LDS stopped filming and these folks already have grandchildren."

December OGSQ!

Contents of the December 2007 Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly,published by the largest state genealogical society in the US:

"The Lambert Family of Ohio," by Jan Trent Perna (Knox and Licking counties)

"Society of Civil War Families of Ohio Roster 2007," by Brent Dean Morgan

"Biographical Sketch of the Sloan Family," by Lettie Kuster (1910, Henry County)

"Understanding Your Ancestors' Autographs," by Linda Jean Limes Ellis

"Knox County: Some Facts and Figures" (1915)

"History of the Boyce Family" (1904) (Richland County)

"1884 Deaths in Cincinnati," transcribed by Kenny R. Burck and Doris Thomson

"Placing the West and Edwards Families in Kentucky and Ohio," by Jeanne Stella

"Genealogical Data Relating to Women in the Western Reserve Before 1850," by Jean Overmeier Nathan. This information, mostly from the late 1800s, includes this passage on Betsey Shaw Quiggle of Hambden Town[ship], Geauga County: "She raised eight children to maturity, and all their clothing and bedding was woven by her own hands. When out of thread, she manufactured some from the bark of soft wood trees."

"City Directory of Bryan, Ohio" (1932) (Williams County)

"Ohioans on the Move: Portrait and Biographical Album, Sedgwick County, Kansas," transcribed by Dan Spelman