Forkston Cemetery

Compiler's Methodology

Herein describes the method used by the Compiler to create and populate the spreadsheets representing the burials in the Forkston Cemetery.

Line Items Burials

The lists of burials contain the information from the Burial Registers of the Forkston Cemetery Association, as it is transcribed from the actual documents. This consists of the deceased’s name and relationship, burial location, date of death and age at death. Not all data is found for all burials. Also available within the Association's Burial Register is the cause of death. See below for instructions on requesting this cause of death information.

The Compiler added his own columns of information as a way of aiding in the sorting, searching and clarifying the burial information. This includes separate columns for the burial location section and Lot/Row, surname, given name and relationship. If there is an issue with this information, the reader is reminded that the information from the Burial Register takes precedence.

Additional burials were added to the list based on headstones found on the cemetery grounds. These are recognized by the phrase “(No entry)” on the spreadsheet under the column “Name” within the Burial Register Information segment of the spreadsheet. This would include, but is not limited to, those individuals who’s cremated ashes were scattered elsewhere and a headstone placed in the cemetery by the family as a memorial to the individual.

Yet more burials were added to the list based on unidentified graves drawn on the Burial Maps used by the Forkston Cemetery Association's groundskeeper. These, too, are recognized by the phrase “(No entry)” on the spreadsheet under the column “Name”. These are typically further recognized by the use of a double question mark (??) for both the surname and given name. These entries are not found on the spreadsheet that lists burials by Name Sequence, as there is no name. Rather, they appear on the list of burials by Location Sequence, within the Section and Lot/Row location specified.

Source of Compiler Supplied Information

The name column found in the Burial Register of the Forkston Cemetery Association typically contains a combination of surname, given name or initials and, in the case of the wife and children, that relationship. A typical example for a family listed in the Burial Register would be:

ñ Harford Krewson

ñ Annis wife of H. Krewson

ñ Krewson child of Half

Surname

The Burial Register and/or headstone was used as the source for the Compiler's Surname column. When there was a difference between the spelling in the Burial Register and the spelling on the headstone, the headstone spelling was used in this column. An example would be the Register's use of “Barber” and the headstone's use of “Barbur”. “Barbur” was used in this column while the Name under the section for Burial Register Information remained “Barber”.

Given Name

The Burial Register was used by the Compiler for the Given Name column, when available. If not available, as in the case of the Burial Register using “wife of” or “child of”, the given name from the headstone, if available, was used. If there was no headstone and the Burial Register contained both a date of death and age of death, then an approximate year of birth was calculated. Using the husband's surname and approximate year of birth for the spouse and/or child, the Internet was accessed to find a member of the family that fit the criteria. That given name was then retrieved and used by the Compiler for the Given Name column. When a wife's maiden name was discovered, it was added parenthetically as part of the wife's Given Name. For example: “Hester Ann (June)” was used as the given name for Hester, wife of Isaac Krewson.

Relationship

For married couples, the relationship to the spouse was used. For the husband, “h/o” was used as “husband of”, followed by the given name of the wife. Similarly, for the wife, “w/o” was used as the “wife of”, followed by the given name of the husband. For children, “child of” was used, except when the sex was known. In that case, “s/o” and “d/o”, to represent “son of” and “daughter of”, followed by the father and mother's names. For example, “s/o Wesley G. & Blanche P.” was used as the relationship for son Stanley W. Krewson.

Location Section and Lot/Row

First, the Compiler created spreadsheet equivalent drawings for each of the five (A through E) Burial Maps used by the Forkston Cemetery Association's groundskeeper, down to the specific grave location. Then, using the location information from, first, the Association's records, second, the placement of headstones, and finally, the names written upon the groundskeeper's maps, names were populated to the spreadsheet equivalent drawings. Once all burials were resolved by burial location, the Section and Lot/Row designations were populated to the burial spreadsheet lists. When a burial location could not be identified, a double question mark (??) was used for the Section and/or Lot/Row as appropriate. If the burial took place before the year 1890, then “A” was used as the Section designation because that was the only burial area available at the time.

Prior to the creation of larger Lots, which started in early1890, individual graves were placed in rows within the original part of the cemetery. Shortly after the official formation of the Forkston Cemetery a map was drawn of all burials that existed up to that time. A unique number was assigned to each grave. There were 232 graves identified at that point in time. In order to break down the whole of Section A of the cemetery into smaller units, the Compiler took it upon himself to number the rows of these graves. Starting at the east exit and proceeding down to the western end of the cemetery, rows were assigned numbers starting with R-01 and ending with R-22. These row numbers are listed on the spreadsheet in place of the Lot number.

Requesting Cause of Death information

While not listed for general public browsing, the cause of death information can be requested from the Forkston Cemetery Association. Send an e-mail request to the contact address found on the Association's home page, stating the ancestor(s) of interest and the ancestors' relationship to the requester. Not all burials have a cause of death available.

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