Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.
~~ Chuck Norris ~~

DEATH CERTIFICATES INCLUSION ALL and I do mean ALL Washington State death certificates I add to memorials, are taken from Washington State Digital Archives and are in the public domain not from a paid website. Washington State does not claim copyright to any of these death certificate and also shares them with websites such as Family Search and Ancestry. Here is the declaration of public domain and usage from the Washington State Secretary of State that includes the digital archives. "PUBLIC DOMAIN & COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - This is a public domain web site. Most of the information on this site is not copyrighted. You may use, share or copy such information appearing on this site. Of course, it would be appropriate to give credit to the Office of the Secretary of state as the source of this information."
Link to public domain statement - https://www.sos.wa.gov/web-sites-privacy-policy
Link to archive - https://www.sos.wa.gov/ click Digital Archive in menu

+++ WHY do I add death certificates? I do so because of the way Findagrave now works. I receive edits daily for the many memorials I have created and manage. Most of the time these edits are correct and I can vet them with minimal effort. Unfortunately not all edits are correct. Awhile ago I received an edit for death location that wanted me to change a existing death location. Looking at the death certificate confirmed the edit was wrong. The person who sent the edit made an assumption on death location based on where they knew the deceased used to live. That is NOT where they died. When I am no longer able to accept of decline edits and the automatic edit system takes over these kinds of edits will destroy the integrity of the information I have worked so hard to preserve on Findagrave. At least by including the death certificate the certificate can help serious researchers see that the Findagrave information is wrong. I have also received edits that try to completely change the identity of the memorialized. Info for one James Smith in place of a different James Smith that a family member decides must the "their" James Smith and my info is wrong. The death certificate helps to avoid this issue. Another edit I have received asks me to unlink a child from parents saying... "My Uncle Bill and Aunt Maggie did not have a infant that died, please remove the links"... well if you look at the death certificate Uncle Bill and Aunt Maggie DID have a stillborn infant that family just didn't talk about. It is all on the death certificate! +++ Just today (Apr 16, 2024) I denied an edit that would have completely changed the identity of a women buried in a local cemetery. Someone from back east decided my Lillian listed was a completely different person that she was. Wrong birth date sent, wrong maiden name sent, wrong birth location sent. Completely different information than what was on the death certificate!

*** THANK YOU FOR ALL THE EDITS THAT YOU SEND. I WORK ON FINDAGRAVE DAILY TO ADD INFORMATION TO THE MEMORIALS I MANAGE BEYOND JUST NAMES, DATES AND LOCATIONS. IT IS A SLOW PROCESS MADE MUCH QUICKER WITH ALL YOUR HELP. AGAIN... THANK YOU!***

FAG often changes and updates their policies. If you have not read the FAQ or visited the forums lately you may have missed these changes. What was against the rules at one time is ok now, what was ok at one time is now against the rules. For example FAG has fixed the search feature and ALL names written in the last name field will come up in a search. So if Mary Smith Jones is searched for just as Mary Smith or Mary Jones she will come up in both searches. All a women's married names are now approved for inclusion in the last name field. Do not add a - between names. Another example is old obituaries in the photo slots. Used to be against the rules now is accepted. Another example is death certificates. They are allowed now there are so many photo slots available.

FAG has changed its policy regarding member copyright. Though I don't like that they did not continue to protect the copyright of their contributors in regards to Ancestry.com usage there is not much I can do about it. I STILL retain copyright to my photos and do not give permission for them to be republished in any form. That means NO to FamilySearch, that means NO to your personal webpage, that means NO to any other use by you other than attaching to your private family tree in your private family tree files on your computer. You may not use my photos to publish your book, send to family etc.

Whether you understand or agree with me about this matter or not, I have the right to make that choice for my work. I will not argue copyright with you.

Please use the edit tab at the top right of the memorial you are referring to when sending updates, links and transfer requests.
(Please take the time to read the transfer request rules. For the most part, I adhere to the transfer guidelines. I do NOT add link to a burial unknown memorial. This is FINDAGRAVE folks! Not "List Everyone Who Ever Died"!

I HAVE COMPLETED PHOTOGRAPHING AND ADDING PHOTOS TO EXISTING MEMORIALS AND NEW MEMORIALS IN-
ADDY
CALVARY
FAIRVIEW
HIGHLAND
MOUNTAIN VIEW
SUMMIT VALLEY
MEYERS FALLS
EVERGREEN
JULIA BROWN
PIA MISSION
KELLY HILL
GREENWOOD
INDIAN CEMETERY
CHEWELAH PIONEER
CEDONIA COMMUNITY
CHEWELAH MEMORIAL PARK
SAINT MARY OF THE ROSARY
SAINT FRANCIS REGIS MISSION
CULLY MEMORIAL Cully may have some un-photographed stone due to heavy coverage of bushes, vines, Iris etc. I did my best but this was a hard one.

CEMETERIES AND ADDED ALL STONE INFORMATION AND PHOTOS.

NOTE: FAG FAQ say not to add cut and paste obituaries. In trying to comply with this rule I have turned down adding obituaries that have been sent to me. It has become apparent that FAG is adding these obits when people send them to edit@. Since FAG admins are adding I will too. Remove the names of the living before sending the obituary per FAG's "other" rule and the obituary must have attribution too.

NOTE 2: Before there was a rule against it. I added many obituary scans to memorials from our local newspaper from the early 1900. I have now attempted to go back and transcribe all of these into the bio area. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find ones that are not on my own memorials. If you find one please bring it to my attention and I will transcribe it and send it to the memorial manager. Thank you for your help. This is now NO LONGER against the rules. So frustrating to have done so much work and then having the rules change

Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.
~~ Chuck Norris ~~

DEATH CERTIFICATES INCLUSION ALL and I do mean ALL Washington State death certificates I add to memorials, are taken from Washington State Digital Archives and are in the public domain not from a paid website. Washington State does not claim copyright to any of these death certificate and also shares them with websites such as Family Search and Ancestry. Here is the declaration of public domain and usage from the Washington State Secretary of State that includes the digital archives. "PUBLIC DOMAIN & COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - This is a public domain web site. Most of the information on this site is not copyrighted. You may use, share or copy such information appearing on this site. Of course, it would be appropriate to give credit to the Office of the Secretary of state as the source of this information."
Link to public domain statement - https://www.sos.wa.gov/web-sites-privacy-policy
Link to archive - https://www.sos.wa.gov/ click Digital Archive in menu

+++ WHY do I add death certificates? I do so because of the way Findagrave now works. I receive edits daily for the many memorials I have created and manage. Most of the time these edits are correct and I can vet them with minimal effort. Unfortunately not all edits are correct. Awhile ago I received an edit for death location that wanted me to change a existing death location. Looking at the death certificate confirmed the edit was wrong. The person who sent the edit made an assumption on death location based on where they knew the deceased used to live. That is NOT where they died. When I am no longer able to accept of decline edits and the automatic edit system takes over these kinds of edits will destroy the integrity of the information I have worked so hard to preserve on Findagrave. At least by including the death certificate the certificate can help serious researchers see that the Findagrave information is wrong. I have also received edits that try to completely change the identity of the memorialized. Info for one James Smith in place of a different James Smith that a family member decides must the "their" James Smith and my info is wrong. The death certificate helps to avoid this issue. Another edit I have received asks me to unlink a child from parents saying... "My Uncle Bill and Aunt Maggie did not have a infant that died, please remove the links"... well if you look at the death certificate Uncle Bill and Aunt Maggie DID have a stillborn infant that family just didn't talk about. It is all on the death certificate! +++ Just today (Apr 16, 2024) I denied an edit that would have completely changed the identity of a women buried in a local cemetery. Someone from back east decided my Lillian listed was a completely different person that she was. Wrong birth date sent, wrong maiden name sent, wrong birth location sent. Completely different information than what was on the death certificate!

*** THANK YOU FOR ALL THE EDITS THAT YOU SEND. I WORK ON FINDAGRAVE DAILY TO ADD INFORMATION TO THE MEMORIALS I MANAGE BEYOND JUST NAMES, DATES AND LOCATIONS. IT IS A SLOW PROCESS MADE MUCH QUICKER WITH ALL YOUR HELP. AGAIN... THANK YOU!***

FAG often changes and updates their policies. If you have not read the FAQ or visited the forums lately you may have missed these changes. What was against the rules at one time is ok now, what was ok at one time is now against the rules. For example FAG has fixed the search feature and ALL names written in the last name field will come up in a search. So if Mary Smith Jones is searched for just as Mary Smith or Mary Jones she will come up in both searches. All a women's married names are now approved for inclusion in the last name field. Do not add a - between names. Another example is old obituaries in the photo slots. Used to be against the rules now is accepted. Another example is death certificates. They are allowed now there are so many photo slots available.

FAG has changed its policy regarding member copyright. Though I don't like that they did not continue to protect the copyright of their contributors in regards to Ancestry.com usage there is not much I can do about it. I STILL retain copyright to my photos and do not give permission for them to be republished in any form. That means NO to FamilySearch, that means NO to your personal webpage, that means NO to any other use by you other than attaching to your private family tree in your private family tree files on your computer. You may not use my photos to publish your book, send to family etc.

Whether you understand or agree with me about this matter or not, I have the right to make that choice for my work. I will not argue copyright with you.

Please use the edit tab at the top right of the memorial you are referring to when sending updates, links and transfer requests.
(Please take the time to read the transfer request rules. For the most part, I adhere to the transfer guidelines. I do NOT add link to a burial unknown memorial. This is FINDAGRAVE folks! Not "List Everyone Who Ever Died"!

I HAVE COMPLETED PHOTOGRAPHING AND ADDING PHOTOS TO EXISTING MEMORIALS AND NEW MEMORIALS IN-
ADDY
CALVARY
FAIRVIEW
HIGHLAND
MOUNTAIN VIEW
SUMMIT VALLEY
MEYERS FALLS
EVERGREEN
JULIA BROWN
PIA MISSION
KELLY HILL
GREENWOOD
INDIAN CEMETERY
CHEWELAH PIONEER
CEDONIA COMMUNITY
CHEWELAH MEMORIAL PARK
SAINT MARY OF THE ROSARY
SAINT FRANCIS REGIS MISSION
CULLY MEMORIAL Cully may have some un-photographed stone due to heavy coverage of bushes, vines, Iris etc. I did my best but this was a hard one.

CEMETERIES AND ADDED ALL STONE INFORMATION AND PHOTOS.

NOTE: FAG FAQ say not to add cut and paste obituaries. In trying to comply with this rule I have turned down adding obituaries that have been sent to me. It has become apparent that FAG is adding these obits when people send them to edit@. Since FAG admins are adding I will too. Remove the names of the living before sending the obituary per FAG's "other" rule and the obituary must have attribution too.

NOTE 2: Before there was a rule against it. I added many obituary scans to memorials from our local newspaper from the early 1900. I have now attempted to go back and transcribe all of these into the bio area. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find ones that are not on my own memorials. If you find one please bring it to my attention and I will transcribe it and send it to the memorial manager. Thank you for your help. This is now NO LONGER against the rules. So frustrating to have done so much work and then having the rules change