******If you don't know Jesus Christ as your savior, please try to do that. He died so all of us could be saved. He loves us all. Just ask God's forgiveness and open your heart to Him. It is life changing!

Ok, I've had a new problem come up with people merging people without making sure they are correct. And Find A Grave doesn't seem to be making sure the merge is correct, either. So a person's memorial page gets lost forever unless they are made a new one. I've had this happen twice now in the past year. The latest was two infants with the same last name and same birth and death year, but one in March and one in July. Two different stones. Yet, someone had them merged and F A G complied. I had to make a new memorial for one of the babies so they would have one. This also happened with an adult and I got with the original memorial manager to let them know what happened and another memorial was made. PLEASE make sure you are correct when you suggest a merge. I wonder just how many memorials have been lost due to this. :-(

**My photos that I have taken are for anyone to use as they wish.

***I want to say that I am not responsible for any misinformation posted on a memorial that I have transferred to another. You need to take that up with the new memorial manager. Also, because I may have posted a photo on a memorial does not mean I am related to that person or know anything about them.

Please feel free to ask for transfers if you are related to the person. Please state the relationship in your request. I am not related to most and if I am, I'll let you know. If you do not state your relationship, I will delete your request. I do reserve the right to not transfer if you are not within the transfer guidelines. Unless it's on people I have taken over from another who's passed. I also ask that you go through the edit tab on the memorial page of the one you want transferred please. Just scroll down to suggest other edits and ask though there. I am no longer accepting transfer requests through the message system.
-----------------------------------------------------
These are find a grave's new rules for transfers:
"How can I request to manage a relative's memorial?
Determine if you really need the memorial transferred to you for management. You can add photos and suggest corrections without managing a memorial. With millions of members, there will be many overlapping family trees and it would be impossible for all members to manage their entire tree.
Memorials are transferred for relatives with these close relationships: child, spouse/partner, sibling, parent, grandchild, great-grandchild, grandparent, great-grandparent, niece/nephew, great-niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, great-aunt/uncle, or first cousin. This would include adoptive, step and in-law versions of these relationships.
If two members are related within these guidelines and both would like to manage the memorial, the member with the closer relationship should be given management.

Always explain your relationship in the request! Keep in mind that the memorial manager may also be related to the memorial and may not make the transfer. You may also want to include your specific interest in the memorial.

To request to manage a memorial for a close relative who is recently deceased (has died in the past year), see this page.

To request a transfer on the memorial in question, click on 'Suggest other Corrections' under the 'Suggest Edits' button and type your message to the memorial manager. Be sure to include your relationship to the person and any other reason for the transfer request. This message will be sent to the member, even if there is not an email address listed on their profile.
----------------------------------------------
** Please don't put Missouri death certificates in the photo section. They are available easily online.

I'm so sorry, but if I can't find proof of an edit sent to me, and you are listed as Anonymous, I won't be able to accept those edits unless you send the proof for the edits. Either a link to where I can find the information, or the actual information and where it came from. If family asks me where in the world I got that information, I need to be able to tell them.

I've been doing genealogy research for 24 years. Not as long as some, but long enough to have learned quite a bit about it. These are just tips to help and not trying to sound mean. Some of the things I have learned over the years:
1. Never assume someone died where SS states their last residence.(This is a biggie!)
2. Use Ancestry trees for possible clues, but never as fact unless they list solid proof to back up their claims. I realize some tree information is from close family members and may be 100% accurate, but then again, it might not be.
3. No one truly knows what is fact unless you were there and saw it yourself.
4. All documents can be in error. That being said, I tend to believe a death date on a death certificate more than what a stone has, if it's different. Or, a death date from a newspaper when the obituary is listed before the stated death date.
5. Researching genealogy is similar to being a detective. You have to look at all clues and think outside the box sometimes.
6. Last but not least, never give up trying to break through a brick wall. It may take years, but something could turn up later down the road. It could be just a tiny clue that blossoms into something great. I've had that happen.
Years of trying to figure out where my ggg grandmother Millie Smith Clodfelter Vanderpool came from and who her family was, I finally found a clue. I had ordered my ggg grandfather John Clodfelter's (her 1st husband) military packet from the National Archives. I had read it and read it and after a few months of having it, I was reading it once again and realized a name on there, Joseph Smith, that had somehow escaped me before. Turns out he was Millie's father. It opened up to finding her family and where she had come from. I was able to follow Joseph to all the places Millie had been, and he died and was buried just a few miles from where she had died and was buried. So NEVER give up. ;-)

One more thing about Ancestry trees is, if you look at them, you will see that a person that is on multiple trees may have exactly the same information. Right or wrong. That's the trouble with Ancestry. People get on there, see all the other trees with the information and think it must be true. So they follow suit and copy it to their tree without really researching and making sure what they have is true. So beware of that and don't blindly follow everyone else's tree.

I don't think some of you understand this in the faqs: "No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments." When it talks about borders, it doesn't mean things surrounding a stone, such as grass or backgrounds behind the stone. It's talking about people putting borders or embellishments from a program. I think most people when they want to see a stone, LIKE seeing what's around it too. I know I do! Please include at least a little grass or background where the stone is. I am sure people will appreciate that a lot. Especially if there is no chance they will ever get to visit it in person. I also want to say, I have had people ask me why I put photos on memorials that already have them, especially when I'm not related to them. Well, one reason is because I did a lot of work taking the photo. I usually try to take a photo of every stone in a cemetery and I have a bad back and bad joints, so for me, it is work. I also will put mine on if I think mine will appeal to people by adding background which is nice. I love people putting photos on my relatives and ancestors that show background. It seems to make it feel more like you are there. Sometimes I feel my photo is better. I won't lie. Find a grave allows 20 photos on an unsponsored memorial but a single person is limited to 5.

I have more memorials managed as I have taken on from some who have passed. And most of them, I am not related to. So if you come across an ancestor or relative of a memorial I have taken over and want to manage their memorial, please click on the suggest edits tab, then scroll down where it says contact manager and click on that. It will open a box where you can request management of the person. Please include your relationship in your request and please be kind. :-) I will gladly transfer it to you.

******If you don't know Jesus Christ as your savior, please try to do that. He died so all of us could be saved. He loves us all. Just ask God's forgiveness and open your heart to Him. It is life changing!

Ok, I've had a new problem come up with people merging people without making sure they are correct. And Find A Grave doesn't seem to be making sure the merge is correct, either. So a person's memorial page gets lost forever unless they are made a new one. I've had this happen twice now in the past year. The latest was two infants with the same last name and same birth and death year, but one in March and one in July. Two different stones. Yet, someone had them merged and F A G complied. I had to make a new memorial for one of the babies so they would have one. This also happened with an adult and I got with the original memorial manager to let them know what happened and another memorial was made. PLEASE make sure you are correct when you suggest a merge. I wonder just how many memorials have been lost due to this. :-(

**My photos that I have taken are for anyone to use as they wish.

***I want to say that I am not responsible for any misinformation posted on a memorial that I have transferred to another. You need to take that up with the new memorial manager. Also, because I may have posted a photo on a memorial does not mean I am related to that person or know anything about them.

Please feel free to ask for transfers if you are related to the person. Please state the relationship in your request. I am not related to most and if I am, I'll let you know. If you do not state your relationship, I will delete your request. I do reserve the right to not transfer if you are not within the transfer guidelines. Unless it's on people I have taken over from another who's passed. I also ask that you go through the edit tab on the memorial page of the one you want transferred please. Just scroll down to suggest other edits and ask though there. I am no longer accepting transfer requests through the message system.
-----------------------------------------------------
These are find a grave's new rules for transfers:
"How can I request to manage a relative's memorial?
Determine if you really need the memorial transferred to you for management. You can add photos and suggest corrections without managing a memorial. With millions of members, there will be many overlapping family trees and it would be impossible for all members to manage their entire tree.
Memorials are transferred for relatives with these close relationships: child, spouse/partner, sibling, parent, grandchild, great-grandchild, grandparent, great-grandparent, niece/nephew, great-niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, great-aunt/uncle, or first cousin. This would include adoptive, step and in-law versions of these relationships.
If two members are related within these guidelines and both would like to manage the memorial, the member with the closer relationship should be given management.

Always explain your relationship in the request! Keep in mind that the memorial manager may also be related to the memorial and may not make the transfer. You may also want to include your specific interest in the memorial.

To request to manage a memorial for a close relative who is recently deceased (has died in the past year), see this page.

To request a transfer on the memorial in question, click on 'Suggest other Corrections' under the 'Suggest Edits' button and type your message to the memorial manager. Be sure to include your relationship to the person and any other reason for the transfer request. This message will be sent to the member, even if there is not an email address listed on their profile.
----------------------------------------------
** Please don't put Missouri death certificates in the photo section. They are available easily online.

I'm so sorry, but if I can't find proof of an edit sent to me, and you are listed as Anonymous, I won't be able to accept those edits unless you send the proof for the edits. Either a link to where I can find the information, or the actual information and where it came from. If family asks me where in the world I got that information, I need to be able to tell them.

I've been doing genealogy research for 24 years. Not as long as some, but long enough to have learned quite a bit about it. These are just tips to help and not trying to sound mean. Some of the things I have learned over the years:
1. Never assume someone died where SS states their last residence.(This is a biggie!)
2. Use Ancestry trees for possible clues, but never as fact unless they list solid proof to back up their claims. I realize some tree information is from close family members and may be 100% accurate, but then again, it might not be.
3. No one truly knows what is fact unless you were there and saw it yourself.
4. All documents can be in error. That being said, I tend to believe a death date on a death certificate more than what a stone has, if it's different. Or, a death date from a newspaper when the obituary is listed before the stated death date.
5. Researching genealogy is similar to being a detective. You have to look at all clues and think outside the box sometimes.
6. Last but not least, never give up trying to break through a brick wall. It may take years, but something could turn up later down the road. It could be just a tiny clue that blossoms into something great. I've had that happen.
Years of trying to figure out where my ggg grandmother Millie Smith Clodfelter Vanderpool came from and who her family was, I finally found a clue. I had ordered my ggg grandfather John Clodfelter's (her 1st husband) military packet from the National Archives. I had read it and read it and after a few months of having it, I was reading it once again and realized a name on there, Joseph Smith, that had somehow escaped me before. Turns out he was Millie's father. It opened up to finding her family and where she had come from. I was able to follow Joseph to all the places Millie had been, and he died and was buried just a few miles from where she had died and was buried. So NEVER give up. ;-)

One more thing about Ancestry trees is, if you look at them, you will see that a person that is on multiple trees may have exactly the same information. Right or wrong. That's the trouble with Ancestry. People get on there, see all the other trees with the information and think it must be true. So they follow suit and copy it to their tree without really researching and making sure what they have is true. So beware of that and don't blindly follow everyone else's tree.

I don't think some of you understand this in the faqs: "No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments." When it talks about borders, it doesn't mean things surrounding a stone, such as grass or backgrounds behind the stone. It's talking about people putting borders or embellishments from a program. I think most people when they want to see a stone, LIKE seeing what's around it too. I know I do! Please include at least a little grass or background where the stone is. I am sure people will appreciate that a lot. Especially if there is no chance they will ever get to visit it in person. I also want to say, I have had people ask me why I put photos on memorials that already have them, especially when I'm not related to them. Well, one reason is because I did a lot of work taking the photo. I usually try to take a photo of every stone in a cemetery and I have a bad back and bad joints, so for me, it is work. I also will put mine on if I think mine will appeal to people by adding background which is nice. I love people putting photos on my relatives and ancestors that show background. It seems to make it feel more like you are there. Sometimes I feel my photo is better. I won't lie. Find a grave allows 20 photos on an unsponsored memorial but a single person is limited to 5.

I have more memorials managed as I have taken on from some who have passed. And most of them, I am not related to. So if you come across an ancestor or relative of a memorial I have taken over and want to manage their memorial, please click on the suggest edits tab, then scroll down where it says contact manager and click on that. It will open a box where you can request management of the person. Please include your relationship in your request and please be kind. :-) I will gladly transfer it to you.