Adding a cemetery to FamilySearch

hgwill60

Does anyone know of additional help articles that might help me know how to best add a cemetery name within FamilySearch Cemeteries? These are the three I've followed. I also tried adding to findagrave first, and reaching out via feedback.

Is this just a process that takes a long time, and I'm not being patient enough? I'm just wondering, as I think it's been up to three or so weeks. I'm really just concerned if I've submitted the request appropriately.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-use-the-cemeteries-search-tool

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-enter-a-cemetery-name-or-burial-plot-into-family-tree,

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-use-the-place-research-tool-in-my-family-history-research.

Gordon Collett

The second article that discusses how to suggest new place names to be added to the Places database is the procedure to follow to get a name added to the list of standard place name which is probably what is required for it to appear in Cemeteries. Depending on where the cemetery is and how many people the Places Authorities team have working in that area, it can take days to months for a new name to be added. They may also turn down the request if it does not seem to be a reasonable addition to the database.

What is the cemetery you are trying to add? Where is it?

One way to check to see if you have submitted the request correctly is to look and see if the name is in the Places database as a provisional place.

Go here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/research/places/ Then search for the place name you entered.

For example, here is a list of all the provisional cemetery names just in the state of New York:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/research/places/#filters=%255B%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522search-within%2522%252C%2522reqParents%2522%253A339%252C%2522primaryText%2522%253A%2522New%2520York%252C%2520United%2520States%2522%252C%2522directChildrenOnly%2522%253Afalse%252C%2522selected%2522%253Atrue%257D%252C%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522cert%2522%252C%2522certificationLevel%2522%253A%2522provisional%2522%252C%2522selected%2522%253Atrue%257D%252C%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522type%2522%252C%2522placeType%2522%253A%257B%2522primaryText%2522%253A%2522Cemetery%2522%252C%2522secondaryText%2522%253A%2522A%2520place%2520or%2520area%2520for%2520burying%2520the%2520dead%2520%28includes%2520burial%252C%2520burying%2520ground%252C%2520columbarium%252C%2520grave%252C%2520memorial%2520garden%252C%2520tomb%252C%2520mausoleum%29.%2522%252C%2522key%2522%253A%252220-placeType%2522%252C%2522id%2522%253A20%252C%2522type%2522%253A%257B%2522id%2522%253A20%252C%2522code%2522%253A%2522CMTY%2522%252C%2522published%2522%253Atrue%252C%2522link%2522%253A%257B%2522href%2522%253A%2522https%253A%252F%252Fwww.familysearch.org%252Fservice%252Fstandards%252Fplace%252Fws-ui%252Fplaces%252Fplace-types%252F20%2522%252C%2522rel%2522%253A%2522self%2522%257D%252C%2522localizedName%2522%253A%255B%257B%2522locale%2522%253A%2522en%2522%252C%2522name%2522%253A%2522Cemetery%2522%252C%2522desc%2522%253A%2522A%2520place%2520or%2520area%2520for%2520burying%2520the%2520dead%2520%28includes%2520burial%252C%2520burying%2520ground%252C%2520columbarium%252C%2520grave%252C%2520memorial%2520garden%252C%2520tomb%252C%2520mausoleum%29.%2522%257D%255D%257D%257D%252C%2522selected%2522%253Atrue%257D%255D

There are 2278 of them. Looks like the Places team needs more volunteers.

Here is what a provisional place looks like:

To be changed from Provisional to Accepted, which is needed for it to be used for anything on the website, a database editor needs to confirm all the information submitted and add some citations that confirm the place is correct. This particular example also needs its latitude and longitude added.

So there is probably a pretty good chance your request will get lost in the weeds. You might try e-mailing the team at the e-mail at the end of this article: https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-request-a-new-place-in-the-database-of-standardized-places with a plea to put your cemetery at the top of the list of places to be added. Or maybe by posting the cemetery information here, including name and where it is, an editor will see it and add it for you.

Laura Phillips_4

Laura Phillips_4

JulianBrown38

@hgwill60 The cemeteries that are used for the Cemeteries Search tool are completely different beasts from the cemeteries that are to be found in the Places database. I am assuming that you would like to see a list of all burials/cremations/cenotaphs in a particular cemetery, but that cemetery does not appear in the dropdown list in the search page.

Cemeteries in the Places database

These are places of type Cemetery which are used in the family tree, in any data item that has a place component. Suggestions as to addition of new places or corrections to existing places can be made as @Gordon Collett described in his comment. I have done this a couple of hundred times over the past two years, and the Authorities Team has always responded positively, whether it was to accept or decline my suggestions. As Gordon says, it may take some days or months for an emailed response.

Cemeteries in the Cemeteries Search tool

There have been numerous discussions here on this topic. The most specific information on how the CS database was populated that I have seen was in a comment by a moderator in one of the discussions. I haven't been able to find that comment today. From memory, the gist of the comment was that there was a process run that used Find A Grave and/or BillionGraves information. It was not taken from the burial data on profiles. It wasn't clear whether that was a once-off process, something that happened more than once or whether it will ever happen again. Because those discussions got only a limited response from FamilySearch, much of what was said there was unavoidably speculative. One of those discussions contains a comment by @Adrian Bruce1 with which I entirely agree.

The cemeteries used in the search are not tied one-to-one to the cemeteries in the places database. The CS cemeteries tend to be named from whatever FG or BG called them at the time. Often there are multiple CS cemeteries with exactly the same names or similar names, in the same location. For example, probably the first cemetery that I ever looked at was "Timaru Cemetery". When I type that into the Location or Site Name drop-down box, three results are available for selection. Each of them has exactly the same description, namely "Timaru Cemetery, Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand". That does not match the single place in the the Places database, which is currently "Timaru Cemetery, Kensington, Timaru, New Zealand". (They might have matched some time ago before the Places entry was changed.) When I open those three cemeteries, they each contain a number of profiles; one of them has only a single profile.

If you cannot find a cemetery in the CS database and you know its physical location, then I would suggest that you change to the map view (Explore the Map at the bottom of the search introductory page), zoom in to the location and Search this area to see if the cemetery is there with a different name. If you cannot find the cemetery at all, then I think you may be out of luck. There doesn't seem to be any mechanism for users to add cemeteries themselves, nor any process to request that a cemetery be added.

If you used the Feedback button on the left edge of the search screen, then you shouldn't expect any response. I've done that for the Cemeteries Search and for other unrelated areas of the site, with no replies.

hgwill60

Thank you both. JulianBrown38, my reason for using the place research tool was not as much due to my wanting the cemetery name added to FamilySearch. The place names for the appropriate time periods are in the database, and for me, that is sufficient. However, it did seem to overlap some instructions on how to have the cemetery page added within cemeteries. Mostly, there seems to be confusion on the internet as to the actual name of the cemetery in question, so, for me it has been part of my fact-finding effort to find out what the actual name of the cemetery should be. I know FamilySearch would like it to be correct. In answer to your question, Gordon, the cemetery I am trying to add is for Picinisco in Italy. The cemetery for the neighboring town of Atina is recorded in FamilySearch cemeteries as Cimitero Comunale, Atina, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. I would assume the same should be true for the Picinisco cemetery. In the findagrave database, they have it listed as Cervaro di Picinisco, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy, and some other places on the internet have it listed as Santa Maria. Having just visited there, I can say there are no signs that state the actual names of these cemeteries. So yes, I was hoping for clarification. Otherwise, as stated, having the cemetery page opened for Picinisco has been the main goal. I am trying to reach out to findagrave now that I understand that Cervano and Picinisco are over 40 minutes apart from each other. It doesn't seem possible that they can be one cemetery, nor that two Cervano's are likely to be present in Frosinone. Thanks for your comments regarding this. It will get done. It just may not be as soon as I would have liked.