Headstone Photos
Headstone Photo Project – Phase 3
As of today 99% of the headstone photos have been loaded into the personal grave pages. We still have to load the Unknown headstones and then go back and see which graves are missing headstones. Also, we’ll be going through all of the photos one more time to see which ones need to be re-taken due to poor picture quality, bad lighting, or bad angle.
If you have any additional photos or an obituary that you would like added please feel free to contact us at jeffreycemetery@gmail.com
Phase 4 will be the Audit phase where we will go back to the cemetery and re-take photos and most important, we’ll go through the cemetery and review each grave to ensure that we have the right headstone located in the right place in the database. We have taken, processed and loaded over 1,190 headstone photos this past year so we know that some mistakes may have been made in matching the headstones to the correct graves. If you find any headstone placements that are not correct, dates are wrong, or names are wrong please let us know so that we can correct them.
Posted: May 19, 2012, updated July 14, 2022
Genealogy Research
Genealogy research today has become a major topic in many families. Often, one family member will take on the task of interviewing the older members to document their family history.
However, many people would like to start a family history, but they don’t know where to begin. Many people don’t realize that it’s as simple as recording the names and birthdays of every family member they know. Then expand it to every family member that your parents and grandparents know.
Chick here for some great geneaolgy research tips.
Another great source of family information are the headstones for those family members that have passed away. In genealogy research the headstones are considered proof of the existance of a former family member. Photo copies of birth certificates and census records are also valid proof of a family members relationship.
Today there are many sources of genealogy information for families. You just have to start looking. Click here to look at information about databases and genealogy records.
A simple search of the Internet for Genealogy Research will produce more information than you can digest in an evening. You’ll find that once you start to get interested in your family’s genealogy you’ll spend many satisfying hours researching information. One great place to get started is Cindi’s List of Genealogy Research sites.
The Genealogical and Historical Society of Caldwell County is a great starting point for families in Caldwell County, Texas including the Plum Creek Alminac and the Cemteries of Caldwell County.
For those inerested in the original land surveys you can find them at Arphax Publishing. The Caldwell County, TX land survey map shows that the Jeffrey Cemetery is within the original tract titled Tinney. A in abstract #26.
Abstract Summary:
Abstract #26 – Tinney, A.
Grantee: Tinney, Ambrose
Trancaction Date: 22 Jun 1832
File#: SC 000033:22
English Files Notes Lockhart-401
Patent#: 713
Patent: Vol.: 13
Certificate: Translation #3868
Acres: 4,428.4
Map: 17
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At the Jeffrey Cemetery we have spent many hours compiling a comprehensive listing and photos of all of the headstones, foot stones, and grave makers within the cemetery to assist you in this research. Click here to download the Jeffrey Cemetery Headstone Photos.
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Genealogy Programs We Recommend
There are many genealogy programs out there that provide you the ability to record your family history and research documents. They also provide you the ability to electronically share your information with other people who are also researching their families. It’s not uncommon for family members of different branches of the family tree to pool their resources and information to form a family collective of their history. Below, we have listed programs that we have tried and find to be suitable for recording your family information. Please note that we do not recommend any specific program and they are listed in no specific order. The Jeffrey Cemetery Association, Inc. does not receive any commission or reimbursement should you chose to purchase one of these programs.
Note: Whenever you are working with electronic data gathering software you should remenber to save your work often and backup your data daily to someplace other than your computer such as an external hard drive, USB thumb drive, on-line archive storage, etc..
- Family Tree Maker
- Roots Magic
- Roots Magic Essentials (Free)
- The Next Generation
- Personal Ancestral File (Free)
- The Master Genealogist
- Family Tree Builder (Free)
General Resources
- Texas land Survey Maps for Caldwell County, TX
- Plum Creek Alminac
- Jeffrey Cemetery Headstone Photos
- Family Tree Magazine
- Genealogy and Family History.com
- Caldwell County, Texas: Family History & Genealogy, Census, Birth, Marriage, Death Vital Records & More
All Headstone Photos Have Been Completed – Phase 1
What a job. This past weekend, Oct. 15-16, 2011 we completed our first photo session. We photographed every headstone in the cemetery and we have re-inventoried all graves. The graves registration data will be uploaded to the web site database next week. Once the database is loaded we will start attaching headstone images and grave location maps.
We took over 1750 photos of headstones, foot stones, service stones, and infant stones. We now have to edit each photo to crop them and reduce their file size for web display. We will be offering you the opportunity to download the headstones in their original full size format.
We used the Canon EOS Rebel T2i Black 18.0 MP 3.0″ 1.04M LCD Digital SLR Camera w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens with a UV filter to take most photos.
We worked from 8am to 3pm on Saturday and 8am to 11:30am on Sunday.
Once we have edited all of the photos we’ll be making a list of those headstones that need to be re-taken. Because of time constraints we wanted to get at least one photo of every headstone. In some cases the photo was taken too early in the day causing too many shadows or it was too late in the afternoon to get a good lighted frontal picture.
Since all headstones face east, pictures for the up-right sitting headstones have to be taken between 9am and 1pm. Pictures for th up-right and slanted face pictures can be taken as late as 2pm. Pictures of foot stones and service stones which lay flat need to be taked between 11am and 3pm for best overhead lighting. Obviously, in an attempt to get at least one photo per headstone some headstones have too much shadow requiring them to be photographed again.
Hopefully by the time of the 2012 reunion we’ll have most everything on-line for everyone to enjoy.
We want to thank Tom Owen for all his help. Tom is the keeper of the master grave registrations and has assisted us in this project from the beginning.
We look forward to seeing everyone next spring.
Gregg and Mary (Cole) Sterner
Posted: Oct. 21, 2011
