Genealogy Jottings

Over the past couple of weeks, I have spent time on the Find A Grave site (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs&) to document burials and family links for my Sherman family. I looked for my ancestor Daniel Sherman, his wife Rebecca Howe Day, and their children, including my great-great grandfather, Thomas Sherman. Things did not go smoothly. So far, my results look like this:

1. Daniel Sherman, about 1800- ? I do not know when or where he died, and no likely candidate comes up in a Find A Grave search.
2. Rebecca Howe Day, 1808-1876. She was buried in the Swango Cemetery, Symmes Township, Edgar County, Illinois. I have requested a photo of her cemetery marker.
3. Polly Sherman, about 1828 – ? I know only that she was born in Kentucky, not enough information to do a Find A Grave search.
4. Anderson Sherman, 1852-1910. Oddly, he has two burial monuments on Find A Grave. I believe he was buried in the Antioch Baptist Cemetery in Saline County, MO in 1910. I contributed a photo of that cemetery marker to Find A Grave. Someone, however, created a monument for him in the Nineveh Cemetery in Johnson County, Indiana alleging a burial thirty years earlier in 1880. This week a Find A Grave volunteer could not find a record or marker for Anderson at that place. The person who created the Indiana monument has been asked to either provide some evidence for his burial there or take down the Find A Grave memorial.
5. Evaline Sherman Alvey, 1834-1922. Her obituary states she was buried in the Mound Cemetery, Coles County, Illinois. The cemetery has a record of her burial but there is no marker on the plot.
6. Emily Sherman, about 1836 – ? and Eliza Sherman, about 1838 – ? I do not have enough information about these girls to do a Find A Grave search.
7. Thomas Sherman, 1841-1912. His obituary states he was buried in the Mound Cemetery in Coles County, Illinois. The cemetery has no record of his burial, and no marker has been found.
8. Gilla Sherman Cobb, 1843-1923. She was buried in the Lake Cemetery, Barton County, Missouri. I have requested a photo of her cemetery marker.
9. John Sherman, 1845- after 1930. I do not when or where he died. In 1930, he was living with his son Frank in Madison County, Illinois.
10. Jasper Sherman, 1849-1878. He was buried in the same cemetery as his mother in Edgar County, IL. I have requested a photo of his cemetery marker.

In summary, I have three outstanding requests for cemetery marker photos (Rebecca, Gilla, and Jasper), two that were not found (Evaline and Thomas), and one person who purportedly died and was buried twice (Anderson). I need to do more research on five others for whom I have not located any death information (Daniel, Polly, Emily, Eliza, and John). No one has a complete record.

Find A Grave is a wonderful tool, and I contribute to it whenever I can. So many volunteers have answered my call for photos of cemetery markers. The site provides a great way for us to lend a genealogical helping hand.