Guides & reference
Research
Guides and reference material for the kind of research the rest of the site supports — locating, confirming, and understanding the final records of an ancestor’s life. Much of this material was written for the original Ancestors at Rest and is preserved here.
Record finders
Death Record Finder
Where to look when an ancestor doesn't appear in the usual death records, with alternate sources drawn from Lorine McGinnis Schulze's book Ancestor Death Record Finder.
Birth Record Finder
Alternate sources for finding an ancestor's birth date when church records and civil registrations come up empty, based on Lorine McGinnis Schulze's book Ancestor Birth Record Finder.
Tombstones & memorials
Interpreting Tombstone Engravings
A short history of tombstone design from the 18th century through the Victorian era, with a reference list of common tombstone symbols and their traditional meanings.
A History of Irish Headstones
A seven-part history of Irish headstones and epitaphs by Cara Links, tracing grave markers from pagan pillar-stones and ogham inscriptions through medieval brasses to the epitaphs genealogists read today, with a glossary of Latin tombstone terms and a collection of notable Irish epitaphs.
Memorial Panels
An introduction to Victorian-era memorial panels (memorial cards), presented alongside the 1895 catalogue of Marshall Amery, a leading American maker of these cards.
National Memorial Co Catalog And Pricelist
A circa-1902 advertising catalog and price list from the National Memorial Co. of Northfield, Vermont, a printer of Victorian funeral memorial cards, with notes on its dating, pricing, and format.
$386,300 Tombstone
The story of a rare early 10th-century English limestone relief of St. Peter, rediscovered in a garden where it served as a pet's gravestone and later sold at Sotheby's for £201,600.
Death & burial customs
Victorian Funeral Customs
A short article on funeral and mourning customs during the reign of Queen Victoria, explaining how families lived closely with death, how English funeral fashions spread to North America, and why the elaborate Victorian funeral eventually declined.
Researching Ireland
Researching Ireland
A guide to Irish civil registration of births, deaths and marriages, covering the pre- and post-1922 record systems, index volumes, and how to obtain certificates from Dublin, Belfast and local register offices.
Some of the Roman Catholic Parish Registers for County Wicklow That Can Be Found At The National Library of Ireland
Microfilm references and register date ranges for Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial registers from County Wicklow parishes held at the National Library of Ireland.
The Tide of Emigration to The United States And to The British Colonies
Extracts from an 1850 Illustrated London News article describing the emigration process through the port of Liverpool — the largely Irish post-famine exodus, medical inspection, embarkation, the search for stowaways, and the roll-call before departure for America and the colonies.
Other record sources
Naturalization Records
An index of resources for locating U.S. naturalization records, including state-by-state links and digitized court petition and index collections. Naturalization records can reveal an immigrant ancestor's date of immigration, ship, port of arrival, and place of birth.
Coming later
Still being prepared for this section.
Death and burial customs
How burial practices, mourning conventions, and funeral records changed across the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries — context for the records you find.
Using DNA in genealogy
When to consider DNA testing as part of death-stage research, what it can and can’t tell you, and how to combine it with traditional records.
Getting started for new genealogists
A short guide to starting your first death-stage research session — what to write down, what to verify, and how to cite what you find.
Looking for a specific record? Browse the records archive →