Iowa, Tama County Cemetery Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Iowa Tama County 

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of cemetery records from the Tama County Recorder's office for the years 1913 to 2014.

Cemeteries began keeping records as soon as they opened. The purchase of a burial plot is a land transaction and is recorded with a deed. Cemetery records are kept as a permanent record of who was buried and usually who purchased the burial plot. The information in these records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The records may include any of the following:


 * Name of Cemetery
 * Location of grave(s) including Section and Lot number
 * Names of all individuals in burial plot
 * Date of death
 * Designation if grave is a veteran's grave
 * Designation whether plot is full or half

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The name of the deceased
 * The date of death for your ancestor
 * The names of other family members who may be buried nearby your ancestor

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record Type" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Volume and Year Range" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s burial record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Burial records are often brief so it can be easy confuse individuals. Compare what is information is given with what you already know about your ancestor to make sure it is the correct person.

Next, look at the pieces of information given in the burial record for new information. Add any new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the death date or year to search for a death records
 * Use the birth date along with your relative’s names to find the family in census records
 * Use the locality and relative's name to locate church and land records
 * The name of the undertaker or mortuary could lead you to funeral and cemetery records, which often include the names and residences of other family members.
 * Compile the entries for every person with the same surname. This is especially helpful for rural areas or unusual surnames.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the deceased who may have been buried in the same cemetery or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * When looking for a person with a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby cemeteries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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