Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings posted his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge tonight. It involved working with Findagrave.com to locate an ancestor’s cemetery information.
I must admit this was one ?!@?#@*## frustrating challenge! I know most of the cemetery locations for my ancestors–within reason. Most were in the Azores where finding a cemetery burial may be impossible due to certain practices. Those I tried searching for came up a big zilch.
I then tried to find those who I knew the cemetery for, but never had looked for the information. Again, I struck out. So, I shut the darn computer off and left in a huff.
Not one to be discouraged that easily, I came back at 11pm after putting my dog to bed. I was determined that I was going to find someone–anyone–even if they weren’t related to me 😉
As with many genealogy challenges, I often start looking for one thing and end up with something even better. That’s what happened to me tonight.
I opened up the Jackson folder on my computer intent to verify some documents. I saw the obituary for my Great Uncle Alfred “Buster” Fafri, the second, third, or fourth husband of my Great Aunt Margaret Jackson There is still some debate on which number he was, though we can all agree he was the last.
He was buried at Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery in Vacaville, Solano Co., CA. This is one of the cemeteries I have not contacted for further information.
I found the cemetery easily at findagrave.com. There were 1,298 interments listed. My chances of finding my guy were very good!
I did a search for Fafri and, woo hoo!, I found both Alfred and Margaret. Not only that, but I scored two new photographs. One is of Alfred and Margaret together and the other is of Alfred alone. There is also a photograph of the tombstone.
Not only that, but the person who added this entry is related to Alfred. So, the entry has biographical information including the names of his parents!
I am doing genealogy jumps for joy. I only had 3 or 4 photographs of Margaret (Jackson) Fafri. Now I’ve got another!
This started out to be an incredibly frustrating night and it turned into a very rewarding one. Big Thanks to Randy for presenting this challenge! I might not have found any ancestors, but I’ve got two new photographs to add to my collection. I call that a successful night.
