United States Cemetery Records

United States cemetery records consist of cemetery transcriptions, databases, and image repositories. A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term cemetery (from Greek: sleeping place) implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are the place where the final ceremonies of death are observed. These ceremonies or rites differ according to cultural practice and religious belief.

While uncommon today, family (or private) cemeteries were a matter of practicality during the settlement of America. If a municipal or religious cemetery had not been established, settlers would seek out a small plot of land, often in wooded areas bordering their fields, to begin a family plot. Sometimes, several families would arrange to bury their dead together. While some of these sites later grew into true cemeteries, many were forgotten after a family moved away or died out. Today, it is not unheard of to discover groupings of tombstones, ranging from a few to a dozen or more, on undeveloped land.

Cemetery tombstones, or sexton’s records, may give birth and death dates, age at death, name of spouse, names of children, and maiden names. Less often, they contain birth places. Tombstones may have symbols or insignia’s indicating military service and social or religious affiliations. Also, family members may be buried in the same plot or nearby.

United States Cemetery Records

Index to our Cemetery Transcriptions

Cemetery Collection
AccessGenealogy has over 600 cemetery transcriptions from across the United States. The first listings are cemetery transcriptions that we have inserted into databases. They are completely searchable by names. The second listing are individual transcriptions that AccessGenealogy has. Many of our transcriptions were down in the mid 1900's and contain transcriptions of headstones no longer readable.

Note: The above searches only covers the cemeteries that are transcribed at AccessGenealogy’s website. After conducting your search at AccessGenealogy’s historical cemeteries, National Cemeteries, WPA cemeteries, and our general transcription database, you should advance to our state-by-state listing of all cemetery transcriptions found online through the state links below.

The following are our United States cemetery records listed by state. Browse these listings for particular cemeteries in each state that have interments found online.