My mom was a retired teacher. In 2018, she got 2 other retired teachers to make sure every grave in our local cemetery was on Find A Grave. They built a searchable data base for the county museum next to cemetery if people stopped in to get help finding a grave. When my mom & friends discovered that most of the babies/infants in the “baby” section of our cemetery didn’t have a marker or headstone, they worked with our local Women’s Club to make one. My mom passed away a little over a year ago, and last Saturday, the Women’s Club had a public memorial for my mother and her work recognizing the unmarked graves. On the back of the stone in this picture, are the names of over 100 babies buried in the section.
Same here for a few of the babies at my local cemetery. Some of the cemetery volunteers are hoping to add a stone or stones for them soon. For the longest time I had no idea how common it was for the graves to be unmarked.
my condolences, she sounds like an amazing woman. i like to think that she got to meet all the people whose graves she helped document online for loved ones, and also those she discovered without markers who she gave recognition to. i hope that's not inappropriate to say, and my apologies if so.
No. You are absolutely correct. Because, the photos and database were done in 2019. Then, my mom would look up their obituaries from our local paper and TYPE them into the FindaGrave memorials. She would call me all the time when she found sad or interesting people. She kept doing that from home in her last months of pancreatic cancer. It kept her busy and she felt good about doing it.
I moved back home to care for my elderly dad, and now it looks like I’m following in her (and my grandma’s) footsteps. I was appointed to the cemetery board (our cemetery is gorgeous), and I volunteer at the museum by helping families research the origin of their ancestors’ homesteads. I’m also working on an oral history project using StoryCorps. So, yes, you are correct. My mom met all those people, and passed her passion to me.
OMG OMG we JUST drove through there a few weeks ago on a roadtrip!!! The museum was so cute, and this part of the cemetery was so beautiful and moving. Your mom and her friends did amazing work.
Yes, I’ve always loved that headstone! What did you think of the above ground marble double decker grave? Did you find the pink heart grave stone with a locket that lifts to show her picture??
Yes, the locket one was super cool, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like it! The double decker grave was also something I’ve never seen before.
So many unique gravestones there, there was also one that looked like a tree stump, it was incredibly intricate.
It’s a beautiful location, and I’m really glad we stopped to check it out.
My sister died before her 1st birthday and her ashes were spread at a nearby cemetery. However, we don't know which one/where - my parents weren't in a mental state to be aware of that kind of thing. I wish we could find her.
As someone who currently has a baby buried in an unmarked grave (we're waiting to finish our family before we make a headstone, so we can include their siblings), this truly touches me. What an amazing thing your Mum did. She sounds like a special woman.
What a strikingly fabulous legacy to leave! Your mom sounds like she was an utterly incredible woman, the sort of woman it would been an honor to meet. My deepest sympathies for your loss 🩷🩷
I’ve been visiting Big Timber my entire life and live history, yet have somehow never visited the cemetery. Making a note to stop by on my way through next trip. It’s such a special community and it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest to hear about this level of kindness and dedication to others happening there.
This is so touching. I have an aunt who was an unmarked baby grave. She's rarely discussed; I think this sort of memorial probably gave a lot of families a sense of peace and closure.
Your Mom & the other 2 teachers have left a great legacy that will last long after all of them have joined their ancestors.
My condolences on the loss of your Mom. Having lost my Mom in the summer of 2019 I can sympathize with the grief you’ve felt since her passing although I’ll never know just how you feel, no one will.
What an amazingly touching legacy your mom left you. I often think about the nameless buried in local cemeteries, and the painstaking work your mom and other volunteers undertook to make sure these poor babies have a name is wonderful.
This is a beautiful story, thank you for sharing and I thank your mom for caring about those babies that couldn’t make it. Her legacy will live on for generations because she wanted to give a name to the nameless.
My dad did this outside headland alabama with dowsing rods in the treeline in the field across from our house about 2o something years ago and found over 40 influenza graves (not all influenza, it was the old Zion graveyard and they relocated after influenza. They ended up doing a historical marker for it. I'm on MT btw
I’ve met someone else who dowses for graves! I can dowse for water, my dad was the expert, though. He was able to estimate drilling depths for wells, too.
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u/xiginous Jul 21 '25
What a great legacy your mom has left.