You may think that you won’t ever need to search through Alabama cemetery records. In fact, you may think it is even a bit on the morbid side. However, the fact is you may actually have more reasons than you think to want to learn what is in some Alabama cemetery records. For instance, if you are doing any research into your family history, having Alabama cemetery records is a great way to get a lot of the information you will need to complete you research. For Definitions of all Cemetery Terms See Symbols on Gravestones and Their Interpretations
Some of the things you can learn from Alabama cemetery records include:
- Date of death
- Cause of death
- Location of death
- Names of surviving relatives
- Names of deceased’s parents (who may also be deceased, and you will want their Alabama cemetery records too)
When you are working on researching your family history, you are going to be accessing a lot of public records, and if you have ancestors from Alabama, one of the best ways to get a lot of great information is to search through Alabama cemetery records.
How to Get Alabama Cemetery Record Information
You can get information from Alabama cemetery records a few different ways. These may be records that you can get from your local government office. Or, if you know where your ancestors are buried, you can go directly to these places to get the Alabama cemetery records. Depending on the cemetery, there may or may not be a charge to access the information you need.
When you are researching your family tree, it is important that you do not rush through the work. After all, you want to be as accurate as possible, and there is a lot of information in Alabama cemetery records that you could miss if you are not taking the time to read them thoroughly. You need to be sure that you use all of the information that you can find. That way, your research will be complete, or as complete as you can get it, and you will have a legacy to leave to future members of your family.
Research In Alabama Cemetery Records
Locations of major cemeteries and identification of large families buried in them can be found in volume two of W. Craig Remington’s Historical Atlas of Alabama (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama, Department of Geography, 1999). Scattered volumes have been published by various patriotic, historical, and genealogical societies. Many individual cemetery transcriptions have been published in periodicals.
Famous People Buried in Alabama Cemeteries
| County | Name / Date / Cemetery | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | Allison, Davey (David Carl) 2/25/1961 – 7/13/1993 Highland Memorial Gardens |
NASCAR Driver. Born in Hollywood, Florida, David “Davey” Allison was born the son of NASCAR series champion Bobby Allison and the nephew of NASCAR driver Donnie Allison. |
| Jefferson | Bryant, Paul ‘Bear’ 9/11/1913 – 1/26/1983 Elmwood Cemetery |
College Football Coach. He retired as the winningest coach of all time (323-85 -17 record). |
| Jefferson | Kendrick, Eddie James 12/17/1939 – 10/5/1992 Elmwood Cemetery |
R/B singer. Original member of the famous Motown group The Temptations. |
| Macon | Carver, George Washington 7/12/1864 – 1/5/1943 Tuskegee Campus Cemetery |
Scientist, Inventor. He developed three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. |
| Macon | Washington, Booker Taliaferro 5/5/1856 – 11/14/1915 Tuskegee Campus Cemetery |
Educator and social reformer. Booker Taliaferro Washington, born a slave on the James Burroughs’s Plantation in Hale’s Ford, Franklin County, Virginia. |
| Montgomery | Fitzgerald, F. Scott 9/24/18961 – 2/21/1940 Oakwood Cemetery |
Author. One of the most celebrated of American writers, famed for his evocative stories of the 1920s. |
| Montgomery | Williams Sr., Hank 9/17/1923 – 1/1/1953 Oakwood Annex Cemetery |
Country-Music Singer, Guitarist and Songwriter. Hank Williams peacefully and quietly passed away at age 29 due to a heart attack while en route to a performance in Canton, Ohio in the back seat of his 1952 Cadillac. |
Alabama Cemeteries
| Cemetery Name | Cemetery City |
|---|---|
| Ahavas Chesed Cemetery | Mobile |
| Alabama National Cemetery | Montevallo |
| Catholic Cemetery | Mobile |
| Church Street Graveyard | Mobile |
| Elmwood Cemetery | Birmingham |
| Magnolia Cemetery | Mobile |
| Maple Hill Cemetery | Huntsville |
| Oak Hill Cemetery | Birmingham |
| Oakwood Cemetery | Montgomery |
| Sha’arai Shomayim Cemetery | Mobile |
Alabama Cemeteries & Graveyards Links
- Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance (ACPA) (alabama-cemetery-preservation.com), dedicated to honoring, recording, restoring and preserving all cemeteries and burial grounds throughout the state of Alabama.
- USGenWeb Alabama Archives Project CEMETERIES BY COUNTY
- Rootsweb Alabama Cemetery Look Ups
- Alabama Tombstone Inscription Project
- Alabama Obituary Project
- Epodunk – Alabama Cemeteries
- Find a Grave – Alabama Cemeteries
- Alabama Cemeteries at Internment.net
- Alabama Gravestone Photo Project
- Arizona Gravestone, Tombstone, and Memorial Photo Collection – findagrave.com
- The Alabama Political Graveyard
- Alabama Obituary Records – Archives.com
- AL-CEMETERIES. A mailing list for anyone interested in locating, and preserving historical information about, Alabama cemeteries. We welcome queries and postings regarding location of graves, cemeteries which have been indexed both on the internet and in other written forms, cemetery research, and the care of tombstones. To subscribe send “subscribe” to al-cemeteries-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or al-cemeteries-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode).
- AL-CEMETERY-PRESERVATION. A mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information regarding the preservation of historic Alabama cemeteries. To subscribe send “subscribe” to al-cemetery-preservation-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or al-cemetery-preservation-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode).
- Alabama Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
