How to Find a Grave in New York State for Free

Michelle Wilson - November 5, 2022

There are several reasons why someone might want to find the location of a grave in New York despite not knowing how to do so. For example, you could be writing a research paper about the life of a long-dead historical figure. Or perhaps you pay a visit to the grave of a long-lost ancestor to fill in a missing piece in your genealogy puzzle. Many find that although they spend months, even years, searching for the records of their ancestors’ lives, they often learn much more from their deaths.

The reality of uncovering the missing piece through graves is especially true when looking for your ancestors’ burial places because the journey of discovery can reveal some very interesting details. Fortunately, numerous resources are available to assist you in determining how your ancestor died, where their family buried them, and locating their headstone and related records.

In New York, there are several options for locating a grave. Best of all, many of them do not require any financial investment. The following article discusses how to locate a grave using various records and how to search cemeteries online.

Use Google Search

Let’s start at the beginning. A host of online records can help you find a gravesite if you know the location of the burial (New York). Like most searches, a quick visit to Google will help yield these results. To start, navigate to Google.com.

Enter your ancestor’s first and last name, “New York,” and the word “cemetery,” then click search. The search results may vary, so if you find the results aren’t quite what you were looking for, you might need to flex your creative muscle to maximize the effectiveness of Google.

Applying the Minus Sign Trick

When looking for ancestors, especially those with common names, we may discover that a person or location we are not looking for repeatedly appears, clouding our search results. For example, a John Smith from New York might produce too many results to sift through.

To avoid these undesirable results, use a minus sign before the term you want to exclude. You can refine many searches by using the minus sign (such as -1907 if the person you are searching for didn’t die in 1907) or term strings. Simply place the minus sign directly before the term you want to emit, with no space in between. The minus sign trick also excludes specific sites (-site name).

Searching by Date Range

Another effective and underutilized Google search tip for genealogists is searching by date range. The date range trick allows you to search multiple dates at once without having to enter them individually, making it extremely useful if you need death records (or any other date-based source) but don’t know the exact date of an event.

To accomplish this, type DATE…DATE into your search box (two periods between the dates like 1907..1917). For example, your information might suggest that John Smith was most likely born between 1900 and 1939, so you could search for “Smith, John” 1900..1939. Doing this search will return only pages containing one or more dates in that range.

Search With Quotation Marks

Last but not least, searchers can try using quotation marks. Quotation marks are one of the best and most obvious ways to limit search results in Google. It is also known as a string search. When you enter a name, such as John Smith, Google will search the entire title and text of pages for that term. They can be separate, so you might find a page with James and Wilcox but not necessarily with these terms.

To narrow your search, type “James Wilcox” or “Wilcox, James” (remember that many genealogy-related sites place the last name first). Use quotation marks around terms like “obituary” to make them more precise; otherwise, Google will substitute other words like “death” or “died.” Using quotation marks can be useful in some situations, but it can also be a huge hassle and produce many unwanted results.

Locate the Obituary

Finding someone’s grave does not have to be a time-consuming process anymore. Today, many obituaries are now available online. In some cases, this is true even of obituaries for people who died before the Internet. Newspapers, for example, sometimes keep digital archives of decades-old issues. The Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, digitized newspapers from 1789 to 1963, is one newspaper resource. Google also has a large free newspaper archive, which we briefly discussed in our quick guide to finding free newspaper collections.

Look for the obituary of the person whose grave you want to find. If you find their obituary, it will most likely mention the cemetery where the burial took place. The final step in the process will explain how you can narrow down the exact location of their grave in that cemetery.

Contact the Funeral Home

If you are successful in the previous step, you can inquire about death records at mortuaries or funeral homes and local churches your ancestor may have attended. People at churches and funeral homes are frequently the best sources of information.

For example, local mercantile stores may have handled funeral arrangements for ancestors who died between 1700 and 1900. Many modern-day funeral homes that have been in operation for over a century began as mercantile stores selling caskets and other funeral-related accessories. Many of those records are no longer available. However, some funeral homes may still have records dating back more than a century or at a local museum or other archival facilities.

Gathering Basic Details

If you can’t find someone’s obituary online, your next step should be to gather as much information about their life and death as possible. Gathering these details increases your chances of finding their grave when you move on to the next step since you can filter through results quicker.

For starters, you must know the name of the person whose grave you are searching for. It is also helpful if you have information about their death, such as where they were living and, if possible, the approximate date of their death. Even without some of these specifics, it is possible to locate a grave.

Cultural Connections

People may choose to bury their deceased loved ones in cemeteries that serve members of their cultural community. A religious cemetery is one example. Keep this in mind as you begin your search.

Military History

Some cemeteries only serve those members of specific groups or activities while alive. A veterans cemetery is the most well-known example of this type of cemetery. As a result, you may want to investigate whether the person whose grave you are looking for was a military member or another type of exclusive group.

Other Family Insights

If you’re looking for an ancestor’s grave, other family members may have old letters or items to help you find it. Some other items you can keep an eye out for are a bible for the family, a funeral program, or a guest book of the person.

Use New-York Specific Research Tools

Now that you have collected as many details as possible, you can browse through the New York-specific resources available. Consider using as many as possible to increase your chances of quickly finding a grave in New York.

Local Cemetery Records

As the name implies, Local Cemetary Records exist to catalog death and burial information for people buried in New York State. Its creators concentrated on gathering information from various general grave search websites to create a comprehensive resource for those looking specifically for New York graves. The “Find a Grave” tool contains listings, images, and additional burial and biographical information from worldwide cemeteries. This website’s cemetery index and burial information are available through the Ancestry database.

It is, however, another one that is easier to use if you believe you know which county to search in, which in this case, you do.

Public Libraries Other Local Resources

The New York Public Library is only one of the libraries that may have an obituary and similar document archives. If you know roughly where someone’s grave is in New York, contact libraries in that specific area to see if they have such archives.

Along with libraries, you should consider contacting local historical societies. Contacting these places is especially valuable if you’re looking for the grave of someone who died long ago. A historical society may also have an archive room with records that you find helpful.

Publications

Again, the person whose grave you are looking for may have been a member of a select group, such as a professional organization or an alum association. These kinds of organizations frequently issue publications that inform members about what other members are doing with their lives. They frequently include information about members’ deaths.

Consider whether the person whose grave you are looking for belonged to any of these organizations. If they did, inquire whether they have old copies of such publications.

New York State Department of Health

Users can order copies of documents such as death certificates online from the New York State Department of Health. A death certificate may not always tell you where to find someone’s grave. It can provide useful information, such as when they died and where they were living at the time of death, giving you another piece of information to filter down your research.

Unfortunately, this method is restricted to the deceased person’s spouse, parent, child or sibling, or person with an established legal right or claim. If you do not fit these descriptions, the department may require an official letter from an agency or other party stating that this record is required.

After meeting these requirements, you’ll have to provide some information about the person in question and why you’re looking for their death certificate, and you may have to wait to get your copy, but it’s an option to consider.

Review Cemetery Websites

You may have narrowed your list of potential burial sites to a few cemeteries but are unsure which one is the best. You can now look up the websites of those cemeteries.

Many cemetery websites now have tools that allow you to confirm whether they are the specific graves’ location quickly. They may also have PDF maps to help you find the actual grave.

Contact Different Cemeteries

Even if a cemetery’s website lacks a search tool, searching for the cemetery online will often yield contact information. Email or call the cemetery and explain to management who and why you are looking for a grave. An employee will most likely be able to tell you whether or not a particular person’s grave is present. They may also be able to guide you in locating the specific location within their cemetery.

Preparing For a Gravesite Visit

Whatever source you use to locate your ancestor’s final resting place, remember that if the burial occurred more than a century ago, locating the actual cemetery and gravesite may be more difficult than you think. Unfortunately, while some burial records have survived the centuries, some burial grounds have not. Some cemeteries, particularly those in larger cities, may have been relocated, so do thorough research before visiting your ancestor’s grave.

After verifying this information, the next step is to obtain a cemetery map and use it to pinpoint the approximate location of the marker before you set out. If you know the section, lot or marker number, current, well-managed cemeteries will provide maps to visitors or have someone on hand who can show you where you can find the grave. Other cemeteries may be able to assist you in looking through their records to find this information, but you must do this legwork before you arrive.

Some cemetery search sites may include GPS coordinates. These are the most useful because they pinpoint the precise location of the grave. With this information, you can use a free app or Google Maps to find a grave.

If you don’t know the GPS coordinates to find the grave, expect to look at many gravestones before you find the correct one. When you find it, pay attention to those in the same area because you may be looking at relatives. After going through all the hard work to track down the location, use a coordinate app to document the location if possible. Many cameras and camera apps include this feature, or you can download a separate app.

A Word of Caution

The unfortunate reality of trying to locate your ancestors’ graves is that time has lost many. Gravesites, particularly those that have only ever had ground markers or markers made of wood, “disappear” very quickly if they are not maintained.

A quick stroll through any older cemetery will reveal how many markers are falling apart or nearly covered by grass and debris. Consider how many others have vanished completely. As you walk around the cemetery, note how many “open” grassy spaces appear between the graves. These areas frequently have covered markers or unmarked people. Others may be in areas of the cemetery that are not maintained and inaccessible, or they may have never had a marker.

Even worse, the person you are searching for may be in the cemetery you’ve discovered, but there’s a good chance you won’t find their marker. The chances of not finding the marker are extremely common but still come as a surprise to many people who are new to these searches.

Summary

The journey to find your ancestor’s final resting place can leave you with a stronger connection to those who came before you and provide many more connections on your family tree. Don’t give up if you’ve exhausted all available resources in your search for a family member’s gravesite. Many records in genealogy are still waiting for your discovery.

As this guide has hopefully taught you, finding a grave can be fairly simple if you research using the numerous tools and resources mentioned in this overview.