For genealogists, cemeteries themselves aren't scary — but the thought of missing out on the ancestral facts in them is downright frightening. If you've unearthed the existence of a family plot halfway across the country, never fear: Numerous online databases of tombstone transcriptions let you virtually research in faraway graveyards. This chart highlights six of the biggest databases with broad geographic coverage - but there are plenty more online cemetery records for you to dig up. So don't stop here: Look for state and local transcription databases; some cemetery Web sites have records databases, too. To find additional Web sites, search Google <google.com> for the cemetery name or the state, county or city name plus cemetery database. Then consider contributing transcriptions from a cemetery in your area, so another remote cemetery researcher can find his ancestor's final resting place.

From the November 2008 Family Tree Magazine