More than Ten Great New Hampshire and Massachusetts Cemetery Websites (You’ll wish your ancestors were buried here!)

Towne Cemetery, Londonderry, New Hampshire

Look!  I found more than ten websites for this list.  Usually on the 10th of each month I post a list of top ten ideas, hints, or other genealogical subjects.  After pre pubishing this list with only ten cemtery web pages, I actually found 15 towns with excellent, searchable websites.   I also found that many towns are using a consolidated database called CemeteryFind (see below- it is listed as #15 on this list).  In addition to searchable websites for cemeteries, I found 20 towns with PDF files of burials available online, including Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Beyond the “Find A Grave” website, do you sometimes wish for more detailed information, especially maps and locations of graves?  Usually you have to visit a town cemetery department, or the office of a private cemetery, or perhaps the local historical society to find help with finding burial locations.  However, there are at least ten websites for cemeteries in New England that you might find helpful!

If your ancestor’s cemetery is not listed here, please be aware that nearly every town in New England has a town website.  On that website you can find contact information for the cemetery department and/or the cemetery commission.  Members of the cemetery commissions are elected, and their job is to answer questions or to lead you to the person who can answer your questions.  Most will have a listed phone number or email address.  These websites sometimes have maps of the public cemeteries, and names of the private cemeteries.  Very old cemeteries are sometimes located now on private land, and you will need permission of the landowner to visit.  The town reference librarian or historical society will have cemetery records for very old cemeteries.

I’m sure I missed a few great websites. These are just the cemetery web pages I have found during my genealogy research.  If you know one in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, please leave a message for me below, or email me at vrojomit@gmail.com and I’ll add it to this list.

1.  Plymouth, Massachusetts Burial Record Search http://gis.townhall.plymouth.ma.us/burialsearch.html   by entering the surname of the deceased you will find the location of the burial in Plymouth.  You can click for a further map of the cemetery plot location, which makes finding the grave easy.  Graves from 1620 to the present.

2.  Old North Burying Ground, Ipswich, Massachusetts  https://historicipswich.wordpress.com/   an alphabetical index of graves, section maps, index by map locations, transcriptions of epitaphs, slideshows of the gravestones and a downloadable database.  Graves range from 1634 – 1798. 

3.  Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts   http://mountauburn.org/  offers an ineractive map to search the burial records and find the location of specific graves by entering the name of the deceased  http://mountauburn.org/map/     Mount Auburn also has a research and genealogy department that can send you copies of the cemetery maps, cemetery lot cards, burial records, photographs of the lot and monuments and other files http://mountauburn.org/2011/research-requests/ 

4.  Hillsborough, New Hampshire  http://www.bridgevillage.com/    A database of 19 public cemeteries in Hillsborough from 1788 to the present (last updated in August 2015) Searchable by surname or by cemetery name.  You can search or browse each cemetery, too. 

5.  Hampton, New Hampshire     All of the gravestones in nine of Hampton’s ten cemeteries (all except for High Street Cemetery) can be found on the Hampton Public Library website.  Some of these cemeteries have digital images.  (If you need information on a burial at High Street, call the caretaker’s office at 603-926-6659- they are very helpful and will leave directions and a flag for the grave you are looking for on the day you plan to visit)  See this link for general information http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/genealog/howto/cemetery.htm  and click here for the cemetery records at the library website   http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/graves/graves.htm 

6. Keene, New Hampshire Cemetery Lookup https://www.ci.keene.nh.us/cemetery-lookup   You can enter surnames or complete names into a search engine for a cemetery database.  Cemetery maps are available by section to help you locate gravesites.  Information on graves from the late 1700s to the present. 

7.  Amherst, Massachusetts  Cemetery Record Search  https://www.amherstma.gov/829/Cemeteries  the North, South and West Cemetery records are now searchable. 

8.  Holyhood Cemetery, Chestnut Hill and West Roxbury, Massachusetts https://www.mapsonline.net/bostonma/holyhood.html    Detailed plot information and satellite maps with the plot locations. 

9.  Littleton, Massachusetts Burial Information http://www.littletonma.org/content/19459/19751/1343/17486/default.aspx

10.  Chelmsford, Massachusetts search burial records  http://cemeteries.townofchelmsford.us/search-burial-records.asp   Search by name and receive a report on the burial with plot information from six cemeteries in Chelmsford. 

11. Westport, Massachusetts Historic Private and Public Cemeteries  http://westport.loreprojects.com/home.cfm  names, birth and death dates, age, gender, military status, relatives, and sometimes genealogical information. Photos of public cemetery gravestones.  The database is updated as new information becomes available. There are interactive maps for Linden Grove and Maple Grove, and a map for Beech Grove.  There are 105 cemeteries and burial grounds in Westport!

12. Waltham, Massachusetts http://www.city.waltham.ma.us/cemetery-department  There is a searchable database of names and online cemetery maps to help you locate plots. 

13.  Village Cemetery in Dedham, Massachusetts  http://gis.dedham-ma.gov/cemeteryviewer_village/  burial information for the Village Cemetery, with an interactive satellite map.  This cemetery dates back to 1638. 

14.  You are in luck if you have ancestors buried in Lowell, Massachusetts.  Barbara Poole recently blogged about finding information on all the private and public cemeteries in Lowell.  No matter which one your family members are buried in, there are aids, maps and resources available.  Check this link:   http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2016/08/cemeteries-in-lowell-massachusetts.html   

15.  Historic Burying Ground Initiative for Boston, Massachusetts   https://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/hbgi/search.asp  This database includes all legible graves from a mid-1980s survey by volunteers.   Searchable by last name and by the 14 historic cemeteries included in this project. 

16.  Cemeteryfind.com  is a website used by many towns in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island (and outside of New England)  for burials in their public cemeteries.  https://cemeteryfind.com/    Check to see which cemeteries have been added.   In NH the towns of Bow, Claremont, Kingston and Laconia are listed.  In Massachusetts these towns are using CemeteryFind:  Ayer, Barnstable, Boston, Braintree, Brighton, Centerville, Charlestown, East Boston, East Bridgewater, Greenwood,  Hyannis, Lawrence, Marshfield, Marstons Mills, Maynard, North Reading, Norton,  Oak Bluffs, Osterville, Reading, Riverview, Roslindale, Roxbury,  South Boston, Stoneham, Watertown, West Barnstable, West Roxbury, Westborough,  Weymouth, Winchester and Yarmouth.    The search results give the cemetery detail, the deceased name with lot and grave numbers, which can be matched up to maps.

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Cemetery inventories (PDF files of names of burials in cemeteries) these are NOT databases

1. Jaffrey, New Hampshire   http://town.jaffrey.nh.us/Pages/JaffreyNH_Bcomm/Cemetery/inventories

2. Londonderry, New Hampshire  http://www.londonderrynh.org/Pages/LondonderryNH_BComm/Cemeteries/Inventory/1-16

3. Bedford, New Hampshire  http://www.bedfordcemeteries.org/  (there is also a “Friends of the Town of Bedford Cemeteries at this link: http://www.friendsofbedfordcemeteries.org/ )

4. Mount Vernon, New Hampshire Green Lawn Cemetery http://www.montvernonnh.us/index.php/cemetery-home   (click on the link in the right hand column that says “database” for the PDF file – it’s not a true database) 

5. Warner, New Hampshire  http://www.warnerhistorical.org/cemetery-information.html   (downloadable, not viewable)

6. Pelham, New Hampshire  http://www.pelhamnhhistory.org/library/onlinelibrary_lib1.html#Gravestones 

7.  Moultonborough, New Hampshire http://www.moultonboroughhistory.org/MHS%20Articles%20&%20Tidbits/Articles/Moultonborough%20Cemerty%20Records/Moultonborough%20Cemetery%20Records.htm

8.  Hopkinton, New Hampshire http://www.hopkinton-nh.gov/Pages/HopkintonNH_Cemetery/TOWN%20OF%20HOPKINTON%20CEMETERY%20RECORDS

9.  Nashua, New Hampshire http://www.nashuanh.gov/192/Cemetery-Search

10. Old Burial Ground, Brookline, Massachusetts http://obg.aboutbrookline.com/

11. Old Burial Hill, Marblehead, Massachusetts   http://www.marblehead.org/index.aspx?NID=1104   700 images of 657 gravestones, transcribed epitaphs, etc.

12. St. Patrick Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts   http://stpatrickcemetery.com/  Burial listings 1895 to 2011 along with detailed plot maps.

13.  Bourne, Massachusetts Pocasset Cemetery http://www.pocassetcemetery.org/ and Catamet Cemetery  http://www.cataumetcemetery.org/   Both pages list burials, and have satellite maps.  An ongoing genealogical information database is being built (a work in progress) for each burial.

14.  Duxbury, Massachusetts Cemetery Documents   http://www.town.duxbury.ma.us/Public_Documents/DuxburyMA_Cemetery/  A list of many historic cemeteries (many containing the graves of Mayflower passengers), maps, and alphabetical decedent locator pages.   

15. Carlisle, Massachusetts Cemetery Interment List for Green Cemetery on Bedford Road   http://www.carlislema.gov/pages/CarlisleMA_clerk/Green_Cemetery/Green_Cemetery  A PDF list of burials with locations, map is available on another PDF.  This webpage was an Eagle Scout project.

16. Prospect Hill Cemetery, Nantucket, Massachusetts Interment Index   http://www.prospecthillcemetery.com/  The list of burials is an Excel file which shows name, lot number, date of death and birth, and the section of the cemetery when the lot is located.  Recent interments may not be available until the list is updated. Check back for updates.

17.  Edgartown, Massachusetts,  http://www.edgartown-ma.us/departments/cemetery   downloadable PDF files of some cemetery interments (Jeffer’s Lane is alphabetical with images) , others are plot maps (handwritten images) – Jeffer’s Lane, Old Town, Town Cemetery, Old West Side, Hilltop, Old West Side. 

18. Rehoboth, Massachusetts http://www.oldrehoboth.com/cemeteries.htm  has 52 cemeteries!  You can search each cemetery listing separately for burials. 

19. Swansea, Massachusetts http://www.swanseamass.org/history/cemeteries.html  has 43 small cemeteries, most have listings on this page of interments with names, date of deaths, and plot numbers.

20.  Hingham, Massachusetts http://www.hinghamcemetery.org/   There is a large PDF file with a list of burials, cemetery maps, and historic information.

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Also-

The Veteran’s Administration National Gravesite Locator  http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/index.html    search for burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veteran’s cemeteries, and other military cemeteries, or for veterans in private cemeteries with government issued military grave stones.   Can be used for any state. 

Cape Cod Gravestones  http://www.capecodgravestones.com/  information about 17^th, 18^th and 19^th century gravestones across Cape Cod.

Find A Grave  http://www.findagrave.com/

Billion Graves  https://billiongraves.com/  

New Hampshire Old Cemetery Association   http://www.nhoga.com/


Some useful books on this subject:

Boston's Copp's Hill Burying Ground Guide, by Charles Chauncey Wells, 1998 (Historical notes and illustrated maps).

A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries, by David Allen Lambert, 2nd edition, 2009. 

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "More Than Ten Great New Hampshire and Massachusetts Cemetery Websites (You’ll wish your ancestors were buried here!)", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 10, 2016, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/10/more-than-ten-great-new-hampshire-and.html: accessed [access date]).