Get permission
Respect private property and cemetery rules. Obtain permission when required before entering, photographing, cleaning, or making a rubbing.
Volunteer with the cemetery project
How to Help with the Wicomico Cemeteries Project
Walking and recording cemeteries is one of the most valuable ways to preserve local family history. These guidelines will help you document inscriptions accurately while treating burial sites and grave markers with care.
Back to the Cemetery ProjectBefore you begin
Preservation comes first.
Do not enhance lettering
Do not apply shaving cream, chalk, flour, paint, chemicals, or other substances to make an inscription easier to read. These methods can permanently damage stone.
Photograph, don’t alter
Use changing light angles, a flashlight held to the side, or careful photography to reveal faint lettering without touching or coating the marker.
Thank you for volunteering. The Wicomico Cemeteries Project has become a useful research collection because people have generously walked cemeteries, recorded inscriptions, and shared their work.
Describe the cemetery
Begin your transcription with a paragraph describing the cemetery’s location and condition in enough detail to help another researcher understand where it is. Note whether the burial ground is maintained, overgrown, difficult to reach, fenced, on private property, or otherwise has access considerations. Do not publish directions that would encourage trespassing onto private property.
Transcription format
As much as possible, use the following format when recording gravestones:
- Capitalize surnames and use initial capitals for given names: John SMITH.
- Abbreviate born as b. and died as d..
- When full dates are given, write the month name or a clear abbreviation rather than using all numbers: Jan. 15, 1868 rather than 1/15/1868.
- Separate the name and dates with commas: John SMITH, b. 1812, d. 1841.
- If only birth and death years are shown, record them as 1828 - 1901.
- Include relationships stated on the stone, such as wife of, husband of, son of, or daughter of.
- Include military and fraternal information.
- When an age at death is given, record it as it appears, including years, months, and days.
- Epitaphs are optional, but may be included.
- If a reading is uncertain, show that uncertainty rather than guessing. Brackets or a question mark are useful.
Examples
Milton E. LARMORE, son of William and Roberta, b. Dec. 3, 1881, d. Jun. 25, 1895
Valentine INSLEY, 1834 - 1928
Susan WILLING, wife of James A., d. Aug. 15, 1888, aged 59 years, 11 months, 7 days
Carl Lee WALTER, Md. CSPS USNR World War I and II, 1896 - 1959
Matthew A. HORSMAN, b. Dec. 10, 1859, d. Apr. 5, 1930
File format and submission
A simple plain-text file is easiest to work with. Please avoid spreadsheets, databases, tables, or delimited files unless there is a particular reason the material requires them.
When you are ready to contribute a cemetery transcription, email it to wicomico at mdgenweb dot org. Include your name for contributor credit, the date you visited or transcribed the cemetery, and any source or location notes that will help future researchers understand the record.
Your transcription will be formatted for the Wicomico Cemeteries Project and made freely available to researchers on this website.
Before cleaning or working on a stone: please read the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites’ Guide to Burial Site Stewardship. The guide specifically cautions against foreign substances such as chalk and shaving cream and explains safer approaches to documentation and conservation.