Map feature makes it easy to “visit” Toronto-area cemeteries

Have you spent a lot of time wandering around cemeteries, looking for headstones?

I’ve spent hours walking aimlessly around cemeteries, hopelessly searching for an ancestor’s headstone on the ground and on the cemetery map.

Thinking I am in the vicinity of the burial plot, I’ve rotated the cemetery map to the right. I’ve rotated it to the left. And I’ve even turned it upside down —  all in an attempt to figure out where I am standing and where the headstone is located. On more than one occasion, I have called out in desperation, “Where are you?”

Surely, there’s a better way to find a headstone. The good news is there is.

The Mount Pleasant Group that manages several Toronto-area cemeteries, including one of Canada’s largest cemeteries, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, has created a map feature, called Find A Grave, that makes it easy to find a grave before an onsite visit. It also helps us figure out who is buried with whom.

This Find A Grave map feature, not to be confused with the website, FindAGrave.com, must be the best kept secret in the genealogy world. At least, it was to me.

For the past two years, the Mount Pleasant Group’s Find a Grave has been available to helps us find, and practically see, where our ancestors are buried.

Here’s how it works.

Select one of the ten cemeteries: Beechwood, Duffin Meadows, Elgin Mills, Meadowvale, Mount Pleasant, Pine Hills, Prospect, Thornton, Toronto Necropolis, or York.

Then enter a first and last name. You must enter the surname and at least the first letter of a first name for a search to produce results. The results will show you a name or series of names with Inventory Number, Surname, First Name, Year of Burial, and Age.

Now, click on the  in front of the name — and watch the magic begin.

The next screen shows you the deceased’s name, year of burial, age, property type, plot, section, and lot.  This information alone is useful to genealogists. Now, you can look up other family members to see if they are buried in the same plot.

But what if you want to visit the cemetery to find the family plot? This is where the map feature comes into play.

Click on Land Map above the burial information. This will take you to a Google Map image of where the cemetery and burial plot are located. (See image below.)

From here, you can click on the Hybrid map in the top-left corner to see a satellite view of the cemetery. Zoom in to view as close as you can — and hope they are not buried under a group of trees. You can literally almost see the headstone.

At this time, the map feature does not allow you to see the exact location of a burial site for Beechwood, Meadowvale, or Toronto Necropolis, but you can still search for names and see the information regarding the date of burial and burial plot.

The database is not complete. A representative at Mount Pleasant Group said they are still adding to it.

The FAQs/Search Tips are helpful.