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My Pedigree (Ahnentafel) in Stone

It is certainly helpful if genealogists can find most of their family buried in a single plot. Indeed, several members of my mother's paternal branch, the Gailliot family, are buried together at Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Alexandria, VA (see image below).  I was not so lucky, however, with my other ancestors, most of whom were late 19th century immigrants. Some of them, particularly those on my father's branch, are buried in unmarked graves in Pennsylvania.

Perhaps this web page will inspire our family to purchase a marker for the unmarked. At least we will have a virtual cemetery on the Internet. This project also brought to mind what kind of memorial I will want for my own burial or urn of ashes.
 

Gailliot plot at St Mary's Cem, Alex, VA My daughter stands by the "Gailliot" memorial surrounded by individual markers for the Gailliot family including my maternal grandparents and great grandparents. Fresh grave is that of Clemens Gailliot, Sr, buried June, 1991.  Incidentally, the St. Mary's cemetery has an interesting history- outside the gate is an historical marker describing its establishment including mention of our founding father, George Washington, a famous resident of Alexandria. (See photo and story).
 
How to read an Ahnentafel Chart
To present my pedigree in stone, I used the Ahnentafel format and numbering system for individuals. This means each ancestor has a number based on his or her relationship to the principle person who is number 1 (that's me).  Each father has a number twice that of his child, and each mother has a number twice that of her child, plus one. For example, my father is Number 2; and my mother, Number 3.  Therefore, my paternal grandfather would be 2 x 2, or Number 4. My maternal grandmother would be (2 x 3) + 1, or Number 7.   I can then go down the chart until I find that ancestor's number and read his or her genealogical information, and in this case, the tombstone.

My Ahnentafel Chart in Images of Tombstones:

Go to Gallery of ALL tombstones.

Scroll through tombstones one at a time.

My Complete Ahnentafel Chart in text only, including those who do NOT have tombstones.

Summary: Where are they buried? In case my family wants to make a pilgrimage.

Mother's branch:
St. Mary's cemetery, Alexandria, VA- 4 persons, 4 stones
Braddock Catholic cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA-  2 persons, 1 stone

Father's branch:
Parklawn cemetery, Rockville, MD-  1 person, 1 stone
IOOF cemetery, Brisbin, Clearfield Co, PA-  9 persons, 5 stones
Northend cemetery, Barnesboro, Cambria Co, PA- 2 persons, 1 stone
Bartholomew church, Thornley, Durham Co., England-  1 person, no stone.

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