This is the Internet Web edition of the Cemetery Survey of Surry County, North
Carolina. It is brought to you by the Surry County Genealogical Association. We hope you will find it
user-friendly and useful. We will be adding "newly discovered" cemeteries and updating cemetery location and other information from time
to time.
If you note any problems with using this data please advise the Surry County Genealogical Association. If in your use of the data you note any errors, missing entries for any
cemetery, changes needed to any data entry, or older cemeteries, family burial
grounds or individual gravesites not included in this survey that you have
information or personal knowledge about, please write to the Society at this
address:
Surry County Genealogical Association
PO Box 997
Dobson, NC 27017-0997
Or contact the Association by Email at: SCGA
Back to Cemetery Index
This web site Copyright (c) 1996-2011, Cemetery Census. All Rights Reserved
Reproduction, adaptation or alteration without prior written permission of
Cemetery Census is prohibited, except as allowed under the copyright laws.
Cemetery Census shall not be liable for errors
contained in this material, or for incidential or consequential damage in
connection with the data herein.
--- ATTENTION ---
This summary document describes the origin, process, and status of the Surry County Genealogical Association (SCGA) cemetery survey project.
Before using the data we have collected in your own research, we recommend you read this summary since as it contains information that may affect your research.
WHERE AND HOW THE CEMETERY DATA WAS ACQUIRED
Background of the Cemetery Survey
Purpose
The purpose of the cemetery survey was to document the locations of cemeteries in Surry County as well as the directions on how to find them. The initial focus of the project was to document the burial listings of the cemeteries but was to develop a listing of the known cemeteries in the County. In some cases we provided some burial information in the notes about a cemetery if there were fewer than 10-15 burials.
For those cemeteries published, there may be some with partial or full burial surveys as of a specific date, either before or after the cemetery was documented. This is due to the volunteer efforts by others who have donated the data but it was not part of the original intent of the cemetery project. However, current SCGA members are continuing to not only survey cemeteries (document existence) but also for burials. We also encourage other people, not necessarily members of SCGA, to survey burials and submit them to CemeteryCensus.com for publication. A typical form is shown below (the data is “fictitious”, not real, and shows the format of how the data can be entered in a Word document for transmittal. Please sort the table alphabetically, ascending, by name):
Row |
No |
Name |
DOB |
DOD |
Notes |
01 |
01 |
Adams, John Coleman |
20 Apr 1875 |
6 Jun 1925 |
h/o Myrtle Peele - s/o John Jones & Nancy Akers |
01 |
02 |
Adams, Myrtle Peele |
10 Oct 1877 |
25 Jan 1940 |
w/o John Coleman Jones - d/o Alonzo Peele & Elizabeth Davis |
Initial Starting Point
In a casual conversation between Andy Hennis and Bob Carter in 2005 at the Surry County Register of Deeds Office, they discussed new ideas for projects for the Surry County Genealogical Association. The focus was to give something back to the community and not to publish books to sell. Because of the growth of urbanization and the encroachment on lands where the historical cemeteries existed, Andy thought a project for documenting the cemeteries of the County would be a good project and Bob agreed and would also volunteer to help as well. Since Andy was serving as President of the Association at that time, he said he’d approach the SCGA board at an upcoming meeting. When he did the vote was unanimous.
Beginning in 2006 SCGA published their efforts in the Association’s quarterly journal and enlisted the help of the Mt. Airy News which agreed to write a feature article, with photos, in hopes of encouraging participation by citizens. The Association also purchased mobile GPS devices and selected CemeteryCensus.com to publish the data. An initial list of survey volunteers were recruited and began scouring the county using portable computers, pen and paper, and mobile GPS devices to chart the location of the cemetery and obtain the data. They also referenced earlier surveys conducted by SCGA in the 1970s and received numerous phone calls and Emails from individuals with information. Once collected, it was converted to an Excel spreadsheet and submitted to CemeteryCensus for publication.
Recording Information
Corrections and Additions
Through our initial effort was to locate and publicizing grave sites (e.g., public or private cemeteries), SCGA hopes this project continues into the future with additional volunteers to help locate other grave sites. Anyone can volunteer and submit new grave locations, take photos, etc. Once we know the location of a cemetery, we will make every effort to locate it and provide the data back to this web site for publication.
SCGA does not guarantee the data to be mistake free. Given the number of cemeteries surveyed, as well as the frequent exchange of data and numerous corrections and updates, the viewer should verify the data with an independent source such as birth, death, or marriage records, or tax office information. Common errors may include spelling of names, misreading dates, incorrect GPS reading, incorrect driving directions, relationships of the listed burials, incorrect birth or death dates, etc.
Special Note: Some cemeteries have Parcel ID numbers that designate the owners of the land where the cemetery is located. However, if the land is resurveyed and split into other parcels, or combined into a single parcel, the old Parcel ID number identified with the cemetery will no longer apply. As a result, it is recommended you get current information from the Surry County Tax Mapping office.
To submit corrections, or report new sites to survey, you may send an email to info@cemeterycensus.com, or mail a note to the following address. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, current date, and source or location of the cemetery information.
Surry County Genealogical Association
PO Box 997
Dobson, NC 27017
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the following people who provided valuable information and/or volunteered to inventory the cemeteries for this survey, and who are continuing to volunteer their time to update the cemetery list:
Primary Inventory Takers
Andy Hennis
Mt. Airy, NC |
Joe Hicks
Elkin, NC |
Wilma Hiatt
Tobaccoville, NC |
Teresa Smith
Low Gap, NC |
Jack Luffman
Elkin, NC |
Diane Niston
Mt. Airy, NC |
Charles Crabtree
Mt. Airy, NC |
John Edwards
Ararat, NC |
Bob Carter
Greensboro, NC |
We'd also like to extend a special thanks to Jack Luffman. Since 2009 he has begun surveying burials of cemeteries as an additional public service for SCGA including taking photos of all grave markers.
Other Sources of Information
Surry County Register of Deeds – official birth, death and marriage records
---------------- HAPPY SEARCHING! ----------------
--- UPDATES ---
- January 27, 2007 – Initial release of the cemetery data
- March 1, 2007 – Initial publication of cemetery photos
- January 22, 2011 – Revision of “About Us” page
Last revised 22 January 2011
