Peoria Cemetery, where my addiction started.

I started doing genealogy years ago, and in doing so, found many wonderful websites that had whole cemeteries transcribed and photographed for people all around the world to see. It helped me immensely, and being able to view the resting spots of my ancestors was amazing. My Mom and I decided we should do the same thing for our area. The amount of history in Yuba County cemeteries is something to be recognized.

Peoria Cemetery, it was then decided, would be our first attempt at transcribing and photographing a whole cemetery. We picked a day, loaded up my car with cemetery supplies (broom, little shovel, flour, camera, notebook and pens) and took off. I started photographing, and Mom, with her ever quick writing skills, did the transcribing. When the batteries died, we went back to her house, opened Microsoft Excel, and started creating a transcription for use on the internet. We repeated this process until we had everyone accounted for. Then, we had the problem of putting them on the internet. A quick google search led me to Kathy, who was doing the same thing in Yuba County at other cemeteries. I decided to contact her and see if we could make this a group project, and using Kathy's favorite saying "why try to re-invent the wheel", we became fast friends, and started to transcribe and photograph as a group.

Kathy had already established a website on her own, Yubaroots.com, which she has dedicated to the history of Yuba County, transcribing every record she could get her hands on, down to voter registration books, biographies, marriage/birth/death records......you won't believe the amount of information she has on her site. And on her site, there is a section for cemeteries, with every cemetery in Yuba County documented and photographed, with the exception of two.

My Mom passed away in 2005, and her ashes were buried with her husband Joseph's in the same plot. Mom was the one who started this love of cemeteries that I have, so in turn, my first blog is dedicated to her.