In Part #1 of this article (available at https://eogn.com/page-18080/13341291), I described how to find the longitude and latitude of almost any cemetery in the US. Now that you have identified the geographic coordinates, how do you travel to the site? Driving to that location may involve a few challenges. Of course, you can always plot those coordinates on a good map of the area and then use the map to find the cemetery. However, with the use of a high-tech device, you can easily obtain real-time instructions on how to drive directly to the cemetery. In many cases, a robotic voice will even tell you when to turn left or right along the route.
The technology that makes this possible is the Global Positioning System (GPS). The GPS consists of a constellation of 24 active satellites (and one or more in-orbit spares) orbiting the earth every 12 hours. Four satellites are located in each of six orbits. The orbits are distributed evenly around the earth and are inclined 55 degrees from the equator. The satellites orbit at an altitude of about 11,000 nautical miles. These satellites broadcast time information that is accurate to a few microseconds (millionths of a second). Receivers on the ground can decode these time signals, apply some mathematics, and thereby determine the exact location of the ground receiver, plus or minus thirty feet or less.
The Global Positioning System was first used by the military some years ago and soon after was adopted by the airlines. Using this technology, airline pilots and military personnel can determine their exact location at any time.
The early GPS receivers had a price tag of tens of thousands of dollars. However, as the technology matured, prices dropped. About thirty years ago, GPS receivers fell into a price range that became attractive to fishermen, hunters, backpackers, RV owners, and long-haul truckers. In fact, recently I have seen simple GPS receivers on sale at the local Wal-Mart store for $74.88. However, most GPS receivers typically range from $129 to $499 for consumer models. You may even find GPS navigation units built into automobile dashboards, although usually at prices well in excess of $1,000.
Today, all iPhones and most Android “smartphones” also contain GPS receivers. With the addition of a free or low-cost app, these phones also can be used as very accurate GPS devices. Several such apps are available for both iPhones and Android phones.
The thing that fascinates me is that the free smartphone apps are just as accurate as the $1,000 dedicated GPS receivers: all of them can determine your location within 30 feet or less. Paying higher prices does not result in better accuracy. It does, however, increase the number of features available. As you move up in price, you find GPS receivers with larger displays, and even self-updating databases. The high-end units made for automotive use will even talk to you, warning you of upcoming turns as each guides you to your destination. Some of them allow you to talk back as they have voice actuated commands. The GPS in one of my automobiles even projects its display as a transparent image on the windshield, meaning the driver never needs to take his or her eyes off the road while navigating. This “head up display” greatly enhances safety. The same GPS device also uses voice input for all commands; I can specify new routes and search for locations all while keeping both hands on the steering wheel. All I need is my voice.
I have used a number of GPS receivers in recent years. Several of the low-cost GPS receivers plug into laptop computers, allowing you to use your existing laptop's power and storage capabilities to equal the performance of free-standing GPS units that cost thousands of dollars.
One free-standing handheld GPS unit I own is typical of today’s GPS products: it slips into a shirt pocket, weighs six ounces, operates on two penlight cells, and has a built-in map of all the major highways, lakes, rivers, railroad tracks, and other major features within the United States. It also has the capability of downloading detailed map information for a small area, including side streets and topographical mapping information. It has a "street price" of about $99. Best of all, for a few more dollars, a cable is available that allows the portable GPS to be connected to a laptop PC.
Perhaps even more useful is a GPS app installed in a “smartphone.” My favorite is Waze, a free app that not only displays all the normal GPS information but also provides up-to-date information about traffic jams, highway construction, and even speed traps. Not bad for a free app that can be added to a cell phone you already own! This provides great technology at no increase in price over what you have already invested into your cell phone.
If you wish to drive to a cemetery that may contain the grave of an ancestor, you can simply enter the latitude and longitude of the cemetery, as obtained from the GNIS database, into almost any modern GPS receiver, and it will point the way. With some programs, the laptop will even talk to you when it is time to turn left or right. The result is that you can keep your eyes on the road while you listen to navigation instructions.
A few years ago I used a newly-purchased GPS to locate several small cemeteries in Epping, New Hampshire. I was looking for the grave of Daniel Dow, an ancestor who lived in Epping in the late 1700s and early 1800s. I know little about this man other than his name and the dates and locations of his birth, marriage, and death. I was hoping to find a few more details. I did not know where he was buried, but I did know that he spent his adult life in this small town. I assumed correctly that there would only be a few cemeteries in the town and that none of them would be very large. The fact that it was a warm spring day and I had a brand-new convertible sports car added to the enticement, of course.
I first looked on the Geographic Names Information System’s Web site and printed out a list of all the cemeteries in Epping, New Hampshire. This list included latitudes and longitudes. I then jumped in my sports car, turned on the GPS receiver, and entered the same latitudes and longitudes into the GPS receiver (which can store up to 500 of these "waypoints"). Once that task was completed, I started the car and sped off.
I selected the first cemetery, or waypoint, and the GPS receiver pointed the way. When I say "pointed the way," that is exactly what it did. The GPS receiver has an arrow that points straight up if the desired destination is straight ahead. If the destination is to the left or right of your automobile, the GPS receiver’s arrow points in the appropriate direction. The receiver also has digital displays that show your speed, the distance remaining to the waypoint, and a lot of other information.
The roads in Epping certainly are not all in a straight line. This is a typical rural New England village with winding back roads, many of them unpaved. I could not always follow in the exact direction that the arrow indicated, but I usually was able to go in the approximate direction. As I got closer and closer to the designated cemetery, the digital readout for "distance remaining" approached zero.
I easily found several larger cemeteries, but all proved to have no evidence of my elusive ancestor. I punched in the coordinates for the final cemetery on the list and headed off, following the advice of the GPS arrow. I soon found myself on an unpaved road that led through dairy farming country. The "distance remaining" display kept counting down, one mile… one-half mile… five hundred feet… one hundred feet… fifty feet. I didn’t see a cemetery and continued driving. However, the "distance remaining" started counting back up again.
I turned around at the next farmhouse and headed back. The "distance remaining" display repeated the earlier scenario. It counted down to thirty feet and then started counting up again, all with no cemetery in sight.
I made another U-turn and started a third pass although at greatly reduced speed. I stayed in first gear as I watched the GPS display. Again, the digits counted down. I then found that the display never went to zero. Instead, it would count down to thirty feet and then start counting up again. I overshot the location, so I backed up until the display said "thirty feet" and then stopped. The arrow pointed 90 degrees to my left. I turned the engine off and looked around. There was no cemetery in sight.
Being curious, I got out of the car and started walking to the left. I counted off thirty feet as I walked off the road and through the thick underbrush. At approximately thirty feet from my automobile, I stopped and looked around. Again, no cemetery was visible. However, I seemed to be standing on something substantial, even though it was covered with brush. I leaned down, pulled the brush away, and discovered that I was standing on a tombstone that had apparently fallen over many years ago and was now covered with New England’s finest thick brush.
In the next few minutes of poking through the thick underbrush, I found five more horizontal tombstones. With a bit of work, I was able to read the lettering on each. Thanks to the Geographic Names Information System and my GPS receiver, I had located a cemetery that was invisible from the road only thirty feet away. I doubt if I would have ever found that cemetery, had I been given a less precise description of its location.
By the way, I wish I could report some success in looking for Daniel Dow’s grave in Epping, New Hampshire. Unfortunately, there was no trace of him in the brush-covered cemetery that I discovered.
GPS receivers have many uses besides genealogy. In addition to determining the exact location of a cemetery tombstone or an ancestor's homestead, you can navigate down strange roads, find residential addresses that would be elusive otherwise, and even find fast-food restaurants while on cross-country trips. You can find courthouses in major cities, ATM machines almost anywhere, and hospitals if you have a medical emergency. The GPS built into one of my automobiles will even find the nearest vegan restaurant, if I ask for that. Best of all, a GPS receiver is the ultimate salvation for the male ego: you never, ever have to ask for directions.
I would suggest that a GPS receiver is an excellent tool, both for cemetery hunting and for non-genealogy purposes. If you have an interest in adding this high-tech marvel to your genealogy toolkit, I would recommend that you first spend some time on the Web learning about the capabilities of these fascinating devices. A few of my favorite GPS Web sites include: , http://www.magellangps.com, http://www.lowrance.com, and the explanatory article in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System. Any search engine probably can find a few hundred more Web sites dealing with GPS technology.
Probably the most sophisticated GPS navigation systems are the ones built into some of today's luxury automobiles. These in-dash solutions typically include databases of streets and highways as well as the locations of hospitals, ATM machines, restaurants, fast food outlets, and much more. However, most of them do not list cemetery locations. There is little to no standardization among the various automobile manufacturers; each is free to supply whatever GPS navigational units they wish. In-dash units typically do not have external interfaces that the consumer can use. Most are labeled with the car manufacturer's name although a different company typically supplies the technology. The in-dash units are usually quite expensive; prices often run from $1,000 to perhaps as high as $2,000. Even worse, when you trade the car, the GPS navigational system goes with the vehicle.
A much more cost-effective solution is to purchase a portable GPS receiver, often a handheld unit. Prices vary from $79 to $999 (U.S. funds). Surprisingly, the $79 units are as accurate as the $2,000 in-dash devices; both can determine your location, plus or minus thirty feet and sometimes even less than that. Many inexpensive GPS receivers work well on an automobile dashboard, attached with a piece of Velcro or perhaps a suction cup mount for the windshield that the manufacturer may include. I have used a variety of these units, all with good results.
I also have a navigation system built into the dash of my current sports car. The built-in system looks better and is far more convenient to use than an external laptop and GPS receiver. However, many handheld GPS receivers provide the same functionality and accuracy as the expensive unit in the sports car's dashboard.
Perhaps the most useful GPS unit is the one built into most iPhones and Android cell phones. There are numerous GPS on the Android Play Store and iPhone App Sore. My favorite is Waze although you might prefer Google Maps or some other app.
There are a number of manufacturers of GPS receivers. The better-known manufacturers of consumer GPS receivers include Garmin, Magellan, Lowrance, and DeLorme. The GPS receivers vary widely in appearance and capability. Almost all GPS receivers display latitude and longitude and have the capability for storing "waypoints" (locations along a planned route) that the user manually enters before embarking on a trip. In the past few years, built-in maps have become common. The maps typically show highways along with rivers, streams, oceans, and sometimes railroad tracks. However, trying to read the information on a small handheld device's display on a dark night while zooming down the expressway in heavy traffic is not recommended!
Once the purchase price goes over $200, improvements multiply. Bigger map databases with more streets become common. When you go over $300, the screens get bigger and color displays become the norm. Almost al the larger units offer options for a selection for either the shortest or fastest routes, directions, and estimated arrival time to your intended destination. Automated voice prompts alert you to upcoming turns, course deviation, and distance to final destination. At the touch of a button, you can locate all the nearby highway exits, gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, hospitals, and rest areas, all on5-inch by 1.8-inch or even 7-inch full-color LCD display screens that can easily be read while in motion.
On longer trips you will need to be concerned about the laptop's battery life. You don't want the battery to fail while you are in the middle of unfamiliar territory! Most GPS receivers can be powered by the automobile's power socket. Again, you will need to buy a cable for this.
Safety becomes an important consideration when using a GPS receiver while in motion. The best method is to use two people: one drives while the other navigates. However, if properly planned and equipped, a solo driver can safely use GPS navigation units. Thousands of truck drivers do this daily, as do airplane pilots. Thousands of police officers also safely use their in-vehicle laptops every day. Some advance planning is necessary, however. Not only should you not text and drive, you also shouldn't be pressing the buttons or icons on a GPS receiver while in motion! (That's why I love my GPS receiver with voice input. I never take my two hands off the steering wheel or my eyes off the road.)
Placement of the GPS receiver is critical. Assuming a solo driver situation, you want to be able to view the device's screen without taking your eyes off the road. Having the GPS receiver in the passenger's seat or in the center console is not a good idea! For a handheld GPS receiver or cell phone, I use a small device that clips to the dashboard and securely holds the GPS receiver or cellphone in place at just below normal eye level.
All of this seems excessive for simply finding cemeteries. However, the price tag for adding Waze or another GPS app to your present cell phone is quite reasonable: FREE. Once you start using an in-vehicle GPS, you will find many uses for it. It is especially good for your next vacation trip. RV owners and long-haul truck drivers can testify to the usefulness of GPS systems. Many genealogists will do the same.