Transcript Iowa County Cemetery Pilot Project

Iowa County Cemetery Pilot
Project
Cristina D. Pearson
G.I.S. Coordinator
I got an Idea!
The idea for the cemetery GIS project actually
came through general conversation. As the
Veteran’s office was trying to figure out what
GIS could do for them, we threw the idea of
creating a system which would allow them to
query Veteran’s graves throughout the
County.
I got a Volunteer!
Joe Weier, a student ot UW-Milwaukee
approached us in early Spring 2004,
requesting to do an internship with the
County for that summer. And, he was willing
to do it as a volunteer basis and gain college
credits for his summer internship.
Getting Started
With limited computer and software available
for the intern, we decided that the Joe could
begin to compile the database which would
be needed for the GIS. We soon learned
that there were other uses for cemetery
information other than just Veteran’s graves
and decided to compile a database of all
burial plots in each cemetery in the County.
Gathering Data
We determined where we could get such data
and found there were abundant sources for
such data and all we needed to do was
gather it and merge it all together. Data
sources were:
 Cemetery officials
 County Veterans Department
 Register of Deeds
Gathering Data Continued
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Church Officials
Genealogical Societies
Funeral Directors
City, Town and Village Clerks
Historical Societies
Obituaries
Private individuals
Data Formats
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Large maps, written on old paper or even an
old window shade
Death Certificates
Newspaper Articles
Military Service Cards
Cemetery Plot lists
Unexpected Bonus
During our searches for data, we were told of a gentleman by the name of
Bill Klosterman, who made it a hobby of his to research many
cemeteries and determine who was buried in each one. He had boxes
and files and binders full of family histories, burial locations, obituaries
and maps. Joe worked many hours with this gentleman, listening to
his stories and gathering Data. Unfortunately, Mr. Klosterman died on
December 4, 2004. Because of the enjoyment he gained from working
with Joe and the excitement he had on what we were trying to
accomplish, he made note to his family that Iowa County was to
receive all his records upon his death. In January, 2005, 23 boxes,
two filing cabinets and dozens of binders were delivered to Iowa
County. They are currently housed in the Register of Deeds Office
with a Dedication to Bill Klosterman for his generous donation.
Database Design
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Identify each cemetery in Iowa County and give it a
unique identification Number.
Determine the general format of cemeteries, i.e. lots,
blocks, rows, sections and rows
Determine how to identify each burial plot in the
cemetery.
Create a “Lot identification Number” for each burial
plot in each cemetery by combining the cemetery
identification number and the burial plot number.
Database Design
Determine what information would be sought from the users of this
information and what types of queries would possibly be done.
 Deceased’s name
 Maiden name
 D.O.B
 D.O.D.
 Lot, row, block, section number
 Veteran, yes or no
 War
 Branch of Service
 Death Certificate Number
 Spouse(s), Children
 Condition of Headstone
Create Spatial Data
We took the Cemetery layout maps and Survey
maps and drafted them out much like we
would a Subdivision map. We created a
polygon for each burial plot and tagged it
with the Lot Identification Number. We used
the orthophotos and the parcel mapping to
better guide us in the development of the
map.
Arena Cemetery
Query for “Hodgson”
Highlighted every Hodgson
buried in Arena Cemetery
Unused plots are polygoned but
are given a LIN for future
use.
Green Polygons denote used
burial site.
Arena Cemetery
Query on Veteran’s
Graves
Thank You
Cristina Pearson - Iowa County GIS
Coordinator
Joe Weier – Student Intern, UW- Milwaukee
Special thanks to the Family of Bill Klosterman