I have used some cemetery records, but find they are highly variable in quality, location and availability. Some charge (exorbitantly) for the info. Some are held onsite, some digital, some old paper, some in municipal offices, some in someone's home.
At one cemetery in Ontario, I was advised by the fellow living on an adjoining property that I should contact so-and-so, who would come over and open the records for me. This would not take long, I was assured, as he lived down the street.
Said keeper arrived, walking slowly and seemingly in pain, and opened up his little office/hut, where all the burial records were still kept, going back to the beginning in mid-19thC although the earliest ones had never been kept. They were the only copies, so, if that little hut burned down on Hallowe'en, well, too bad.
He found most of what I was looking for, but one grave remained problematic as it was not clear how many people were buried there and one person we wanted was missing.
No problem. He got out his dowsing rod and we all trooped over to the grave in question. Problem solved.
He says he often uses his dowsing rod when it is not clear where precisely a new grave should be dug in order not to disturb the existing ones. He finds this very reliable, but says it doesn't work for everyone. It's a gift, he told us - one we were grateful for!.
