Source Information

Ancestry.com. Ray County, Missouri, Cemetery Records (Volumes I-III), 1830-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Original data: Ellsberry, Elizabeth Prather, comp. Cemetery Records of Ray County, MO. Vol. I-III. Chillicothe, MO, USA: Elizabeth Prather Ellsberry, c1965.

About Ray County, Missouri, Cemetery Records (Volumes I-III), 1830-1970

This collection of cemetery records adds to the growing number of databases in the Ellsberry Collection. The database was compiled by long-time researcher, school teacher, and professional genealogist Elizabeth Ellsberry. These cemetery records contain the name of the deceased and his or her relatives, birth date, and death date, as well as age, when given. The database includes more than 5,300 entries.

The following cemeteries are included in the database: Millville Community Cemetery, Bethel Cemetery, Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Antioch Cemetery, Smith Cemetery, Belt Cemetery, Little Union Cemetery, Tinney Grove Cemetery, Penniston Cemetery, New Hope Cemetery, Holder Cemetery, Sylar Cemetery, Rainwater Cemetery, Yoakum Cemetery, Van Bebrer Cemetery, Teegarden Cemetery, Kincaid Cemetery, Petree Cemetery, McVeigh Cemetery, Linvill Cemetery, Petty Cemetery, Hardin Cemetery, Leakey Cemetery, Liberty Cemetery, Clark Cemetery, and Wakenda Cemetery.

Ms. Ellsberry began genealogical publication in 1958, when she published her own family history, The Warrens and You. In researching her own family, she found that libraries needed additional information from cemetery records, wills, land records, probate records, census records, etc., to help people with their family history. Ellsberry decided that she wanted to help by publishing books that contained solid genealogical data. She taught school for 34 years, but on weekends and summer vacation, she would travel around to different courthouses and cemeteries, recording the information she found. She also corresponded with several researchers and helped them in their research. Ellsberry self-published more than 300 books, and most of them are available for sale.

Most of the compilation of these books took place between 1958 and into the 1970s, so the recorded information should include the cemetery and/or courthouse records of that time period.

Address:

Ms. Elizabeth Prather Ellsberry
P.O. Box 206
Chillicothe, MO 64601