Jacob Mehrling Holdcraft

Names in Stone. 75,000 Cemetery Inscriptions from Frederick County, Maryland. Volume 1 Jacob Mehrling Holdcraft

Over a period of thirty-five years, Jacob Holdcraft made a diligent search of the cemeteries and family burial plots of Frederick County, Maryland, carefully recording the inscriptions found on more than 75,000 tombstones (names, dates of birth and death, names of family members, etc.). Names in Stone, the result of this immense undertaking, represents the largest body of mortuary inscriptions ever assembled in a single work. Originally published in two volumes in 1966, it is now reprinted with the sequel work, More Names in Stone (1972), which contains an additional 3,300 inscriptions.

Arranged in alphabetical order (Vol. 1, A-K; Vol. 2, K-Z), Names in Stone is not only a comprehensive and brilliantly organized collection of tombstone inscriptions, it is also a guide to the location of Frederick County cemeteries; and every entry, every name, is keyed to a precise burial ground so that information may be checked first-hand. (All cemeteries are numbered in geographical sequence and located on accompanying maps.)

In all, Mr. Holdcraft explored more than 300 sites, mostly disused family burial grounds and abandoned churchyards. As far as can be ascertained, this work includes every verifiable burial site in Frederick County and in peripheral areas outside the county. It almost certainly represents the single greatest source available to the researcher investigating Frederick County roots.