HomeMy WebLinkAboutAlan Chaffee Cemetery SpreadsheetsMaureen,
Hello. Hope you are doing well. I stopped into your office today to drop off the flashdrive with Alan Chaffee’s cemetery spreadsheets. I showed up just as one of your employees
was locking the door for lunch, my fault, but he kindly took the file and said he would pass it on to you.
I believe that Alan said the spreadsheets are on Microsoft Excel and the data in them is from cemeteries all over and even outside of Tompkins County. Alan recorded the out
of county cemeteries because there were many Newfielders buried in them. While his files are far from complete, as he recorded them 50 years ago, they’re quite valuable as many of the
stones he copied have been damaged, stolen, or weathered beyond identification.
When recording a cemetery Alan used his own unique method of organizing the rows and sections of stones into his notes. His method often did not match how the cemetery
may have organized itself. Because of this, Alan and I are going to work on a short document that explains how, when, and why he began this project of his and his method of recording.
He would like this document to be included with his files on your website.
Additionally, Alan also has his original handwritten notes from when he did his recordings. They go into great detail on each stone, much more so than his spreadsheets.
In the future I think it would be of great value to have them brought down to your office as well to be copied or scanned and made available to the public.
Thank You very much. I’m on my way to Florida tomorrow for a week, but will have a computer with me, so please feel free to shoot any questions or comments you might have
my way and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Matthew J. Watros