Bedford cemetery trustees are looking to potentially combine history with technology.

Trustees are beginning the process of putting information about the town’s cemeteries on a database that can be accessed via the Internet.

“What that means is that anyone could go online and find who’s buried in what plot and other information,” said Cemetery Trustee John Wood. “It’s the state of things. Everyone is on the Internet.”

Wood said the technology would be especially important for family members who are doing genealogy research.

“We’re always looking at things that make it simpler and that’s our mission, to keep track of the cemetery and be sure things get done,” said Ralph Dieter, chairman of the cemetery trustees. “There’s a lot of places that do that. Bigger cemeteries can afford to do that. It may be more expensive than we want to get into. We’re not sure we’re big enough to afford that, but we’re looking at it.”

The town has recently been working to upgrade its record-keeping from handwritten cards to a computer database.

“We tried to upgrade the current database that we’ve had for some time,” said Dieter. “It’s old and not easy to use, so I’ve been looking into updating it with something better. The cemeteries are over 200 years old and the record keeping, some of it, reflects that. People keeping records years ago never contemplated computer record keeping, so some of it is a one-line entry in a journal.”

There are four cemeteries in town, with the oldest being the Back River Road area, with the first burial taking place in 1748. The grounds at Bedford Center were first used in 1799, Beals Road in 1793 and Joppa Hill in 1789.

In addition, trustees are also working on a preservation master plan which would bring in a landscape company to make recommendations on what needs to be done to keep the cemeteries in top condition.

Another new addition the trustees are looking into is creating a scattering field where relatives can spread the ashes of their loved ones.

Dieter said many of the decisions will come down to finances. “We’re looking into things and what is good for the public. Do we need to do them? How much does it cost?” he said. “Those are what we’re looking into. We want to keep up to date in what’s going on in the modern world.”

The trustees will have a booth in the Rotary tent at Bedford’s Olde Towne Day, and Wood said he encourages any resident to come talk to them with any questions they have, and see pictures of the town’s cemeteries.