OTTUMWA, IOWA -- For Wednesday's Facebook Story of the Day, you wanted to know how to locate the grave of someone buried in the county.

It's easy enough to locate graves in cemeteries owned by the city. In Ottumwa, staff are on hand at Calvary, Jewish and Ottumwa cemeteries to help visitors locate specific grave sites. A few funeral homes said they keep burial records online, and you can check burial plots ahead of visiting the cemetery.

If your loved one is buried in the county, it's a little trickier. You should call your county auditor's office, and they will help you determine which township owns the area or cemetery you are looking for. The auditor's office can then direct you to the correct township trustee.

Each township has several trustees that are elected to four-year terms. In southeast Iowa, most of the trustees are based out of Blakesburg, Ottumwa or Eldon. Those trustees will be able to most accurately point you in the right direction for locating a family grave.

Deputy Chief Cory Benge, of the Ottumwa Fire Department, also serves as a trustee for Keokuk township. He said most of the trustees only have records dating from the 1970s to the present. Anything earlier than that date means you might have to resort to walking around reading headstones. Benge also said each township has different records and functions differently.

One other option to try is a website called findagrave.com. It has a list of famous, non-famous, international and local cemetery plots.