Who you would be buying from
Who's behind Sexton
Sexton is built and supported in west-central Illinois by Thomas Sims. When you call or write, you reach the person who makes it.
Why it exists
Small cemeteries are kept by people who did not ask for the job. Somebody's father did it for thirty years, and then he did not, and the binders arrived in a cardboard box. The plat map is taped to a wall with three generations of pencil on it, and the person who knew which corner of Section C was spoken for is the reason you are reading this.
There is good software for cemeteries, and most of it is built for operations that bury several hundred people a year, have staff, and can absorb a five-figure setup bill. Sexton is built for the other kind of place — a board that meets four times a year and pays by check.
Why it works the way it does
Your records stay on your own computer. No server, no account, no password to lose. Backups are written for you, and the whole register writes out to plain spreadsheet files any time you want. Nothing about your cemetery's records depends on anyone else's business still being there.
You are not asked to hire a surveyor. Sexton builds the map from numbers — the rows in a section and the graves in a row — and you drag the finished sections into place. It takes an afternoon and costs nothing, where the same map elsewhere is quoted by the acre.
The association's side counts as much as the burial records. The ledger, perpetual care, who owes what, the stone repairs, the events, and the annual report for the minute book. That is most of what the job actually is, and most software treats it as an afterthought.
How support works
Write to [email protected] or call or text 217-288-3351. Messages are answered the same day where possible, and always within one business day.
If your office has no internet, that is planned for — Sexton does not need a connection to run, and a copy can be activated over the phone. If your records are on paper and you are not sure where to begin, get in touch and we will work out an order to do it in. That conversation is free and there is nothing to sign up for.