Lynn Rogers is proud of her work and is not concerned that she receives no recognition from those whose stories she unveils. Not that they could sing her praises — they are all dead.

Ms. Rogers is the caretaker of 11 cemeteries on Staten Island that have fallen into ruin. She has raised money to maintain and preserve them and has researched the histories of many of those laid to rest, including veterans of the Civil War and those who left Ireland during the potato famine. In so doing, she has brought back to life the stories of hundreds of Staten Island families, including her own.

It began in 1998 when she set out to investigate her grandfather’s background. “I was pregnant and wanted to name my daughter Jamie, after him,” she said. But when she found the graveyard where her great-grandmother was buried on the north shore of Staten Island, she was aghast.

“It was a dump,” Ms. Rogers, 55, said. “You couldn’t even tell it was a cemetery.” The lawn was covered in garbage and heaps of construction debris. Trees and weeds had taken over, overturning headstones and blocking the grounds. “You couldn’t put your hand out straight without hitting another tree,” she said.