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Located near the southwest suburb of
Midlothian is the Rubio Woods Forest
Preserve, an island of trees and shadows
nestled in the urban sprawl of the
Chicago area. The rambling refuge
creates an illusion that it is secluded
from the crowded city that threatens its
borders, and perhaps it is. On the edge
of the forest is a small graveyard that
many believe may be the most haunted
place in the region. The name of this
cemetery is Bachelor’s Grove and this
ramshackle burial ground may be infested
with more ghosts than most can imagine.
Over the years, the place has been
cursed with more than 100 documented
reports of paranormal phenomena, from
actual apparitions to glowing balls of
light. |
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There have been no new burials here for many years
and as a place of rest for the departed, it is
largely forgotten. But if you should ask any ghost
hunter just where to go to find a haunting,
Bachelor’s Grove is usually the first place in
Chicago to be mentioned!
The history of Bachelor’s Grove has been somewhat
shadowy over the years but most historians agree
that it was started in the early part of the 1800s.
Legends has it that the cemetery got its name
because only men were buried here but it actually
came from the name of a family who settled in the
area. A nearby settlement from the 1820s consisted
of mostly German immigrants from New York, Vermont
and Connecticut. One family that moved into the area
was called “Batchelder” and their name was given to
the timberland where they settled. The settlement
continued for some years as Batchelor’s Grove, until
1850, when it was changed to "Bremen" by postmaster
Samuel Everden in recognition of the new township
name where the post office was located. In 1855, it
was changed again to "Bachelder’s Grove" by
postmaster Robert Patrick but the post office closed
down just three years later. Officially, the
settlement ceased to exist and was swallowed by the
forest around it.
The cemetery itself has a much stranger history --
or at least a more mysterious one. The land was
apparently first set aside to be used as a burial
ground in 1844, when the first recorded burial took
place here, that of Eliza (Mrs. Leonard H.) Scott.
The land had been donated by the property owner,
Samuel Everden, and it was named “Everden” in his
honor. The last burials to take place are believed
to be that of Laura M. McGhee in 1965 and Robert E.
Shields, who was cremated and buried in the family
plot here in 1989.
The last caretaker of the cemetery was a man named
Clarence Fulton, whose family were early settlers in
the township. According to Fulton, Bachelor’s Grove
was like a park for many years and people often came
here to fish and swim in the adjacent pond. Families
often visited on weekends to care for the graves of
the deceased and to picnic under the trees. Things
have certainly changed since then!
Problems began in and around the cemetery in the
early 1960s. Even before that, the cemetery had
become a popular spot along a "lover’s lane" and
after a nearby road was closed, it became even more
isolated. Soon it began to show signs of vandalism
and decay and, a short time later, was rumored to be
haunted.
The vandals first discovered Bachelor’s Grove in the
1960s and, probably because of its secluded
location, began to wreak havoc on the place.
Gravestones were knocked over and destroyed, sprayed
with paint, broken apart and even stolen. Graves
were opened and caskets removed. Bones were
sometimes found to be strewn about the cemetery.
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Was the haunting first caused by these
disturbances? Most believe so, but
others cite another source for the
activity. Near the small pond that
borders the cemetery, forest rangers and
cemetery visitors have reportedly found
the remains of chickens and other small
animals that have been slaughtered and
mutilated in a ritualistic fashion.
Officers that have patrolled the woods
at night have reported seeing evidence
of black magic and occult rituals in and
around the graveyard. In some cases,
inscriptions and elaborate writings have
been carved in and painted on trees and
grave markers and on the cemetery
grounds themselves. This has led many to
believe that the cemetery has been used
for occult activities. |
There is no question that vandals have not been kind
to Bachelor’s Grove, but then neither has time.
Roads leading back to it were closed down and people
forgot about the place and allowed it to fade into
memory, just like the poor souls buried there.
Today, the cemetery is overgrown with weeds and is
surrounded by a high, chain-link fence, although
access is easily gained through the holes that
trespassers have cut into it. The cemetery sign is
long since gone.
The first thing noticed by those who visit here is
the destruction. Tombstones seem to be randomly
scattered about, no longer marking the resting
places of those whose names are inscribed upon them.
Many of the stones are missing, lost forever and
perhaps carried away by thieves. These macabre
crimes gave birth to legends about how the stones of
the cemetery move about under their own power. The
most disturbing things to visitors, though, are the
trenches and pits that have been dug above some of
the graves, as vandals have attempted to make off
with souvenirs from those whose rest they disturb.
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Just beyond the rear barrier of the
cemetery is a small, stagnant pond. This
pond, while outside of the graveyard, is
still not untouched by the horror
connected to the place. One night in the
late 1970s, two Cook County Forest
Preserve officers were on night patrol
near here and claimed to see the
apparition of a horse emerge from the
waters of the pond. The animal appeared
to be pulling a plow behind it that was
steered by the ghost of an old man. The
vision crossed the road in front of the
ranger’s vehicle, was framed for a
moment in the glare of their headlights,
and then vanished into the forest. The
men simply stared in shock for a moment
and then looked at one another to be
sure that had both seen the same thing.
They later reported the incident and
since that time, have not been the last
to see the old man and the horse. |
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Little did the rangers know, but this apparition was
actually a part of an old legend connected to the
pond. It seems that in the 1870s, a farmer was
plowing a nearby field when something startled his
horse. The farmer was caught by surprise and became
tangled in the reins. He was dragged behind the
horse and it plunged into the small pond. Unable to
free himself, he was pulled down into the murky
water by the weight of the horse and the plow and he
drowned.
Even the road near Bachelor’s Grove is reputed to be
haunted. The Midlothian Turnpike is said to be the
scene of vanishing "ghost cars" and phantom
automobile accidents. No historical events can
provide a clue as to why this might be, but the
unexplained vehicles have been reported numerous
times in recent years. People who are traveling west
on the turnpike see the tail lights of a car in
front of them. The brake lights go on, as if the car
is planning to stop or turn. The car then turns off
the road. However, once the following auto gets to
the point in the road where the first vehicle
turned, they find no car there at all! Other drivers
have reported passing these phantoms autos, only to
see the car vanish in their rearview mirrors.
It remains a mystery as to where these phantom cars
come from, and where they vanish to. Why do they
haunt this stretch of roadway?
For those searching for Bachelor’s Grove, it can be
found by leaving the roadway and walking up an
overgrown gravel track that is surrounded on both
sides by the forest. The old road is blocked with
chains and concrete dividers and a dented "No
Trespassing" sign that hangs ominously near the
mouth to the trail. The burial ground lies about a
half-mile or so beyond it in the woods.
It is along this deserted road where other strange
tales of the cemetery take place. One of these odd
occurrences is the sighting of the "phantom farm
house". It has been seen appearing and disappearing
along the trail for several decades now. The most
credible thing about many of the accounts is that
they come from people who originally had no idea
that the house shouldn’t be there at all.
The house has been reported in all weather
conditions, both in the daytime and at night. There
is no historical record of such a house existing
here but the descriptions of it rarely vary. Each
person claims it to be an old frame farm house with
two-stories, painted white, with wooden posts, a
porch swing and a welcoming light that burns softly
in the window. Popular legend states that should you
enter this house, though, you would never come back
out again. As witnesses approach the building, it is
reported to get smaller and smaller until it finally
just fades away, like someone switching off an old
television set. No one has ever claimed to set foot
on the front porch of the house.
Also from this stretch of trail come reports of
"ghost lights". One such light that has been
reported many times is a red, beacon-like orb that
has been seen flying rapidly up and down the trail
to the cemetery. The light is so bright, and moves
so fast, that it is impossible to tell what it
really looks like. Most witnesses state that they
have seen a "red streak" that is left in its wake.
There have also have been many sightings of ghosts
and apparitions within Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery
itself. The most frequently reported spirit, though,
is known by a variety of names from the "Madonna of
Bachelor’s Grove" to the "White Lady" to the
affectionate name of "Mrs. Rogers". Legend has it
that she is the ghost of a woman who was buried in
the cemetery next to the grave of her young child.
She is reported to wander the cemetery on nights of
the full moon with an infant wrapped in her arms.
She appears to walk aimlessly, with no apparent
direction and completely unaware of the people who
claim to encounter her. There is no real evidence to
say who this woman might be but, over the years, she
has taken her place as one of the many spirits of
this haunted burial ground.
The Weird Chicago gang has visited, and
investigated, Bachelor’s Grove many times. In 2007,
the series “Cringe”, for which Troy Taylor is the
executive producer, filmed an episode at Bachelor’s
Grove, spending the night among the toppled
tombstones. In the course of the filming, much of
the digital footage was inexplicably distorted and
destroyed, something that a crew with many years of
experience had never encountered before. Similarly,
attempts to record a podcast there (a follow-up to
the first episode of the Weird Chicago Podcast) were
abandoned after equipment failures ruined the
recording.
In 2006, Ken Melvoin-Berg, Weird Chicago’s own
psychic detective, accompanied a reporter from the
Chicago Tribune to the old graveyard and
encountered the spirit of a young boy. Soon after
arriving at the cemetery, Ken heard a child’s voice
crying to him, telling him that he had lost
something. A few moments later, Ken understood that
it was money. According to the reporter, Ken
appeared “to lose it himself” and he staggered out
of the cemetery toward the adjacent, algae-filled
pond. Wading into the murky water, Ken stopped, bent
down, stuck his shaking hands into the muck, and
pulled out a 1942 Walking Liberty half-dollar coin –
exactly where the ghostly boy told him that it could
be found.
Is Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery as haunted as we have
been led to believe? The reader has to decide that
for themselves – but, based on the stories, it seems
to be one of the most haunted places in the Midwest.
But haunted or not, Bachelor’s Grove is still a
burial ground and a place that should be treated
with respect as the final resting place of those
interred here. It is first and foremost a repository
for the dead and should be protected as such by
those who hope to enjoy it, and possibly learn from
it, in the years to come. It is also a piece of our
haunted history that we cannot afford to lose.
©
Copyright 2000-2008 by Troy Taylor. All Rights
Reserved.
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