An Unusual Gift, And The Story Of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

by Jenn Posted on May 8, 2013

Picture of the Uninvited Guests baseball card commemorating Bachelors Grove Cemetery in Illinois.I was positive I would be able to guess the present Anita handed me a few weeks before Christmas. “I’ll only give you two hints,” she said, “One is that you can blog about it, the other is that it is so unusual, I have never seen anything like it.”

I can blog about it eh? That means it must be related to graving. This should be easy.

The present was a very small square and very thin. I quickly took the gift and hid it next to the bed, that way I could look at it every night. After countless nights of poking and prodding at it, I finally had my guess, it was related to graving, and certainly unusual, “It’s a headstone ice scraper!” I exclaimed. Not wanting to let me down on my ridiculous guess, Anita simply said “you’ll see.” Spoiler alert: It wasn’t a headstone ice scraper.

So what was this super unusual thing that she had never seen before that I could also blog about? It was a baseball card. A baseball card for a cemetery.

Black and white picture of headstones at the Bachelor's Grove cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.I had never seen anything like this before, and it was definitely the most unique graving related item I had ever seen. The card is titled “Uninvited Guests”, and has a picture of an overgrown cemetery surrounded by eerie trees.

At the bottom is the name of the cemetery the card is for, “Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery” in Chicago, Illinois. I had never heard of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery until I got the card. I learned from the card that Bachelor’s Grove is an abandoned graveyard that’s “said to be haunted by ghosts who appear, float around and disappear as mysterious orbs of light. Satanic rituals have also been reported.”

Of course my interest in this cemetery was immediately piqued, and I set out to find out about this cemetery as it must have an interesting history if it was put on a baseball card.

Bachelor’s grove cemetery was established in the 1840′s and at one point had as many as 200 headstones, a stark contrast to the less than 20 that now remain.

Picture of damage and vandalism at Bachelor's Grove cemetery in Illinois.Over the years the cemetery has fallen into disrepair since a major road was re-routed away from the cemetery and the area evolved into a party spot for local teenagers or a place for dark rituals. Local lore even states that the murky pond next to the cemetery was used by the mob as a place to get rid of dead bodies, as it was much easier to just chuck a body in the pond rather than try to bury a body without being discovered.

Authorities in the area tried various half-hearted ways of trying to stop the destruction of the cemetery, like blocking off the entrance with trees and other debris, but it wasn’t until the hobbyists came around that the cemetery started to get some care and protection. Lured by the stories of ghost sightings and strange happenings, people interested in hobbies ranging from ghost hunting to graving made pilgrimages to bachelor’s grove and began to document and care for the cemetery. Recently, there have even been efforts to recover headstones that were thrown into the pond.

Bachelor’s Grove isn’t nearly as well kept up as it could be by any means, but there is now a move in the right direction. You never know what you’ll see at the end of the overgrown (and ever so slightly creepy) road that leads to the cemetery itself, but these days you’re probably more likely to meet friendly types like ghost hunters or gravers taking photos than people performing dark rituals.

I wish there were more items like this card for graving enthusiasts, as quite honestly I am pretty attached to this one and would love to start a collection. That said, I am going to Chicago in August and thanks to this unusual card I now plan to visit Bachelor’s Grove.

I am not sure about going alone though…who wants to come with me?

Picture of the dirt road through woods that leads to the Bachelor's Grove Cemetery in Illinois.

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The Seafarer’s Memorial: Honoring Those Lost At Sea

by Jenn Posted on March 31, 2013

In January Anita and I traveled to Homer, Alaska for some much needed R&R. Of course I wanted to get some graving in, and the great thing about graving is that pretty much everywhere you go there is a cemetery or memorial to explore.

While driving out to the hotel, Anita noticed the Seafarers Memorial, a pretty common sight in a coastal town I’ve been told, but I had never been to one before. This one is located on the Homer spit overlooking Kachemak Bay, and despite the poor weather, was still a beautiful and peaceful spot for reflection.

Picture of the Seafarer's Memorial on the Homer Spit in Alaska.

A walkway with stones dedicated to loved ones leads to the main focal point of the memorial, an open gazebo type structure lined with the names of those lost at sea. In the center of the gazebo is the statue of a fisherman standing in honor of those poor departed souls. At the base of the statue lie rocks, incense, and trinkets, symbols to represent recent visitors. The statue itself was also adorned with offerings, such as a straw hat, a lei, and a wreath.

Closeup picture of the face of the fisherman statue at the Seafarer's Memorial in Homer, Alaska.What really struck me about this place was the tiles inside with the names of those lost at sea. I don’t know when the memorial was erected, but the oldest tile dedications I saw were for Marion Anderson and her daughters, Aileen and Elizabeth, who died on October 23, 1934 aboard the “Monson Mail Boat”.

A google search revealed precious little details about the deaths of the Anderson family, but I was able to find this snippet about the accident:

“The boat was coming from the larger town of Seldovia to deliver passengers, mail and supplies but foundered offshore.

As it went down in the rollers, a young mother and her two daughters drowned within sight of a large group of people who had come to meet the boat to get and send mail and freight. The mother [Marion] and older girls [Elizabeth] bodies were recovered, but the baby [Aileen] never was.”

Bell at Seafarers Memorial in Homer, Alaska

Nearby stands a bell with pretty elaborate carvings on the stand, which states “This bell tolls for all the souls set free upon the sea.”

My understanding is that when a memorial for a person lost at sea is held in this spot, the bell is rung in their honor. I wondered whether or not the sound of the bell ringing would be welcome, I can’t imagine having a memorial for a loved one here and hearing that bell ring, it seems so…final.

I am really glad that we stopped by this place, it was so serene and beautiful, a very apt place for such a memorial. Looking out on such a vast body of water while in this setting can be very thought provoking.

“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

Picture of the mountains and water at Katchemak Bay in Homer, Alaska near the Seafarer's Memorial.

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This Poem Seemed Fitting For Such a Beautiful Cemetery

by Jenn Posted on March 23, 2013

Picture of Anchor Point Cemetery in Anchor Point city near Homer, Alaska.

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind

- William Wordsworth

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Featured Memorial – Hugh Emmerson

by Jenn Posted on February 18, 2013

This featured memorial is about Hugh Emmerson who is buried in Sultan City Cemetery, in Snohomish County, Washington. When we visited this cemetery it was overgrown with an overwhelming number of dandelions which left yellow marks on the bottom of our pants (which luckily came off after a good wash). But the first thing that caught my eye as soon as I stepped off the road was a large ornate headstone sticking up from the sea of dandelions…

HUGH EMMERSON

Picture of the headstone for Hugh Emmerson buried in Sultan City Cemetery Snohomish County Washington.According to his headstone, Hugh Emmerson travelled from New York to Snohomish County in 1876 and died on November 23, 1889, “aged about 70 years.”

What struck me the most about this headstone was the epitaph written near the bottom:

His friends and kindred all unknown, he died as he had lived; alone.

Of course, being the person that I am, this made me want to learn more about him. Who was Hugh Emmerson? Who were his friends and kindred? Why were they unknown? Why did he move across the country in 1876 and who had bought such a large ornate headstone for him?

My first thought was that Hugh had travelled to Washington by himself and made a large impression on the city that he finally settled in. No-one knew him before he arrived in Washington, so they hadn’t met his family or prior friends, but he did something, something that made the people of Sultan care so much about him that they erected a large headstone to remember him. The problem with this idea was that according to his poetic epitaph, his friends were still unknown. Wouldn’t the people of Sultan now be his friends?

Another idea I had was maybe he was a criminal. He travelled quite far to escape his prior life, and lived as a hermit “died as he had lived; alone” until the end of his days. But what about that headstone? Even the simplest of headstones are very expensive, and this one was pretty ornate for someone who lived as a hermit with no friends or family.

As soon as I returned home, I set out to find more information about Hugh. I exhausted every avenue I could think of to learn more about him. I searched public records, Ancestry.com, old newspapers, even took a peek at the FindAGrave profile someone had already created for him.

I would like to say that after such an exhaustive search I learned all about him, that I found his “unknown” kin, and deciphered the puzzle of who bought the headstone, and why he would travel to the other side of the country at the (estimated) age of 54. But I didn’t.

What I did find, is that I couldn’t find any record of Hugh before he moved to Washington. He is recorded as living in Snohomish County in the U.S. Census of 1880, and the Snohomish County Census’ of 1883 and 1889, but no earlier. To confuse the matter more, his birthplace is recorded in one census as “New York” and just a few years later as “Vermont”.

Picture of the census records lookup for Hugh Emmerson from New York who settled in Washington State and has a headstone in Sultan City Cemetery.

This in itself I realize could be very telling. I imagine that in the late 1800’s it was rather easy for someone to change their entire life; their name, where they were born, where they lived. Maybe Hugh was running from something, maybe he changed his name and fudged his birthplace to gain anonymity so that he could live the last years of his life the way he wanted; alone.

There is still the question of that headstone. One possibility is that the people of the area, not knowing who to give his final possessions or money to, had used them to purchase the headstone. I wonder how Hugh would feel about this if he knew. A man who seemed to have wanted to spend the last years of his life quietly and without companionship, is memorialized with such an elaborate headstone and poetic memorable epitaph.

I know I won’t soon forget him and will continue to search for his story.

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Stolen Vases – Modern Grave Robbers

by Jenn Posted on December 3, 2012

Picture of a headstone where grave robbers have stolen the vase from top.

Have you ever gone to a cemetery and noticed that something was missing? Most people think that grave robbing is digging up a grave to take jewelry and money left with the deceased, but these days grave robbers have begun taking something much easier to get than items buried six feet under: bronze vases.

But why would people want to take them?

The most commonly understood reason for stealing cemetery vases is to sell them to scrap metal dealers for quick cash. Many cemetery vases are made of bronze and copper, valuable metals on the black market.

The people who steal these vases are drug addicts looking for a quick fix, or people so down on their luck that even robbing the dead is not below them. The thief, or thieves, will sometimes steal dozens of vases in a night, or even hundreds over a weekend. These vases can be sold to scrap metal yards for approximately $5-$15 a piece, which is a fraction of their original cost of $200 – $500 a piece.

But many cemeteries are fighting back against grave robbers and taking measures to prevent bronze vase theft, or at the very least to identify the vases if recovered.

Some cemeteries will etch the name of the cemetery and the name of the deceased onto the bottom of the vase so that it can be returned to its proper spot if recovered, and in some cases chains have been added to the vases that attach them to the headstone they belong with.

Bronze vase stolen from a grave site, leaving only a hole in the headstone.Certain cemeteries have gone as far as to hire security guards to patrol the grounds regularly, or have even questioned visitors to the cemetery regarding the theft.

While visiting a cemetery in Washington state earlier this year, I noticed a vehicle with a large “security” label parked near the mausoleum. When I asked, I was told by cemetery workers that this vehicle was parked there in response to recent theft and vandalism. This appeared to be strictly a visual deterrent as there were never actually any security guards around.

However, the most effective form of prevention has been simply utilizing vases that are made of materials that are less appealing to scrap metal dealers, and by extension, vase thieves.

You might be surprised at who else might have taken the vases home: the families. Some people have gone as far as to take home vases from the graves of their loved ones to prevent them from being stolen. And some people don’t buy vases, or want vases for their own graves because of their experiences with a stolen vase.

When a vase is stolen, it can feel like a part of your loved one is missing. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is to walk up to a loved one’s grave with flowers in hand, only to find that there’s no longer a vase to put them in.

Picture of headstone vase made with new materials to deter grave robbers from stealing and selling the vase.Many cemeteries will not pay to replace the stolen vase, as it is considered personal property, meaning the deceased who no longer have living family members may lose their vase forever.

It has always been a dream of mine to start a non-profit to help people in need buy headstones for their loved ones. After learning about these thefts, I am also determined to help families replace the vases lost to these modern grave robbers.

These vases were meant to put flowers in, to show respect for the person buried there, not to be melted down and sold for pennies on the dollar.

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