Where did the bodies go?
Where did the bodies go?
Posted by: ChiTownJim ()
Date: January 06, 2013 12:20PM

I am doing a family research and I am trying to locate a grave of a family member. I know Lincoln Park used to be a cemetery, but where did the graves get relocated to?
Was there a certain place or did they get scattered among various cemeteries?
My ancestors lived in the Lncoln Park area and must have had a child die about 1862. The records I have researched at St Michael's start at 1864 so I was wondering if he would have been buried at the Lincoln Park Cemetery ( I know that it didn't go by that name.)

What other cemeteries were around at that time?

It seems most of my early ancestors were buried at St Boniface, but from what I read, it didn't open until about 1863, and I couldn't locate the grave at that cemetery.

Any ideas or leads would be appreciated. Thanks.

Re: Where did the bodies go?
Posted by: daveg ()
Date: January 06, 2013 07:30PM

This should answer your questions regarding the Lincoln Park cemeteries. There were 4 of them BTW.

http://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/home.html

This site contains >120 pages on the subject. It is quite a fascinating body of work.

Re: Where did the bodies go?
Date: January 09, 2013 11:35PM

[b]From what I got from my own reaserch is that many are still burried there in the park.Bodies and body parts have been found when construction was taking place in and around the park. I think the last one was in the80's while repairing La Salles Drive. I'll have to look it up again to be sure of that. Some were said to be burried at Dunning now covered over. Most likely there are bodies still buried in Lincoln Park today.[/b]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2013 09:54PM by Richard Stachowski.

Re: Where did the bodies go?
Posted by: querencia ()
Date: February 02, 2013 04:42AM

Do you happen to know the family's religion? Catholic burials at Calvary Cemetery date from 1859, as do burials at Rosehill, Graceland, and Oak Woods Cemeteries. Bear in mind that the child whose grave you seek died before the Chicago Fire (1871) which left the city and its records in chaos. BTW St Boniface is a German cemetery; a book on the history of Chicago's graveyards says that it was established because German Catholics did not want to be buried with Irish Catholics---and peering into St Boniface as I walk past, I see only German names.

Re: Where did the bodies go?
Posted by: daveg ()
Date: February 05, 2013 01:16PM

Here's a link to the factors that contributed to moving the cemetery:

http://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/factors.html

And one on the effects of the Chicago Fire:

http://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/lincoln_park/chicago_fire/fire_naratives.html

Re: Where did the bodies go?
Posted by: Paul Petraitis ()
Date: May 03, 2013 01:26PM

I'd l.ike to know where the victims (civilian and military) of the Ft. Dearborn Massacre were buried. The old cemetery at 22nd and the Lake Shore? On the site near 18th? (tho nows there's some question as to the true location of the battle, maybe further south more on that later)Someone said the bones (which had lay bleaching in the sun for 4 years) were interred along the road out of the south door of the fort somewhere near Madison st. Its a shame chicagoans are so busy that they ignore their own history. Do we need a Ft. Dearborn thread?

Re: Where did the bodies go?
Posted by: robertloerzel ()
Date: May 03, 2013 01:33PM

Hi. I just did a story for WBEZ on the old Dunning insane asylum and the potter's fields there, which include some of the bodies originally buried in Lincoln Park. The story's at: http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/story-dunning-tomb-living-106892

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