“It is sound public policy to protect the burying place of the dead”
Close vs. Glenwood 107 U.S. 466,478 27 L. ed. 408
Quoted in Jackson Op Cit Page 287
This website is dedicated to all those buried in Cook County Cemetery in the hope that they will no longer be forgotten. And to all those who cared enough to participate in the rediscovery in a caring and positive way.
This website is further dedicated to Theresa “Terri” Kruszczak, 1956-1998, staff writer and managing editor for six weekly newspaper editions, the largest group of the Lerner Community Newspapers, later known as Pulitzer–Lerner newspapers. She was known for her accurate, fair and compassionate articles, on the rediscovery of Cook County Cemetery at Dunning. She is terribly missed.
A special recognition is made to the Reverend William H Brauer, back in 1989 Pastor of the Portage Park Presbyterian Church who passionately sought justice and equity for those who could not speak for themselves. He worked tirelessly to promote the moral value of preserving Cook County Cemetery.
When the Dead Gain Power
This website and partial database of those buried is dedicated to the many unfortunate people who died in Chicago or from one of the Cook County Institutions at Dunning and are buried in Cook County Cemetery. Despite being the County Potters Field and institutional cemetery, Cook County Cemetery at Dunning was very real and still exists to this day. Those who were buried here were real people, not “just bones”.
This database is intended to document the known burials in the cemetery, provide valuable genealogical information, and most important, help preserve the memory of these forgotten people.
As hundreds of bodies were disturbed during construction projects beginning in 1989, critics downplayed the size and importance of the cemetery. Those with financial interests in the land preferred to relate to the cemetery as just a bunch of bones that needed to be moved or disposed of. Many had never heard of the cemetery, largely because for many of its years was hidden behind a tall wrought iron institutional fence. Many others in the surrounding neighborhood do remember the cemetery but it was somewhat limited in access.
Compiling a list of the burials in Cook County Cemetery is a very difficult task because almost all official cemetery ledgers have either been lost or destroyed. Furthermore, almost all burial information before 1871 is unavailable because of the records burned in the Chicago Fire in 1871, with the exception of a few pre-fire undertaker records. Therefore this list had to be compiled from other primary sources including Cook County death certificates, records of burials in the Cook County Board of Commissioners reports, Cook County Coroner’s reports, a few ledger pages, and a few other sources. This list contains only a small percentage of the total number of burials that official statistics have revealed. A great deal of work still remains to be done using official primary records, mostly transcribing thousands death certificates and coroner's reports.
I know of no cemetery of this large size that has been lost, forgotten and then rediscovered. Cook County Cemetery has great historical significance for the entire Chicago area. The story of its rediscovery in 1989 was a major news event covered by television, radio, magazines, and newspapers.
This list will never contain a complete list of the burials, but it is hoped that even this partial list will insure that Cook County Cemetery at Dunning and those buried within will never again be forgotten.
Respectfully,
Barry A Fleig
Comments or inquiries, or corrections are most welcome: bartonius84@hotmail.com.com
For one of the best newspaper articles written at the time, documenting the rediscovery and controversy of the lost cemetery, please read Grave Mistake written by Harold Henderson and published as the feature story in the Chicago Reader September 21, 1989.
A text only without pictures can be found at:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/grave-mistake/Content?oid=874451