Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery (also spelled Bachelors Grove or Batchelor’s Grove) is a small, largely abandoned burial ground of roughly one acre in Bremen Township, Cook County, Illinois. It sits inside the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve, northwest of Midlothian, reached by a short trail off the Midlothian Turnpike. Settlement in the area began in the early 1830s. One local account attributes the name to a group of single men (bachelors), including Stephen H. Rexford, who settled there around 1833–1834; another points to the Batchelder family. A post office named Bachelor’s Grove opened in 1843. The first documented burial is often given as Eliza Scott in November 1844, though some newspaper accounts list an earlier interment (William B. Nobles in 1838). In 1864 Edward M. Everden sold surrounding land to Frederick Schmidt while reserving one acre for the graveyard. Roughly 200 people were buried there between the 1840s and the early 1960s; the last regular burial is usually cited as Laura M. McGhee in 1965, with cremated remains of Robert E. Shields placed in a family plot in 1989. The railroad bypassed the small settlement in the 1850s, and the community declined. After the Midlothian Turnpike was rerouted, the cemetery became more isolated. Cook County assumed maintenance in the mid-1970s; it remains under forest-preserve oversight.
Isolation brought heavy vandalism, especially from the 1960s through the 1970s. Headstones were broken, spray-painted, stolen, or thrown into the nearby quarry pond. Some markers turned up at distant police stations. There were also reports of attempted grave openings and evidence of ritual activity. Few original markers survive intact. Local historian Brad Bettenhausen has noted that the site’s reputation as a party spot among teenagers helped generate and spread the ghost stories that later drew even more visitors.
Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in the woods of Rubio Woods Forest Preserve.
A surviving Fulton family marker among the damaged stones.
Reported Hauntings and Folklore
The cemetery is widely listed among the most “haunted” in the Chicago area. The best-known image is the 1991 infrared photograph taken by a member of the Ghost Research Society (often identified as Judy Huff-Felz or Mari Huff). It shows a translucent figure in a long gown seated on a marker; it has been called the “Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove” or the “Woman in White.” An earlier 1979 photograph has also been linked to a similar figure holding an infant. The image circulated in Chicago newspapers and on television and increased the site’s visibility. Some accounts connect the figure to a small “Infant Daughter” stone (associated with the Fulton family). Other proposed identities include a woman named Rogers who died in a fire with a child. No contemporary records identify a specific person matching the descriptions.
Additional reported phenomena include:
- A phantom one-story Victorian farmhouse with a porch and picket fence that appears in the distance and vanishes when approached (sometimes called the disappearing or magic house).
- Floating orbs, blue or red lights, and mist.
- Phantom vehicles on the old road alignment.
- A black dog or other animal figures.
- Occasional claims of a man and horse or plow rising from the pond (tied to a local drowning story).
- Rumors that Prohibition-era gangsters used the pond for body disposal (no confirmed historical documentation supports specific dumps).
Local historians and cemetery researchers have pointed out that many of the tales have little documentary basis and that the vandalism and party atmosphere helped the legends grow. The cemetery is not open for unrestricted nighttime access; forest-preserve rules apply.
What is documented is an early-1840s rural cemetery serving a short-lived settlement, roughly 200 burials, severe vandalism after isolation in the mid-20th century, and a body of ghost stories that intensified in the 1970s–1990s, amplified by a widely circulated 1991 photograph. The identities and events attached to the figures are the ones later storytelling supplies.
Relevant links
Atlas Obscura: Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery — overview of the site and its reputation
Wikipedia: Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery — location, early burials, and vandalism summary
Bachelors Grove Cemetery & Settlement Research Center — detailed settlement and cemetery history
WBEZ: Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery Ghost Stories — the 1991 photograph and local historian perspective
Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries: Bachelors Grove – Struggling to survive — vandalism and historical context
Find out more about Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery here.