Rosehill Cemetery

Rosehill's Joliet-limestone entrance gate was designed by William W. Boyington, the architect of the Chicago Water Tower and the Old University of Chicago, who is buried in Rosehill.

Like its sister cemetery Graceland, Rosehill is the burial place of many well-known Chicagoans. The cemetery contains many monuments that are notable for their beauty and eccentricity.

Several graves from the old City Cemetery, originally located in what is now Lincoln Park were relocated to Rosehill. Some of the gravestones and monuments were also moved to Rosehill Cemetery and can be seen.  Bodies were supposedly moved from 1868-1880s, but with only 10 men working to disinter the deceased, it’s not physically possible that all plots were evacuated.  Then, when the Chicago Fire swept through, almost all of the markers in the City Cemetery were destroyed.  The only one that was left was the Couch Memorial, which is still in the park.  One researcher estimates that there were nearly 10,000 forgotten graves in the City Cemetery, this includes nearly 4,000 Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Douglas and were buried in Potter’s Field. It’s thoughts that they’re under what is now the baseball fields.  In 1998, a part of the park was excavated for the Chicago History Museum’s parking facility and the remains of 81 individuals were uncovered.  When Lincoln Park was first opened visitors were horrified to find countless open graves with pieces of decayed coffins and bones strewn about.

In the 1850’s the City Cemetery became a place for grave robbers for medical schools in need of bodies.  Marting Quinlan would load bodies from recent interments onto a cart, one of which was the body of a man who had died after having his leg amputated.  There was weekly or even more frequent visits to the cemetery to gather bodies for medical students.

Ghost accounts; Ghost from unmarked plot, the moaning of Charles Hopkinson, the ghost of Richard Warren Sears, and the ghosts of Frances Pearce and her infant daughter.

In October of 1995, one of the grounds keepers at the cemetery reported that he had seen a woman on the grounds of the cemetery. She had been standing next to a tree near the wall that shielded the cemetery from Peterson Avenue. The man said that he got out of his truck and approached the woman. The cemetery was closed at the time and he was going to tell her that she had to leave. When he got close to her, he realized that the woman, who was dressed in some sort of flowing garment, seemed to be floating off of the ground. Then, she became a mist and slowly disappeared. The grounds keeper rushed to the cemetery office to report the incident.

Strangely, the next day, a woman from Des Plaines called the cemetery office and requested that a marker be placed on the grave of her aunt. The grave had previously been an unmarked one but the aunt had appeared to her in a dream the night before and told her that she wanted her grave marked, so that she could be remembered. The grave was located in an old family plot and staff members went out to the site to verify the location and to see what type of marker was needed.

They were amazed to find that the site was the exact spot where the apparition had been seen the night before!

The stone was ordered and the apparition was never seen again.

Each year around Halloween a candlelit 5k run/walk is held.

Notable Monuments:
Volunteer Firefighters Memorial, erected in 1864

Civil War and Light Artillery Memorial

Oscar F. Mayer, founder Oscar Mayer hot dogs

Elisha Gray, founder Western Union
Ida Sophia Hippach, Titanic survivor
Reinhart Schwimmer, gangster, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre victim

Things to See:

Francis Pearce Stone and her daughter, the mother died at 20 and her 10 month old daughter died 4 months later, supposedly a white haze fills the case on the anniversary of their death.  This statue was moved from the old City Cemetery in Lincoln Park to Rosehill, a glass case was added.

Frances was married to a man named Horatio Stone in the middle 1800's. They were apparently very much in love and lived a happy life together until suddenly, France died at the age of only 20 in 1854. Four months later, her infant daughter followed her to the grave. Horatio was nearly destroyed by these events and he commissioned a memorial statue of Frances and their daughter to be placed at their mutual grave site in Lincoln Park. Later, the graves and the monument were moved to Rosehill. 

According to legend, on the anniversary of their deaths, a white haze fills the glass box that has been placed over the monument as the mother and daughter reach out from the other side to the husband and father who was left behind.

Mattie May statue, died at 19

Lulu Fellows statue, died of typhoid fever at 16, Born 11/5/1869, people say you can smell flowers at her grave even in winter.

Leonard Volk statue, a well known sculptor, he designed the Civil War and Firefighter’s memorials.  He also commissioned the work of his own statue.

Charles Hull statue, Charles Hull gave his house (Hull House) to Jane Addams to help immigrants.  Supposedly a child was born there with horns and a tail, it became the talk of the neighborhood and eventually became the inspiration for the book and film “Rosemary’s Baby.”

Sears family tomb, which is also the home to Aaron Montgomery Ward, some claim to hear rattling of chains, footsteps or glowing figures

George S. Bangs, who invented “Fast mail” using the railroad system to pick up and sort mail.  His tombstone is a sculpted twelve-foot tree, complete with birds, both pieces are made entirely from granite.

Randall W. Reffett, 15 year old victim of serial killer John W. Gacy.