Growing up in Illinois, you are bound to hear the stories of cemeteries, haunted places, and other legends. Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery has to be one of the most popular stories that is told. The weeks leading up to visiting Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery was filled with research, phone calls, and interviews. Gathering the proper permissions, learning what the legends are, even talking to many people who had been there in the past. Bachelor’s Grove is a cemetery in the suburbs of Chicago, tucked away in a forest preserve. If you seek it out, good luck finding it. Here we see what looks like just a path, little did I know that it would lead me to one of the most haunted places in the entire United States.

Bachelor’s Grove was created somewhere in the 1830’s, with the earliest stone showing 1823, and the newest as 1965. During the 30’s, they would bury immigrant workers who died while working on the I&M Canal. There are some disagreements on how old the cemetery really is, claiming that people were buried here far before the 1800’s.

The long path down to the cemetery seems never-ending and is surrounded by woods on all sides, seeming to separate you from the outside world.

There is no turning back now. I traveled and photographed this location alone, or so I thought.

After walking what seemed miles, I caught my first glimpse of this legendary cemetery. Immediately noticing that there is no longer any signs for it. One of the first rumors I came across were the monks. There has been numerous reports of walking to the cemetery, only to find many people dressed in a monk’s robe, all over the cemetery.

As soon as I came around the perimeter fence, vandalized stones are the first thing that caught my eye. This cemetery is heavily monitored by the local law enforcement due to the amount of damage that is done on a yearly basis.

There is no one who actually knows how many people are buried in this cemetery. The records for the cemetery are “skeptical at best.” There has been many people who were moved, as well as many stones destroyed or stolen. It is rumored that the mob used to dump bodies here during the 1920’s.

Now there are many, many legends that accompany this cemetery. The most prevalent being the phantom house, as well as, “The Madonna” of Bachelors Grove.

One of the largest landowners of the cemetery, John Fulton. This is one of the places in the cemetery that has had the most paranormal activity recorded. The “Infant Daughter” grave lays right behind this stone, as well as “the lagoon” straight behind that.

Some of the beautiful stone work on the stone of John Fulton

As I came around the side of Fulton’s’ grave, I was unprepared for what I was going to comes across. It was a very heavy feeling, almost a growing feeling of sorrow and abandonment. I didn’t expect to find an offering to the young infant who passes so many years ago. Cards, toys, and even money laid at the base of the stone for the infant.

A patron trying to leave a bit of life for the young infant. There is rumor that the “White Lady,” can be seen walking around the cemetery holding a young infant. Only bringing forth the question, who is this woman and is it the same infant as the one buried here.

The entrance to the lake at the edge of the cemetery. Once this lake was enjoyed by many; fishing, swimming, and general enjoyment. But that has taken a drastic change. Now the stories of enjoyment have faded into the past, only to be replaced by two stories. The first is seeing a farmer being drug into the water, drowning to death by his plow horse. There are rumors that on certain nights you can view him going into the water, only to remain there forever.

The second is a legend is of a hellish being. This is now known to be the home to a two headed creature who crawls from the murky depths, only to take off across the turnpike, disappearing into the woods.

There are also reports of ghost cars on the turnpike as well as the path down to the cemetery. The police have been called time and time again about a car, only to find nothing being there.

With my back to the lake, being very careful to watch my back, I proceeded to walk back toward the other back corner of the cemetery, a simple path guiding me.

After visiting the infant grave, I began to hear voices toward the back of the cemetery. I could see someone dressed in blue in the trees, whom I thought was another patron of the cemetery, but I was wrong, so very wrong.

This is the exact spot where the voices were coming from. There were no footsteps, broken branches, or even damaged brush. Keeping in mind that there was only one way in and one way out, I realized that my intuition was right, I was not alone. While I do not know what was out in the woods watching me, it did not want me to find it.

The end of the old road, washed away forever.

As if being watched by a mystery creature was not bad enough, as I reentered the cemetery, I was met face to face with this stone. Immediately I knew what I had in front of me. This was the very stone that the Ghost Research Society had captured a ghost on back in the 90’s.

Above is the photograph that the Ghost Research Society captured on an infrared camera. When this was taken, there was nothing to see with the human eye, only after it was developed, the ghost appeared. This society caught numerous recordings, as well as electronic spikes, this being one of the spikes. Could this be “The Madonna” of Bachelor’s Grove, or just a lost soul? “All credit for this photography is given to the society.”

The Phantom House is one of the other largest legends that plague this once historic cemetery. There are two stories that go along with the Phantom House. The first story is that a large white house appears off in the woods, seemingly looking inviting. The closer you get to the house, the smaller it shrinks, disappearing before you can reach the door. The second story is that it is a house plagued with a demonic presence, working to lure people inside. Once inside, the house disappears, trapping you in an unknown location, never to be seen again. With either story, the house is rumored to never appear in the same place twice.

The final story is of a black dog sitting on the path of the cemetery. Anytime someone gets close to the dog, it disappears before their very eyes. Throughout history, black dog apparitions have been rumored to be associated with “devils and hell hounds. Could this be evil spirits lurking around, or is it simply a passed on dog?

From the entrance of the cemetery looking down the path. By this point, the unwelcoming feeling was growing increasingly stronger, I felt that I had overstayed my welcome. I thought it was best that I leave quickly.

An odd marker that I saw on the winding path back out of the cemetery.

Seeing the end of the path at last. At this point, I was ready to leave this place and never return. There is something, if not multiple somethings lurking around the cemetery. Whether it be the beast from the lake, the victims of the mob dumps, or “Madonna,” I do not want to upset them.

**As always, we here at Abandoned Whereabouts pride ourselves on visiting these places in a legal manner. We strongly urge you to do the same thing. Always be careful anywhere you go.**