Chances are if you have read any paranormal literature written in the last few decades, you will recognize the name Bachelors Grove Cemetery. This small abandoned settlers cemetery just south of Chicago is a multi faceted location. History and reputation is one that draws attention to it for many different reasons over the years. It's biggest claim to fame is its various accounts of paranormal phenomena and urban legends associated with it. What you find when you look beyond the obvious, are events that over time have shown a true pattern of aggressive, obsessive and possessive behavior. We have in the past few years also noticed that surges in this type activity happen within a weather pattern as well.
Some say that the land is bad, Cursed by those who were wronged there long before any modern documentation had begun for such things. As we have learned more about Bachelors Grove and its past, both historical and paranormal , we believe that the evidence supports this theory. From first accounts of settlers up to present day experiences, a repeated cycle of contention is evident.
Spring time in the Grove is a beautiful thing. Flowers blooming, wildlife scattering about, and the quarry pond next to the cemetery becomes a flurry with life. With the warmer weather visitation begins to pick up and its seems as though with all of the life flowing back into it, the energies around, dormant in the cold months with nothing to feed off of, are now awake and slowly building
The land the cemetery rests on apparently has been causing turmoil and conflict all the way back to the earliest accounts of white man migrating to the area. Alvah Crandall was one of the first of the single men that came to the Bremen area. He and his brothers are said to have walked here from New York and staked a claim in the then Bachelors Grove settlement. Family tradition says that at some point the one or more of the Crandall brothers walked back to New York to walk their families back to their new home in Illinois.
A Chicago Record article dated sometime in 1898/99 was passed down through the Crandall family over the years and was located at the Tinley Park Historical Society in the summer of 2014. The article is a retelling of a personal account of the wave of emotional fever that hit the area in 1835 by P.D. Rexford, son of Norman Rexford who came to the Bachelors Grove settlement that same year. It was at this time that speculators were moving in to buy land that due to legalities was put to auction even though it had already been previously claimed and improved on. The air was thick with the tension that was building during this time and tempers flared as men were afraid of losing their plot of land they had traveled far and worked so hard for.
The younger Mr. Rexford describes the brewing anger and intimidation aimed at newcomers who dared to come into town and try to take the land that was theirs. Alvah Crandall was one of those that lost his land. A Preacher sent by his township to purchase land set his sights on Alvah’s property. After days of warning would be usurpers of the consequences should they dare bid on an already claimed plot, Alvah promptly knocked the preacher out with one swift punch when the man ignored the warnings and made a bid. Area settlement lists found at South Suburban Genealogical Society shows Alvah Crandall lived for a short time in Bachelors Grove before moving on to Thornton. Information from several different documentations of Alvah Crandall and his family point to land he was distraught about losing in the news article was in Bachelors Grove Settlement.
In the many days we have spent in Bachelors Grove cemetery and researching its history, we have met a lot of people and heard many different stories. In 2014 we launched a survey on our website to gather as many of those stories and personal opinions on Bachelors Grove as we could. In a total of 250 responses we have collected, 65% answered yes to the question “After your first visit did you feel the need to return, an urge or a calling to go back? “. Many described an unexplainable, overwhelming desire to return the cemetery again, one participant stating “It’s hard to explain, it just stuck with me & in my thoughts”. What is it about Bachelors Grove that gets inside of people so deep that they feel that they must return?
Visitors commonly state that the cemetery emits an overwhelming feeling of sadness. Witnessing what little remains of the cemetery as a result of the terrible desecration it has endured over the years is enough to leave visitors with a very profound feeling of melancholy. Add to that a history rich with sad stories. The families buried within the cemetery have tragic and violent stories of their own made up of suicides, untimely deaths and brutal accidents. Taking this into consideration you can start to understand why some begin to feel protective of those who have been so long neglected. With such strong emotional reactions happening frequently as visitors come and go, does all of this energy create or possibly feed a negative aura that seems to lurk in the Grove?
In 1999, a lifelong Oak Forest resident wrote a fictional novel titled Bachelors Odyssey. It is, from what we can tell, set in the 1950's/60's. The story, based on Bachelors Grove Cemetery and the surrounding area, is about four local bachelors that find themselves involved in a murder mystery. Deceit and friends turning on one another are central in the plot of this story that gives a fictional account of other incidents seen more than once in Bachelors Grove. The author describes certain scenes in great detail. The thoughts and feelings of the characters experiencing Bachelors Grove are so vividly familiar that it had to be experienced to some degree to be described as it was. It is our belief that Mr. Hanley either experienced himself the negativity that lies in the Grove or witnessed it with others as he grew up in the area, eventually expressing years of troubles surrounding the cemetery in a fictional story.
For three and a half years now we have visited Bachelors Grove, most times on a weekly basis. We have in our own personal experiences seen the same type of contentious behavior. Friendships formed only to end in vicious ugliness. People drawn in to the beautiful wooded site afterwards become obsessive, possessive and aggressive towards others. Starting in the beginning of 2014 we watched a friendship between two close friends decline to the point that they couldn’t even be around each other without having a verbal disagreement. The verbal altercations escalated over time and at one point came to physical blows. We believe it is an orchestrated cycle. The players change but the game does not. We have personally observed and experienced the grip of Bachelors Grove to such a degree that we no longer even question if it exists. Something about the place has the ability to manipulate people and will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.
Over the last year we have located news articles dating back to the ‘60s that show several attempts to preserve and care for the cemetery. Clarence Fulton was the last official trustee of Bachelors Grove Cemetery and relative to many family members buried there. For many years Mr. Fulton cared for the cemetery. He spent a lifetime seeking a solution to the question of how to preserve Bachelors Grove and ensure its future. What we have found is that despite the effort of Clarence and many others to do this, no plans ever come to fruition. Every attempt to do so has been met with obstacles or hostility to such a degree that eventually most abandon their efforts. Something in Bachelors Grove does not want to be disturbed.
In 1969 Clarence Fulton formed the Bachelors Grove group and petitioned the township to make Bachelors Grove cemetery a shrine. The group also requested that the township set aside a budget for the annual care of the cemetery. The motion was denied. A 1969 local newspaper article announces that the local high school Young Democrats club was set to do a full clean up and restoration of Bachelors Grove. It never happened and we have yet to discover a reason why. In 1975 Clarence Fulton again approached the township and requested that they take over care of the cemetery. His request was denied. A year later in 1976 the county condemned the cemetery and gained a clear title, taking over responsibility. An interview with Clarence Fulton in a 1977 Suburban Tribune articles quotes Mr. Fulton’s response to the condemnation, “They just stole it. I don’t have anything to say anymore”. Clearly he was unhappy with how things were handled even though a cemetery board had been formed to care for several cemeteries in the area, including Bachelors Grove. The same news article states that the board had many plans for Bachelors Grove, its goal to “rehabilitate and protect” the cemetery by the end of the summer 1977. By now we don’t really have to tell you that the rehabilitation never happened. One has to wonder why Clarence was so angry about the condemnation after trying for many years to get the county to take over. But after reading what we have talked about here, you should have a pretty good idea.
From the earliest arrivals to current day trials and tribulations associated with Bachelors Grove, a repetitive pattern is undeniably seen. As we continue to research Bachelors Grove history we hope learn to fill in the gaps of time between what we have already learned and experienced. Always in search of answers to the question that is Bachelors Grove Cemetery.
For more information on Bachelors Grove Cemetery please visit our website at www.thepathtobachelorsgrove.com
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