Society Saturday - Marking Big Woods Cemetery

The DuPage Chapter of  Daughters of the American Colonists (DAC) recently visited the Big Woods Cemetery in Aurora, Illinois, as part of their yearlong 70th Anniversary Celebration.  This is a historic cemetery that had been marked and rededicated by the State DAC.  There are several graves in the cemetery dating back to the 1830's, including a Revolutionary War Patriot and his family.  

The cemetery was originally part of the Big Woods Church that is adjacent.  The Church was established as the Big and Little Woods Church of Christ in 1835, but soon after became the Big Woods Congregational Church.  It is one of the oldest churches in DuPage County.  The church was quickly involved with the abolitionist movement and was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad.   It later became involved with the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

Society Saturday - A Cemetery Tour

The Chicago Chapter, Colonial Dames of America met recently for a Cemetery Tour.

We met at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.  One of our members has given tours there before and took us on a walking tour.  It was a beautiful fall day, about 70 degrees.

This cemetery is where several prominent early Chicagoans are buried.  Above is the monument for architect Louis Sullivan.  Others buried there are developer Potter Palmer, retailer Marshall Field, architect Mies van der Rohe, piano manufacturer William Kimball, and railroad car maker George Pullman.

It was nice to walk in this beautiful cemetery and learn some interesting tidbits of Chicago History.