Bone Found at Another Chicago-Area Cemetery, Mount Glenwood, Police Launch Investigation, Sued for Reselling Grave Sites, Double Burying

This could get scandalous and criminal. A human bone was found on the ground of another cemetery in Illinois. According to the Chicago Sun Times, a man delivering concrete vaults Friday morning to Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens South Cemetery noticed the bone and called the police. At this time, it is unclear if this discovery mirrors the appalling grave-reselling scheme at Burr Oak Cemetery, but officials are taking no chances and have launched an investigation.

The Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed yesterday that the bone is human, leading the sheriff to open an investigation. As of yesterday, the cemetery is still open. But there is something brewing with this cemetery. This discovery comes days after three people sued the Mount Glenwood, accusing the cemetery of reselling grave sites and double-burying their relatives. The lawsuit was filed a week after a former gravedigger at a sister property, Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens West, near Hickory Hills, said he buried bodies two and three deep for years. That comment alone is worth an investigation into what is really happening at this cemetery.

According to the cemetery's website, it has been a part of African American history since 1908.

Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens' real existence began in the summer of 1908, when a Mr. Patton became acquainted with Dr. E.S. Miller, J.L. Parks, R.M. Leach, Jackson Gordon and L.W. Dickerson. These men, particularly Mr. Patton, noted the changing environment and the need for equality and formed Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens.

"The unrest, and heavy heartedness of a Washerwoman telling how she had to pay $50.00 for a grave and white people $25.00 stirred his very being. [Mr. Patton] decided to give them a chance the same as any other citizen." - The Chicago Defender,"The Origin of Mt. Glenwood Cemetery" October 29,1910.

So while the rest of the nation was still getting over the Civil War, Mt. Glenwood Memory Gardens became the first cemetery in the Chicago to bury African-Americans.

"On Decoration Day, 300 people took a special C.& E. I. train for Mount Glenwood cemetery. The cemetery is a beautiful sight to behold. It is locked in, as it were, by the forest. At intervals a train on the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway passes, making its appearance and dissapearing as if on a stage." - The Chicago Defender, "Decoration Day at Mt. Glenwood" June 4, 1910.