Prior to our examination of Chicago’s most infamous paranormal locations, Rosehill Cemetery was not on our radar, as it did not have a significant paranormal reputation in the city. Perhaps inhibiting any paranormal reputation is the fact that the cemetery has a policy that prohibits employees from speaking on the subject. However, there is some reported activity here as there are at least five ghosts said to haunt the grounds. Further the cemetery does have some connections to other haunted locations in the Chicago area.

For example, Charles Hull, builder of the purportedly haunted Hull House and home to the Demon Baby, is buried at Rosehill. Interestingly, many of the bodies that were removed from the Old City Cemetery in Lincoln Park as the city was expanded north were relocated to Rosehill. One example is that of Frances Pearce who died at the age of twenty in 1864 with her daughter following her to the grave only four months later. Her grief-stricken husband had an exquisite statue crafted of her and the child, immortalizing them in milky-white marble as a testament to his grief. The statue was "boxed" in a glass enclosure immediately after creation to preserve it from the harsh Chicago weather. According to legend, on the anniversary of her death, this box fills with a mysterious white mist.

Other notable guests who are connected to paranormal activity include Richard Sears whose crypt even has its own entrance from the outside. His ghost has been seen walking in tophat and tails toward the crypt of his rival in life, A. Montgomery Ward, located just down the hall a bit behind another ornate brass gate.

Another haunted mausoleum is that of Charles Hopkinson who died in 1885. He was a real estate tycoon who become rich during the Civil War. After his death, architect James Eagan designed a crypt that resembles a miniature version of a Gothic cathedral. This was the beginning of troubles for the Hopkinson Family. Plot owners near the crypt complained to the cemetery that the construction of the mausoleum would obstruct the view of their loved ones graves and the battle eventually went to the Illinois Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of the Hopkinson Family and construction continued. Probably due in part to all the disruptions in the final burial of Charles Hopkinson, it is said that on the anniversary of his death a soft, but gruesome moaning apparently rises from the crypt sometimes accompanied by the sounds of rattling chains

In 1995, a groundskeeper for the museum reported seeing an apparition of a woman floating near a tree on the north side of the cemetery. Dressing in a long, white dress, the apparition floated until dematerializing into a mist. Interestingly, the very next day the cemetery received a phone call from a woman who claimed her deceased aunt visited her in the night. The aunt complained that her burial plot was missing a headstone and she would not be properly remembered. A headstone was purchased and no further sightings have since been reported.

On two separate occasions we had an opportunity to walk the grounds of the cemetery with digital recorders and cameras. Quite a few orbs were caught on with the digital cameras in the low light throughout the course of our investigation. One picture in particular captured nine orbs of various sizes. It is also interesting to note that the picture that was flooded with orbs came at a time when we were especially demanding in our attempts to prompt paranormal activity. Numerous pictures were taken immediately after that photo (as well as the others) in an attempt to recapture or debunk any picture of an orb. The event(s) could not be captured again. In fact in the hundred or so pictures that Rachael and Tim took, orbs only appeared no more than a half dozen times. Further, the photographed orbs appear to meet the necessary standards for legitimacy. Also, another picture was captured seemingly showing an anomalous light source. 

Here, Rachael took a picture down a road in the cemetery. The shape is very odd and could not be recreated.  Rachael and Joe walked to where the picture was and there was nothing that could have reflected the flash:

During their first visit, Joe and Rachael were asking for a sign of anyone’s presence. Following that request, they both witnessed a white/grayish mass of roughly the size of a basketball appear above the ground in front of them. The mass shot to the left and disappeared quickly. Both Joe and Rachael acknowledge the event immediately and nearly simultaneously as it happened which ultimately adds to the reports credibility. While talking to Joe and Rachael after the fact, it was clear that they both were excited by what they had witnessed.

During the second visit, nothing of interest happened to us three (other than the orb visit.)

Here are some other pictures of orbs noting, as stated before, that of the hundreds of pictures taken by Rachael and Tim only a handful contained any sightings. Please click on the pictures for larger views:

In the top of the next picture there appears to be a mist high in the tree with nothing up there to reflect off of:

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Last updated: March 09, 2009.