Lacey Tombstone

This is a tombstone of the Lacey family. It is located at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois.



Mary E. Lacey
Born May 1, 1865
Co. Mayo Ireland
Died June 30, 1913
--
Martin D. Lacey
Born Aug. 26, 1861
Cincinati, Ohio
Died Nov. 8, 1916



Mary Frances
Lacey
Born June 30, 1884
Died Mar. 23, 1895
--
Loretta Lacey
Born Jan. 8, 1887
Died Dec. 8, 1890

Patrick Whelan Cemetery Record

Patrick Whelan, the brother of my ancestor Timothy, was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, IL, along with several members of his family. In fact, I count 26 names listed as buried in this 3 grave plot. Many of them were children and infants. I have seen other plot cards from Calvary with 10 or more people in a 3 grave plot. But I guess 26 was the limit. The staff typed "NO ROOM FOR FUTURE INTERMENTS" on the card in 2 places.



This plot was used by the family for over 100 years. The first burial was Mary Whelan on 11/30/1861. The last burial was Mary Whalen on 11/21/1964.

Other points of interest:
1. The surname Whelan is spelled 3 ways on this card: Whalan, Whalen, and Whelan.

2. Other surnames on the card are Martin, Landy, Reardon, and Maloney. The first 3 surnames include known in-laws of Patrick Whelan.

3. There are 6 Mary Whelans buried in this plot.

I'm looking forward to finding obituaries and/or death certificates for some of those buried here.

Thomas Whelan Headstone

Here are photos of the headstone of Thomas Whelan who was buried at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Illinois on 8 November 1905. His wife, Delia (Della on the headstone) was buried in the same lot on 26 February 1919.




Here is a transcription of the headstone:

WHALEN
THOMAS F. WHALEN
DIED NOV. 5, 1905
DELLA WHALEN
DIED FEB. 22, 1919

This is an image of the plot card, showing 7 people buried in the plot.

Whelan Headstone

Happy Halloween!

In honor of Halloween, I am posting cemetery photos this week. This is a photo of the headstone of my great-grandparents Timothy and Catherine (Markey) Whelan (or Whalen) and their son John. Like my parents, they are buried in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois.

I was very glad when I found out where my great-grandparents were buried, and was able to take a picture of the headstone. Even more exciting was the copy of the cemetery record that I received. (See below.) This is a 3 grave lot with 11 people buried in it. Seven of the burials were of children or infants. In fact, this cemetery record led me to discover that there were 3 sets of twins born to Timothy and Catherine. Most of the children did not survive long enough to appear in any census record. However, those born after the Chicago Fire of 1871 did appear in baptism records of Holy Name Cathedral. Who would've expected a cemetery record to lead to a baptism record? I sure didn't when I first saw this burial record, many years ago.

Whalen Headstones

These photos are of two Whalen graves at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois. The graves are located in Lot 35, Block 23, Section U. I don’t know yet if these Whalens are related to my Whelans, also buried at Calvary Cemetery, but I hope to find out one day. Here are close-up photos and transcriptions of the headstones:



Michael Whalen
Husband of
Mary E. Whalen
Born Aug. 15, 1847
Died March 8, 1925
Rest in Peace



Mary E.
Wife of
Michael Whalen
Born in Chicago
May 25 1847
Died Jan. 13 1889
Rest in Peace

Calvary Cemetery Photos

In honor of Halloween, I will be posting some cemetery photos this week. This first photo is of my mom and dad’s headstone. They are buried in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois. Calvary is a large Catholic Cemetery in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It was founded in 1859, and was popular with the north side Irish (if a cemetery can ever be called popular.) I’ve seen many obituaries from the late 1800s that contained the words “thence by carriage to Calvary.”

The second photo shows the statue of St. Patrick near the front entrance to Calvary Cemetery. My parents’ grave is near the statue. In the background is Chicago Avenue, and the Chicago “L” tracks that go through Evanston and end in Wilmette.




Here is a link to the Catholic Cemeteries Archdiocese of Chicago website. It contains information about the consecration date, location and current contact information for the 43 Catholic Cemeteries in Cook and Lake counties, Illinois.