The Robbed Grave of Sturdevant Cemetery

Artist's facial reconstruction of Esther Ann Granger Peck.

A fellow member of the Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society alerted me to a story (which is now being reported by numerous sources and even being discussed on Reddit) about the identification of a skull that had been found during the 1978 remodeling of a home in Batavia, Illinois. DNA testing did not exist in 1978, of course, so means of identifying the skull were limited at that time. Now we have not only DNA testing but a lot of people who have submitted their DNA for genealogy purposes.

And so we have learned that a young woman's grave, marked in the little Sturdevant Cemetery in eastern Ross Township, has been at least partially empty for a long time.


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From Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society, Ross Township Cemeteries (1995).

The full story is here: Kane County Coroner’s Office and Batavia Police Department Team with Othram to Identify 1978 Jane Doe. This video story shows the house in Batavia where Esther's skull was found.

Esther's listing on Findagrave.com, which formerly led to Sturdevant Cemetery, now shows her as being buried in Batavia.

Granger was her maiden name. She married Zalmon Peck on December 20, 1864 (Indiana Marriage Collection) when she was about 16 years old and he about 27. A Reddit user has even come up with a copy of the marriage record:


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Comment by cassodragon to thread titled, "After 45 years, Kane County Jane Doe (1978) is Identified." Reddit, Oct. 24, 2024. https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldoe/comments/1gb57iy/after_45_years_kane_county_jane_doe_1978_is/


A look at the 1874 Plat Map shows why the cemetery was also known as the Dennis Cemetery: the Dennis and Sturdevant farms were next to each other on what is now 89th Avenue:



I do not know exactly where the cemetery is. Findagrave.com describes it as being 0.7 miles east of Randolph on 89th. That sounds like Sturdevant, not Dennis, land. (In the census records, the Dennis family appears only in the 1870 Census — Thomas (41) and Mary (26) and a couple possible in-laws.[1] The Sturdevant/Sturtevant name is more pervasive.)

The cemetery can't be seen on modern satellite view. It can't be seen on the 1978 aerial view from the Lake County GIS website, either:


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/18676999665349e492506de765490541/page/Parcel-Info/.

That's just a screen shot. You can enlarge the 1978 aerial view more if you go to the website yourself, but you still can't see the cemetery. By the way, per the GIS info, all that land now belongs to the Lake County Parks Department.

I will try to get the 1939 aerial view, but that's not as easy as it used to be.

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[1] I came across an item in the "Hobart" column of the Crown Point Register of September 30, 1886: "The other day we met our friend, Thos. Dennis, formerly of Lake Co. He is as fleshy and good natured as ever and lives in Chicago."