On a sweltering summer day, a worker walked through Elk Grove Cemetery, searching the ground. Where he saw a depression, he eased a slender steel pole into the soil, probing. A muffled clunk came up through the dirt — something hard. When unearthed, it turned out to be a headstone from 150 years ago.
That discovery last summer led to restoration workers literally digging up history in the cemetery over the last year, finding about two dozen grave markers that had been buried, broken or grown over. They scrubbed the marble and granite with cleaner to restore its brightness, epoxied together the broken parts, stabilized the foundations, and restored the markers to their rightful places.
It was all part of a transformation of the historic cemetery, which holds two documented soldiers who served in the American Revolutionary War. The cemetery will be rededicated Saturday to help celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding.
“Now that it’s restored, it’s amazing to see how much they’ve taken care of it and are trying to preserve what’s important to us,” said Dawn Hedrick, a descendant of soldier Aaron Miner.
When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, Miner joined the Connecticut Militia at the age of 18, according to the Elk Grove Historical Museum. He served as a rifleman for five years, in battles at Lake George, Lake Champlain, St. John’s and Montreal.
After the war, at age 76 in 1833, Miner led three generations of his family from Vermont to Elk Grove in a covered wagon pulled by oxen. The family built a log cabin and farmed the area around their new home, where Miner lived until his death in 1849.
The other Revolutionary War soldier at the cemetery is Eli Skinner. When Eli Skinner joined the Massachusetts Militia in 1775, he was just 15, and started as a fifer. He served in the Boston area initially, and later carried arms and marched to Ticonderoga to serve in battle there and do garrison duty, said Mary Arvidson, a local historian and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
After the war, Skinner came with his family to farm in Elk Grove in 1795, and died there in 1851. Both men are honored with graveside memorials in addition to their original headstones.
The impetus for the rededication of the cemetery came from Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson, a former high school history teacher.
He raised $800,000 through private donations to restore the cemetery. Workers improved the service road, cut down dead trees and brush, and added a paved path with benches, solar-powered lights and a flag pole. The crew also tore down an old chain link fence and replaced it with a wrought iron fence with a distinctive entryway arch.
Originally, the cemetery was created next to a small dirt road, but the I-90 Jane Addams Memorial Tollway has since been built next to it, and encircles it with an off-ramp at Arlington Heights Road. The site had chronic run-off problems before tollway workers fixed the drainage last year.
The rededication ceremony was set for 10 a.m. Saturday, featuring an honor guard and flag-folding ceremony, speakers, the National Anthem and Taps.
The cemetery holds about 260 graves, with room for about 70 more. It contains the remains of soldiers from almost every war the United States has fought, as well as founders’ names that grace city streets or parks in the area, such as Busse and Olmstead.
“I said we need to make an effort to preserve this, because the history behind this cemetery is unique,” Johnson said. “I can’t tell you how many people say, ‘Mayor, when did we get a cemetery? I’ve lived here 20 or 30 years but never noticed it.’”
Arvidson, the historian, said she was excited to speak at the rededication.
“It’s history that was lost that’s being recovered now,” Arvidson said. “These people were critical in the growth of the area. Their memories are now coming back into focus where they may have been forgotten.”