I was a resident of Chicago for some fifty years before fleeing to Arizona , A genealogist since 1967 and Chicago area cemetery historian beginning in the 1970's. Before the Dunning rediscovery in 1989, I served on the Board of Management for the Chicago Genealogical Society, as their Cemetery Chairman.

My most significant accomplishment was the rediscovery, identification and research of Cook County Cemetery at Dunning on Chicago's Northwest side.. Over 38,000 people were buried there between 1883-1920's.

In 1989 much to the displeasure of the developers, politicians, and lawyers, I uncovered records and maps documenting the burials allowing me to estimate the now familiar number of over 38,000 bodies within some twenty-seven acres of the 320 acre County Farm. At the time I was a consultant for the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the developers regarding this cemetery. After many years of wrangling, almost nine acres of cemetery have been rediscovered and preserved under the Human Grave Protection act. One parcel is now the Read-Dunning Memorial Park. The other partially under Oak Park Avenue has been resurveyed and properly platted.

Harold Henderson wrote a great and best feature article for the Chicago Reader newspaper entitled "Grave Mistake" published September 21, 1989, the rediscovery of Cook County Cemetery at Dunning The text of that article, without the pictures, can be read online at http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/grave-mistake/Content?oid=874451

DATABASE OF NAMES
Since 1989, I have continually been building a database of names built from a variety of primary sources including Cook County official records, two very partial cemetery ledgers, and many visits to Salt Lake where I painfully viewed (the old fashioned way) thousands of death certificates and coroner's reports on the archaic microfilm readers.

My database as of November 2013 contains about 6900 names, and about 1000 or more are awaiting transcription from captured images . I still make trips to the microfilm readers both at Salt Lake and here in Arizona,, but now simply grab an electronic image for later transcription.

I am willing to share information and do database lookups upon request. If you are looking for a long lost uncle or grandparent who might have been a patient at Dunning or died there, I will check for their name in my database.

Email me at [email protected]

I was a resident of Chicago for some fifty years before fleeing to Arizona , A genealogist since 1967 and Chicago area cemetery historian beginning in the 1970's. Before the Dunning rediscovery in 1989, I served on the Board of Management for the Chicago Genealogical Society, as their Cemetery Chairman.

My most significant accomplishment was the rediscovery, identification and research of Cook County Cemetery at Dunning on Chicago's Northwest side.. Over 38,000 people were buried there between 1883-1920's.

In 1989 much to the displeasure of the developers, politicians, and lawyers, I uncovered records and maps documenting the burials allowing me to estimate the now familiar number of over 38,000 bodies within some twenty-seven acres of the 320 acre County Farm. At the time I was a consultant for the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the developers regarding this cemetery. After many years of wrangling, almost nine acres of cemetery have been rediscovered and preserved under the Human Grave Protection act. One parcel is now the Read-Dunning Memorial Park. The other partially under Oak Park Avenue has been resurveyed and properly platted.

Harold Henderson wrote a great and best feature article for the Chicago Reader newspaper entitled "Grave Mistake" published September 21, 1989, the rediscovery of Cook County Cemetery at Dunning The text of that article, without the pictures, can be read online at http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/grave-mistake/Content?oid=874451

DATABASE OF NAMES
Since 1989, I have continually been building a database of names built from a variety of primary sources including Cook County official records, two very partial cemetery ledgers, and many visits to Salt Lake where I painfully viewed (the old fashioned way) thousands of death certificates and coroner's reports on the archaic microfilm readers.

My database as of November 2013 contains about 6900 names, and about 1000 or more are awaiting transcription from captured images . I still make trips to the microfilm readers both at Salt Lake and here in Arizona,, but now simply grab an electronic image for later transcription.

I am willing to share information and do database lookups upon request. If you are looking for a long lost uncle or grandparent who might have been a patient at Dunning or died there, I will check for their name in my database.

Email me at [email protected]