Burial Planned For Yorkville Skeletal Remains From Mid-1800s Woman

YORKVILLE, IL — The skeletal remains found in May and identified as belonging to a woman from the mid-1800s were reinterred Thursday at Elmwood Cemetery in Yorkville, the Kendall County Coroner's Office said.

The roughly 175-year-old skeletal remains were found May 15 when contractors unearthed them while fixing existing water pipes in the 200 block of Park Street, Patch reported. Crews were digging a trench to complete the repairs when they hit the bones.

The coroner's office and Yorkville Police Department, with the help of the Kendall County Historical Society, identified the site as the former location of the Bristol Burying Grounds, a cemetery from the mid-1800s that has since been converted to a residential area.

The remains were later identified as being Lucy Crater's, an early pioneer of Kendall County.

RELATED: Skeletal Remains ID'd As Mid-1800s Woman: Kendall Coroner

Crater's burial space was donated by the Elmwood Cemetery Board, with financial support from the City of Yorkville. She was reinterred near her existing headstone and other county pioneers, who were originally buried in the Bristol Burying Grounds.

"Ms. Crater’s story and legacy hold significant historical importance for our community and deserve to be remembered," Chief Deputy Levi Gotte wrote in a news release. "The Kendall County Coroner’s Office encourages community members to honor her memory by sharing her story or visiting her gravesite as they see fit.