Consider the property surrounding the graveyard is under the care of the cook county forest preserve (which is why they patrol it) and seeing how cook county has neglected most of the forest preserves throught the years (like the toboggan slides at swallow cliff) surely they cant find any money to deal with the graveyard.
In an exerpt from Brad L. Bettenhausen, President of the Tinley Park Historical Society, it is explained that the cemetery is now under the supervision and responsibility of the Cemetery Trustees (under the Real Estate Management Office) of the Cook County Board. The County Board was approached by an aged Clarence Fulton in the fall of 1975 to take charge of the care and maintenance of the old cemetery. Mr. Fulton had previously requested Bremen Township's assistance in caring for the cemetery in 1967, but had been turned down. Clarence Fulton indicated that there was a Bachelor Grove Cemetery Association, but no official record appears to exist for the organization. In researching the history of the legal title to the cemetery at that time, it was determined that title probably still rested in the hands of the descendants of Edward M. Everden, since no deed could be found for the cemetery itself and subsequent deeds and property transfers specifically excluded the one acre cemetery. After clarifying the legal description and boundaries of the cemetery and obtaining clear title through condemnation procedures, Cook County assumed responsibility for the cemetery in about 1976. Through intergovernmental agreements, maintenance of the cemetery is now shared with the Cook County Forest Preserve District. According to an unsubstantiated account, the Chicago Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has also provided some maintenance for the cemetery from time to time on behalf of the County in years past.
I have also come across a web site from a group called the Grover Restoration Project that seems to try once a year to get a permit from the forest preserve to go to the cemetary and clean it and the path leading to it of overgrowth and trash. So I guess there are some people who do care about what happens. Maybe we can also get involved. I would be much more willing to go there with lots of people than i would with just a few. (yea I'll admit it - I'm a big chicken)
