The Headstone in the Courthouse Basement: A Kane County Mystery

Away from public view in the basement of the historic Third Street Courthouse in Geneva is an object that has puzzled staff and historians alike for years. It's not a document, a painting, or an old piece of furniture. It's a headstone,resting on the floor, with missing letters and an incomplete date. 

The stone's inscription reads, “Willie C. Cright… , died October 188?" It is missing letters from the last name and the complete date of death.

Scouring the internet and reviewing archival records with the Geneva History Museum reveal that the headstone belongs to William C. Crighton, the first-born child of John W. Crighton and Mary Cooper Crighton. Willie died on October 27, 1884, just days after turning five years old. A headstone marking his grave exists in Glen Ellyn, where several members of the Crighton family are also buried.    

His father, John W. Crighton (see footnote), was a farmer in Geneva Township. Born in Dundee Township in 1854, John was the son of Scottish immigrants and built a successful life in Chicago's milk business before later becoming the owner of a farm in Kane County. Mr. Crighton married Mary Cooper, who was born and raised in Glen Ellyn, and together they would go on to have three living children.

While historians now know who the headstone belonged to, why it is in the courthouse basement remains a mystery.

Was it moved during a cemetery reorganization? Temporarily stored and never reclaimed? Or did someone, at some point, intentionally bring it to the courthouse for safekeeping?

There are no records. At least none discovered so far, that explain how or when the stone made its journey from a child's grave to the basement of a government building.

For now, the story of Willie C. Crighton is no longer lost. The mystery of how his headstone came to rest in the basement of the Kane County Courthouse, however, remains unsolved—an open chapter in Kane County's past.

Footnote:
Biographical Record of Kane County, Illinois, originally printed by the S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1898.