Notable burials · Arts and entertainment
Writers and poets buried in Illinois
Wikidata records 238 writers as buried in 72 of the cemeteries we list in Illinois. Graceland Cemetery in Chicago holds the most, with 51. Illinois has the 6th highest count of any state, out of 6,032 nationally.
People recorded as writers, novelists, poets, playwrights or screenwriters.
238
writers
72
cemeteries
7%
of notable burials in Illinois
1910s
the decade with the most deaths (32)
Map of cemeteries
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Each point is a cemetery; open it for everyone recorded there.
Best documented
Writers and poets buried in Illinois
- Abraham Lincoln1809-1865President of the United States from 1861 to 1865Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL
- Emma Goldman1869-1940Russian-born American anarchistForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Roger Ebert1942-2013American film critic and authorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Jane Addams1860-1935American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writerCedarville Cemetery, Freeport, IL
- Aaron Swartz1986-2013American computer programmer and internet-political activistShalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, IL
- Charles G. Dawes1865-1951Vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Mircea Eliade1907-1986Romanian-American historian, writer, philosopher and professor at the University of ChicagoOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Ronald Coase1910-2013British economist and Nobel laureateGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Bernie Mac1957-2008American actorWashington Memory Gardens Cemetery, Thornton, IL
- Ida B. Wells1862-1931American journalist and civil rights activistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Burl Ives1909-1995American musicianMound Cemetery, Oblong, IL
- Harold Ramis1944-2014American actor, comedian, and filmmakerShalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, IL
- Gwendolyn Brooks1917-2000American writerLincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, IL
- John Hughes1950-2009American filmmakerLake Forest Cemetery, Lake Forest, IL
- Voltairine de Cleyre1866-1912American anarchist writer and feministForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Shel Silverstein1930-1999American poet, cartoonist, songwriter, and children's writerWestlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- Elizabeth Gurley Flynn1890-1964American politicianForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Joe Hill1879-1915Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the WorldForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Edgar Lee Masters1868-1950American writerOakland Cemetery, Petersburg, IL
- Daniel Burnham1846-1912American architect and urban designerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Frances Willard1839-1898American temperance activist and suffragistRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Michael S. Hart1947-2011American author, founder of Project GutenbergWoodlawn Cemetery, Urbana, IL
- Allan Pinkerton1819-1884Scottish-American civil war detective and spyGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Saul Alinsky1909-1972American community organizer and writerRosemont Park Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Algis Budrys1931-2008Lithuanian-American author, editor, and criticMaryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Niles, IL
- Elihu B. Washburne1816-1887American politician and diplomatGreenwood Cemetery, Galena, IL
- Vachel Lindsay1879-1931American poetOak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL
- Jacqueline Logan1901-1983American actressGreenwood Cemetery, Decatur, IL
- Henry Darger1892-1973Author, artistAll Saints Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Des Plaines, IL
- Gus Hall1910-2000American politicianForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- August Vincent Theodore Spies1855-1887American upholsterer, radical labor activist, and newspaper editorForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- James Thomas Farrell1904-1979American writerCalvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, IL
- Louis Lingg1864-1887American anarchist and trade union activistForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Billy Sunday1862-1935American evangelist and baseball playerForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Marshall Taylor1878-1932American racing cyclistMount Glenwood Memory Gardens Cemetery South, Glenwood, IL
- Mamie Till1921-2003African American schoolteacherBurr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL
- Margaret Landon1903-1993American writer, missionaryWheaton Cemetery, Wheaton, IL
- William Proxmire1915-2005American politicianLake Forest Cemetery, Lake Forest, IL
- William D. Boyce1858-1929Businessman and founder of Scouting in AmericaOttawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, IL
- Lorado Taft1860-1936American sculptor and writerElmwood Township Cemetery, Elmwood, IL
- Francis Boggs1870-1911American film actor and directorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Paul Carus1852-1919American philosopherOakwood Cemetery, La Salle, IL
- Ralph Waldo Trine1866-1958American authorOakwood Cemetery, Mount Morris, IL
- Lucy Mack Smith1775-1856American religious leaderSmith Family Cemetery, Nauvoo, IL
- Jazep Varonka1891-1952Belarusian politicianElmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum, River Grove, IL
- Dick Cusack1925-2003American actorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Grace Hall Hemingway1872-1951American painterForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Irna Phillips1901-1973American screenwriter and actressMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Marius Katiliškis1914-1980Lithuanian writerLithuanian National Cemetery, Justice, IL
- Paul Dresser1858-1906American musicianSaint Boniface Catholic Cemetery, Lincolnwood, IL
- Emanuel Haldeman-Julius1889-1951American publisher and activistCedarville Cemetery, Freeport, IL
- Andrew Greeley1928-2013Irish-American Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist and novelist, 1928-2013Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- Lanny Poffo1954-2023Canadian-American professional wrestler and authorQueen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, IL
- Charles Reid Barnes1858-1910American botanistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Edwin Balmer1883-1959American science fiction writerRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Vincent Starrett1886-1974American writerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Maud Slye1869-1954American pathologistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Gustav Koerner1809-1896German American politician, lawyer, judge, and diplomatWalnut Hill Cemetery, Belleville, IL
- Cora Agnes Benneson1851-1919American attorneyWoodland Cemetery, Quincy, IL
- Hermann Raster1827-1891American newspaper editorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- John T. McCutcheon1870-1949American cartoonistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Chick Evans1890-1979Amateur golferMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Sidney Smith1877-1935American comic strip cartoonistRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Frank Wead1895-1947American naval aviator and screenwriterSpringdale Cemetery, Peoria, IL
- Lerone Bennett, Jr.1928-2018American academicSaint Mary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums, Evergreen Park, IL
- Oles Babii1897-1975Ukrainian writer and literary criticSaint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Emerson Hough1857-1923American writerHope Cemetery, Galesburg, IL
- Amanda Smith1837-1915African-American evangelistWashington Memory Gardens Cemetery, Thornton, IL
- Cissy Patterson1881-1948American newspaper publisher, socialiteGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Kenneth Fearing1902-1961Poet and novelistForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Florence Holbrook1860-1932American educator and authorOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Josiah Flynt1869-1907American writerRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harry Stephen Keeler1890-1967Novelist, short story writerRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Henry Blake Fuller1857-1929American novelist, short story writerOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Edward McWade1865-1943Actor, screenwriterRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Feliks Konarski1907-1991Polish musician and poetMaryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Niles, IL
- Richard Peck1934-2018American young adult novelistGraceland Cemetery, Decatur, IL
- Anna Marcet Haldeman1887-1941United States feminist, playwright, editor, author, and bank president.Cedarville Cemetery, Freeport, IL
- Mikola Shchahlow-Kulikovich1893-1969Belarusian composer, ethnograph and poet
- Eduard Budźka1882-1958Belarusian poet, opinion journalist and journalist
- Horace White1834-1916American journalistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Isaac Newton Arnold1815-1884American politicianGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William Vaughn Moody1869-1910United States dramatist and poetGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Harriet Hubbard Ayer1849-1903American journalistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Frederic Woodman Root1846-1916American composer and music educatorOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Thomas Jackson Rodman1816-1871American artillerist, inventor, ordnance specialist, and career United States Army officerRock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island, IL
- William Herndon1818-1891American lawyer and politicianOak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL
- Opie Read1852-1939American journalistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Stanley Waterloo1846-1913American newspaperman, editor, newspaper owner, and authorMount Hope Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Robert L. May1905-1976American writerSaint Joseph Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums, River Grove, IL
- Mary Hastings Bradley1882-1976American writerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Margaret Horton Potter1881-1911American novelistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Wilbur D. Nesbit1871-1927American poet and humoristAcacia Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, Norridge, IL
- Mary Onahan Gallery1866-1941American writer, editorCalvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, IL
- Mary Healy1843-1936American writerCalvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, IL
- Reed G. Landis1896-1975American flying aceOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Narcissa Niblack Thorne1882-1966American miniaturistRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Charles Richmond Henderson1848-1915American priest and sociologistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- James Madison Bell1826-1902African-American poet, orator, and political activistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- William Bross1813-1890American politicianRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Martha Capps Oliver1845-1917American poet, hymnwriterDiamond Grove Cemetery, South Jacksonville, IL
- Adaline Hohf Beery1859-1929American author, newspaper editor, songbook compiler, hymnwriterBluff City Cemetery, Elgin, IL
- Frances Horwich1907-2001American television executiveJewish Waldheim Cemeteries, Forest Park, IL
- Katharine L. Sharp1865-1914American librarianDundee Township West Cemetery, West Dundee, IL
- Marshall Goldberg1917-2006American football playerBethel Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Janka Čarapuk1896-1957Belarusian-American writer
- Augustus Dickens1827-1866Brother of Victorian-era novelist Charles DickensGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Janet Ayer Fairbank1878-1951Novelist, suffragetteGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Clara E. Laughlin1873-1941American writerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Richard McPherren Cabeen1887-1969American philatelistGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Genevieve Foster1893-1979American children's writerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Agnes Lee1862-1939American poetGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Lydia Avery Coonley Ward1845-1924American writer and poetGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Amelia Gere Mason1831-1923American writerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Fanny Hatton1869-1939American screenwriter, playwrightGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Roi Ottley1906-1960JournalistBurr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL
- Lillien Blanche Fearing1863-1900American lawyer and poetForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Samuel Fallows1835-1922English American minister, lecturer and authorForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Irv Kupcinet1912-2003American newspaper columnist, television talk-show host, and a radio broadcast personalityMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- William McKendree Springer1836-1903American politicianOak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL
- George Putnam Upton1834-1919American music writer and music criticOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Paul Shorey1857-1934American classical scholarOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Charles H. Beeson1870-1949American classical and medieval Latin scholarOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Claude Lightfoot1910-1991Author and CommunistForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Ron Haydock1940-1977American musicianResurrection Cemetery, Justice, IL
- Walter Mason Camp1867-1925American author, editor, and engineerMount Hope Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Roman Zavadovych1903-1985American journalistSaint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Laura J. Rittenhouse1841-1911American temperance worker, author, poet, orphanage manager, clubwomanCairo City Cemetery, Mound City, IL
- Caroline Augusta Huling1856-1941Journalist, philanthropist, editor, publisher and reformerOak Hill Cemetery, Downers Grove, IL
- Jun Fujita1888-1963American photojournalist and actorGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Edith Franklin Wyatt1873-1958American writerGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Andrew Constantinides Zenos1855-1942He was a Greek-American Presbyterian Minister, Author, Professor and Dean.Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Isadore G. Jeffery1840-1919American poetGraceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Charlemae Hill Rollins1897-1979American librarianBurr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL
- Roy Judson Snell1878-1959American author of childrens' and young adult fictionWheaton Cemetery, Wheaton, IL
- Edward Ross Balchowsky1916-1989American poetForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Frank W. Gunsaulus1856-1921American university and college presidentForest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL
- Walter Noble Burns1866-1932American writerMemorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL
- Matilda Carse1835-1917Irish-born American businesswoman, social reformer, publisherRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Lansing Campbell1882-1937American cartoonistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Celia Parker Woolley1848-1918American novelistOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Anna Olsson1866-1946American writerRiverside Cemetery, Moline, IL
- Alfred Hoyt Granger1867-1939American architect and authorRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- David Swing1830-1894American sermon writerRosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Ellen MacGregor1906-1954American children's writer, known for the Miss Pickerell science fiction series, and librarianOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Reginald Melville Chase1877-1946Canadian-American esperantist and language teacherOakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, IL
- Karl Berning1911-2005American politician, actor, and writerDeerfield Cemetery, Deerfield, IL
- Theodore Engelmann1808-1889German American author, journalist and publisherWalnut Hill Cemetery, Belleville, IL
- J. J. Bittenbinder1943-2023Member of the Chicago Police Department, public speaker, author, and former TV hostSaint Joseph Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums, River Grove, IL
- John Curtis Underwood1874-1949American poetGreenwood Cemetery, Rockford, IL
Showing the 150 with the most Wikipedia language editions, of 238. Cemetery pages list everyone recorded there.
Over time
Deaths by decade
- 1840s1
- 1850s2
- 1860s2
- 1870s3
- 1880s8
- 1890s12
- 1900s11
- 1910s32
- 1920s22
- 1930s31
- 1940s18
- 1950s24
- 1960s14
- 1970s17
- 1980s8
- 1990s7
- 2000s15
- 2010s9
- 2020s2
By recorded year of death, for the 238 people with one.
Cemeteries
Where they are buried
- Graceland Cemetery · Chicago, IL51
- Rosehill Cemetery · Chicago, IL28
- Oakwoods Cemetery · Chicago, IL20
- Forest Home Cemetery · Forest Park, IL16
- Memorial Park Cemetery · Skokie, IL7
- Oak Ridge Cemetery · Springfield, IL6
- Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery · Chicago, IL5
- Bohemian National Cemetery of Chicago · Chicago, IL5
- Lake Forest Cemetery · Lake Forest, IL5
- Calvary Catholic Cemetery · Evanston, IL4
- Jewish Waldheim Cemeteries · Forest Park, IL3
- Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums · Niles, IL3
- Springdale Cemetery · Peoria, IL3
- Mount Hope Cemetery · Chicago, IL3
- Acacia Park Cemetery and Mausoleum · Norridge, IL3
- Burr Oak Cemetery · Alsip, IL3
- Wheaton Cemetery · Wheaton, IL3
- Cedarville Cemetery · Freeport, IL3
- Shalom Memorial Park · Arlington Heights, IL2
- Evergreen Memorial Cemetery · Bloomington, IL2
- Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery · Thornton, IL2
- Maryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum · Niles, IL2
- All Saints Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum · Des Plaines, IL2
- Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums · River Grove, IL2
- Queen of Heaven Cemetery · Hillside, IL2
Top 25 of 72 cemeteries. The map shows all of them.
More lists
Other notable burials in Illinois
Business leaders265United States representatives260Baseball players201Musicians and singers191Journalists129Painters, sculptors and photographers94Physicians93American Civil War veterans88Actors80American football players78Architects74World War II veterans71World War I veterans70Scientists66Medal of Honor recipients57Inventors and engineers55Basketball players51Governors31United States senators25
Method
How this list is made
A person is on this list when their Wikidata entry gives a cemetery we list as their place of burial and also carries the statement this list is built on. We do not add anyone by judgment, so the list reflects how complete Wikidata is: some people are missing, and burial places can be disputed.
Names, years and descriptions are shown as Wikidata records them. Names link to Wikipedia where an English article exists.