Big Woods Walk: Ghosts of Aurora pioneers portrayed

By Al Benson

Ghosts of Aurora settlers came alive Saturday, Oct. 16, at Aurora’s Big Woods Cemetery Walk.

Aurora-based Big Woods School Foundation, a nonprofit, staged the first-ever walk at the Cemetery on Eola Road near Butterfield Road. The Walk was to raise funds for restoration of adjacent Big Woods Elementary School, a one-room schoolhouse that served students from 1918 to 1963. A 2020 walk was canceled due to rain.

In period costumes, five volunteer actors portrayed ghosts of Aurora pioneers who settled in Aurora’s far East Side.

Cast members included Roman Newhouse, Gabrielle Gudgeon, and Cole Prince, students at District 204’sMetea Valley High School in Aurora; Joe Krantz, a Batavia High student; and Terri Voitek, Lee, Ill.. Newhouse, of Naperville, portrayed Irvin “Irv” Ferry, namesake of Ferry Road; Gudgeon, Aurora, portrayed Caroline Warne Hill; and Prince, Aurora, portrayed Israel Putnam Warner.

Additionally, Krantz, Batavia, portrayed Thomas Bartholomew and Voitek portrayed Anna Crane Brown. Anna and her husband James Brown, farmed Big Woods land before deeding it for the Cemetery and former Big Woods Church. Voitek, a founding and current member of the Foundation, was instrumental in saving the school from demolition.

Big Rock resident Jill LaVine, Foundation chairman, welcomed visitors to the walk. Assisted by 13 foundation volunteers, tour groups left the cemetery gate at 15-minute intervals for portrayls amid the tombstones.

LaVine said she is waiting for numbers of attendees and funds raised. She added, “We were very happy with the walk (turnout). Attendees were fascinated by what they learned. We definitely will repeat it next year. We’re already researching which Big Woods residents to feature.

“Thank you to all who came out to support the Big Woods School Foundation at the Big Woods Cemetery Walk. A special thank you to our cast who shared the life stories of Big Woods residents of the past and to our neighbor at St. Anthaneus the Great Church, south of the cemetery, which loaned its parking lot for the walk. Join us next year as we share more fascinating life stories from the Big Woods.”

LaVine gave credit to Winfield Township, Cemetery manager, for “great support.”

Big Woods School, on Eola Road near Butterfield Road in Aurora, is an historic one-room schoolhouse that served students from 1918 to 1963. It was one of the first schoolhouses in DuPage County built after Illinois’ Sanitation Law of 1915, which created a set of modern safety and sanitation standards for the State’s public schools. The school’s plan is essentially the same as that recommended by the State, with considerations for playground space, lighting, ventilation, and indoor plumbing.