The cemetery is located on what is now the grounds of the Kane County Sheriff's Dept. and former county jail. It was established as part of the now demolished Kane County Alms House. The farm was established in 1852 as refuge for the indigent, senior citizens and mentally ill. The name was changed by Superintendent Frank Averill (tenure 1914 - 1935) to Kane County Farm, in order to restore a sense of dignity to the residents. It should also be noted that the facility also served as a hospital, since the hospitals in the area were either for fee, not nearby, or non-existent.

In the early 20th century, circa 1912, laws were changed regarding treatment and housing of the mentally ill. The "insane" at the farm were removed primarily to the Elgin State Hospital (est. 1872). No further mental patients were taken in at the Farm.

It was a fully functioning, and extremely large, residential facility, with a large crop and dairy farm. Censuses throughout the years show it listing residents names. The last burial occurred 21 Jan. 1953; subsequent burials took place at area cemeteries, and the Farm closed in 1971. Coincidentally, the last burial was Florence Buxton - twenty two years earlier her husband William was the last unrecorded burial (State of Illinois Death and Stillbirth Index).

After the Farm's closing, through neglect, the cemetery fell into deplorable condition of trees, brush and undergrowth . In 1995 a volunteer effort was mounted comprising county employees of the Forest Preserve Dept., Sheriffs Dept. and other County Depts., along with citizens of the county. The land was cleared of overgrown trees, brush, trash, etc. The sign, walkway, and memorial plaque were donated and installed.

Surveyors located graves and markers in the southern 1/3 of the tract, of which there were about 168 numbered concrete "plugs" to mark recorded burials. A few years after the renovation, a flood occurred on the land, and most of the plugs sank into the ground or were covered with silt.

The northern 2/3's of the plot contain the older burials, which were unmarked and (as far as is known) unrecorded. About 78 depressions were noted during the renovation, and it is believed that there may be up to 500 burials in that area (estimated at that number because of size of the area and average size of a burial used in the marked-off southern 1/3)

The cemetery covers about one acre, but there is only one memorial with a name and date in the whole cemetery. At this point it is unknown why this stone (McKee, d. 1919) is there, since it is from the period when burials were unmarked, and as noted previously, later burials were marked only with concrete plugs.

The recorded burials listed on this site show plot number, resident's name, and death date. Deaths prior to late 1931 are taken from the Farm's log book, which listed residents name, place of birth, town of residence prior to admission, reason for admission, gender, marital status, admission date, discharge date, and if died while in residence. If no notation was made in the log, it is assumed those noted as 'Died' were indigent or unclaimed and were buried in the Farm's cemetery. Information will be added as it becomes available.