Gravely Speaking

FILOMENA BUCCOLA REMEMBRANCE OF MY DAUGHTER

JULIA AGE 29 YRS.

questa fotografia

presa dopo 6 anni morta

BUCCOLA

On moonless nights when there is a gentle rain, there have been reports in the Mount Carmel Cemetery at Hillside, Illinois, of a mist with a faint light emanating from the haze. Inside the mist is the apparition of a bride hovering above the ground—always looking downward as if she has lost something—or someone. Upon investigation the visage is almost always spotted near the gravesite of Julia Buccola Petta and her stillborn son. Julia Petta is legend here, known simply as the Italian Bride. Her macabre story is one of heartbreaking sadness and mystery.

The story starts in 1909, when Enrique Buccola immigrates to Chicago to join his brother, Giuseppe from Palermo, Italy. Both brothers work in the fashion industry—Henry as a tailor and Joseph as a clothing designer.

Because of the brothers’ success, they bring over other members of the family to join them. Rosalia was the first sister to join them. In 1913, their mother, Filomena and their sister, Julia, immigrate to America, too.

On June 6, 1920, Julia married Matthew Petta at the Holy Rosary Parish. Nine months later, on March 17, 1921, Julia died giving birth to a stillborn son, Flippo. Julia was buried in her wedding dress with her son in her arms. Her mother, Filomena, was beside herself with grief.

Filomena began having dreams that her daughter was still alive. The dreams went on and were so vivid and real to her that after six years, she mustered the courage to have her daughter’s body exhumed so she could see once and for all that the dreams were not real—that Julia and her son had died.

The casket was opened and to the surprise of everyone, Julia’s body was nearly as she was buried—still with rose-colored cheeks and soft supple skin except where her son lay. He had decomposed. Many believed that Julia’s preserved body was a sign that she was a saint.

To honor her daughter, Filomena talked one of her sons into paying what was reported to be an astronomical sum at the time for an elaborate monument to be sculpted in Julia’s likeness. Julia stands atop the base in the wedding dress she had been married in and eventually buried in.

On the face of the stone is a porcelain photograph of Julia not only in the dress, after which the sculpture was modeled, but also a porcelain photograph of Julia on the day her body was exhumed after six years of being entombed.

The stone has the inscription:

FILOMENA BUCCOLA REMEMBRANCE OF MY DAUGHTER

JULIA AGE 29 YRS.

questa fotografia

presa dopo 6 anni morta

BUCCOLA

Of note, is the fact that Julia’s married name, Petta, is not mentioned on the gravestone. Also the epitaph, written in Italian, reads:

questa fotografia

presa dopo 6 anni morta

Which translates roughly into English as:

this photograph was

taken 6 years after she died

The story became a local sensation. It was not long after that people told stories of seeing the apparition of the bride in the flowing white wedding gown in the cemetery. Even to this day, there are reports of the bride in the mist.

DR. OSCAR SCHULTZ

NOV. 9, 1848

FEB. 11, 1890

LOUISA HIS WIFE

MAR. 9, 1850

MAR. 6, 1903

The representation of Hope can be easily found in American cemeteries.  Hope is most often portrayed as a woman standing and leaning against an anchor.  In the example above, from the Bellefontaine Cemetery at Mount Vernon, Posey County, Indiana, the allegorical figure of Hope is holding a chain that connects to the anchor.

The anchor is an ancient Christian symbol that has been found in early catacomb burials.  The anchor was used by early Christians as a disguised cross.  The anchor also served as a symbol of Christ and his anchoring influence in the lives of Christians.  Just as an anchor does not let a moored boat drift, the anchoring influence of Christ does not allow the Christian life to drift.

A TRIBUTE TO

THE MEN OF MONROE COUNTY

WHO IN THE SPIRIT OF LOYALTY

SERVED THEIR COUNTRY

IN THE WORLD WAR 1917 – 1918

AND LOVING MEMORY OF

THOSE INSCRIBED BELOW

WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

Memorial Day is a time to stop and remember the ultimate sacrifices that American soldiers gave for the freedom of their fellow citizens. Tributes to those soldiers can be found in town squares and cemeteries all across a grateful nation.

The tribute here is honoring soldiers from Monroe County, Indiana, who fought in World War I. In 1923, the memorial in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Bloomington, Indiana, was commemorated depicting “The Spirit of the Doughboy.”

Erected by

Public

Donations

In memory

Of the

Veterans

Of the Spanish-

American

War 1896 – 1902

Dedicated

9-26-1926

The Spanish-American War monument in the Bohemian National at Chicago, Illinois, was designed by Theo Ruggles Kitson. The eight-foot statue weighs a whopping 600 pounds. The statue, dubbed the Hiker stands atop a 25-ton boulder.

On the highest hillock in the Walnut Hill Cemetery at Petersburg, Pike County, Indiana, stands a monument and cannon to those who served in the Civil War. The column rests on a four-sided plinth. Two sides have bas-reliefs of eagle, flag, and shield.

The other two sides have the following inscriptions:

IN MEMORY

OF THE

MOTHERS, WIVES,

AND DAUGHTERS

FROM 1861 – 1865

—

IN MEMORY

OF THE

SOLDIERS

OF THE

CIVIL WAR

IN PIKE Co.

No other war was like the American Civil War for Americans because every sailor or soldier, every collateral death, every field or railway yard that was destroyed, every city or town devastated by artillery was American.  And, more Americans were killed in the Civil War than any other war that Americans have fought in.

Total American Deaths by War

Civil War                        625,000

World War II                  405,399

World War I                   116,516

Vietnam                            58,151

Korean War                      36,516

Revolutionary War           25,000

War of 1812                      20,000

Mexican American War    13,283

War on Terror                      6,280

Spanish American War       4,196

During the Civil War Americans were fighting against Americans. Brothers against brothers—cousins against cousins, every casualty and every fatality was an American. The war tore the country apart and threatened the existence of the Republic.  Cemeteries throughout the United States pay tribute to the soldiers that fought to preserve the Union, often with special sections where soldiers are buried.

PVT. MICHAEL

KOKOSKA

CO. L. 127 INF.

He gave his life in Honor

Of our Country

Born Sept. 28, 1892

Died June 27, 1918

in France

Many cemeteries feature memorials to soldiers. Some statues commemorate all of the soldiers who served in a war, some commemorate an individual soldier.

This memorial in the Bohemian National Cemetery at Chicago, Illinois, was erected in honor of Private Michael Kokoska, the son of Joseph and Majdelena Kokoska, Bohemian immigrants. Kokoska served in the Great War where he was killed in France and temporarily buried in the Morvillars Military Cemetery. His parents petitioned the Quartermaster of the Army to have their son returned to America for reburial. His monument is a testament to his loyalty and patriotism.