|
|
Resurrection
Mary
Resurrection Mary is a famous ghost story
and is considered by many to be the original
hitchhiker ghost story. It takes place around
the Chicago area in Justice, Illinois. Many
travelers down Archer Avenue -- a street
which runs through the city of Chicago --
and its South Suburbs, have reported seeing
a young blonde girl walking by, some who
have seen her have claimed to even have
given her a ride. The girl is said to be
very quiet once picked up and disappears
once the driver passes the gates of Resurrection
Cemetery in Justice Illinois.
The very
first, first-person account came from Jerry
Palus, a south-side man who recently died.
He picked up a girl at the Liberty Grove
and Hall near 47th and Mozart and danced
with her the entire evening. The only strange
thing is that she was very cold to the touch.
Later she asked for a ride home which was
somewhere in the Bridgeport area of Chicago
but decided she'd like to go for a ride
past the large Catholic cemetery along Archer
Avenue, Resurrection. As they began to approach
the main gates, she began to act very strangely.
She told Jerry to pull the car off the road
and, for some reason, she had to run toward
the cemetery and that Jerry could not follow.
Before he knew what was happening, she darted
from the car, ran towards the main gates
but disappeared before reaching those gates
in plain view of Jerry. He then began to
put all of this together and surmised that
he had been with a ghost that evening. On
a later visit to the home of Mary, he was
greeted by a woman who told him that her
daughter had been dead for sometime. He
even saw a picture of her sitting on a table
and was convinced that she was the same
girl he had been with. However, that was
impossible!
Resurrection
Cemetery is located at 7600 S. Archer Ave.
in Justice, Illinois.
Resurrection Mary Legend
One of the many legends of Resurrection
Mary is that she was a young Polish girl,
perhaps named Mary Bregovy. Even though
Bregovy was killed in an auto accident in
1934, it is unlikely that she was returning
home from the Oh Henry Ballroom/Willowbrook
Ballroom, as some have claimed. The accident
in which she was killed took place on Wacker
Drive in downtown Chicago. The car that
she was riding in collided with an elevated
train support and she was thrown through
the windshield. This is a far cry from being
killed by a hit-and-run driver on Archer
Avenue.
Others have
claimed that Mary was actually the ghost
of a young woman named Mary Miskowski, who
was killed crossing the street one night
in October 1930 on her way to a costume
party.
Reprinted
from the Suburban Trib, January 31, 1979
and written by Bill Geist:
"It was Thursday night - would have
been two weeks ago - and I was lost, basically,"
says Ralph , a cab driver.
"I'd
dropped this big spender way the hell down
in Palos Heights or Hills or someplace like
that and was trying to make my way back
to the tollway. I'd just turned on to Archer,
down there where it's still a lonely road,
especially at midnight.
"And there she was. She was standing
there with no coat on by the entrance
to this little shopping center. No coat!
And it was one of those real cold ones,
too.
"She didn't put out her thumb or
nothing like that. She just looked at
my cab. Of course, I stopped. I figured
maybe she had car trouble or something.
"She hopped right in the front seat.
She had on this fancy kind of white dress,
like she'd just been to a wedding or something,
and those new kind of disco-type shoes,
with the straps and that.
"She was a looker. A blond. I didn't
have ideas or like that; she was young
enough to be my daughter - 21 tops.
"I asked her where she was going
and she said she had to get home. I asked
her what was wrong, if she'd had car trouble
or what but she really didn't answer me.
She was fuzzy. Maybe she'd had a couple
of drinks or something or was just tired.
I don't know.
"Oh, the only thing she did say
really was 'The snow came early this year'
or 'The snows came early this year' or
like that. Other than that she just nodded
when I asked sometimes if we were supposed
to just keep going up Archer. She was
just looking out the window at the snow
and the trees and that. Her mind was a
million miles away. Maybe she smoked something
or something. Who knows?
"A couple miles up Archer there,
she jumped with a start like a horse and
said 'Here! Here!' I hit the brakes.
"I
looked around and didn't see no kind of
house. 'Where?' I said. And then she sticks
out her arm and points across the road to
my left and says 'There!'
"And
that's when it happened.
"I
looked to my left, like this, at this little
shack. And when I turned she was gone.
"And the car door never opened.
May the good Lord strike me dead, it never
opened."
I hope Ralph is reading this, because
I've learned since talking with him that
there's a simple explanation for what
happened.
He was understandably upset - and not
just about being stiffed for the fare
- both when he told me the story over
the phone and when he repeated it in person.
He wouldn't tell me his last name. He
wouldn't give me his telephone number
or let me see the car he was going to
leave in. "You might trace my phone
or my plates and put my name in the paper
and make me look like a maniac or an idiot,"
he said. "No way. I'll call you."
He says he is not an idiot or a maniac,
but rather "a typical 52-year-old
working guy, a veteran, father, Little
League baseball coach, churchgoer, the
whole shot."
This simple explanation, Ralph is that
you picked up the Chicago area's preeminent
ghost: Resurrection Mary. All you have
to do to accept this explanation and start
resting easy is to start believing in
ghosts - something you seem reluctant
to do.
I hadn't heard of her either when we
talked. But Resurrection Mary is a legend
and has been one - particularly in the
Polish neighborhoods on the Southwest
side and southwest suburbs of Chicago
- for about 40 years. There have been
numerous reported encounters with her
in that time.
The ballroom was closed Friday, January
12, and for about two weeks thereafter,
owing to the blizzard. But Thursday the
11th it was open until midnight, an estimated
ten minutes before Ralph says he picked
up his gowned hitchhiker three blocks
north.
It was
a special night in the ballroom: a single
night, for those without escorts to come
and dance the waltz and the foxtrot just
the way they did here for 40 years.
Other
theories suggest that Resurrection Mary
is the ghost of a twelve-year-old Polish
girl named Anna Norkus, who called
herself Marija (Mary) in devotion to Mary,
the mother of Jesus. "Marija"
loved dancing and persuaded her father to
take her to the Oh Henry Ballroom/Willowbrook
Ballroom as a birthday present. However,
they were both in a car accident on the
way home, an accident which killed "Marija."
This leads some to claim that Resurrection
Mary is really Anna "Marija" Norkus.
However, Resurrection Mary's dance partners
are the first to vigorously note that their
spectral date was closer to eighteen or
twenty than to twelve or thirteen years
old. Other researchers have turned up stories
of girls named Mary who died on or near
Archer Avenue, but none of them precede
the first sightings in the 1930s.
The entrance
to Resurrection Cemetery is recessed from
the road. These gates were closed when
a person driving by afterdark reported
seeing a young woman trapped inside, clutching
the bars. Hand prints found on the bars
the next day were attributed to Resurrection
Mary.That building you see straight ahead
is NOT a mausoleum. It is the cemetery
offices and is where the rest rooms and
other conveniences are located. NEVER
ask about "Resurrection Mary"
in the office. No they want nothing to
do with the "legend" and will
not answer any questions about it.
Reports of
Mary have been going on for years but seem
to have stopped around the early 1980s when
Archer Avenue underwent severe construction.
The original road that Mary is said to have
walked down has since been raised and changed
and believers suggest that this may have
stopped the walking of her spirit. Despite
this reports still show up occasionally
from people seen the apparition walking
from time to time. She has also reportedly
burned her handprints into the gate at the
cemetery. These prints apparently could
not be painted over until the fence was
removed.
Resurrection
Mary
She is always encountered as, and
perceived to be a real living person
- in fact she is categorized as
a "Vanishing Hitchhiker Ghost."
Several people have reported picking
up this pretty lone hitchhiker and
taking her to or from the ballroom.
As their car passes Resurrection
Cemetery, she usually vanishes into
thin air before the startled driver's
very eyes.
Resurrection Mary is described
as appearing to be a real, living
person, pale and blonde with rosy
cheeks, speaking very little, and
wearing a delicate white 1920's
style ball gown. Sometimes they
say a chill seems to emanate from
her body.
|
Resurrection
Mary's story may have inspired similar legends
in other cities. One such story, written
in 1965 by fifteen-year-old Cathie Harmon
for a Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, was
picked up by psychologist-songwriter Milton
Addington, who used it as the basis for
Dickey Lee's song Laurie (Strange Things
Happen In This World).
It's a classic
ghost story. A young man spends an evening
dancing with a girl he has just met. He
offers to drive her home, but she insists
on getting out of the car when they pass
the cemetery gates. She runs off towards
the cemetery and disappears. In many versions
of the story, the boy discovers the true
nature of his dancing partner when he tracks
down the girl's parents who tell him their
daughter died several years before. But
though the story has many variations, they
have their origin in the real-life encounter
of Jarry Palus who, in 1936, met Chicago's
most famous ghost -- Resurrection Mary.
The first
documented sighting of Resurrection Mary
was in 1936 when the aforementioned Jerry
Palus danced with a young woman at the Liberty
Grove Hall in Chicago (now demolished).
He offered to drive her home, and Mary directed
him to Archer Avenue. When they reached
the gates of Resurrection Cemetery, Mary
said she had to leave him and warned him
he could not follow her. She ran from the
car, vanishing as she reached the cemetery
gates. Later, in 1939, late-night motorists
driving along Archer Ave. complained to
police that a woman had tried to jump onto
the running boards of their cars.
This stretch of Archer Avenue is part
of Resurrection Mary's territory. Mary,
the hitchhiking ghost, is picked up
by drivers and disappears as they drive
past Resurrection Cemetery.
The greatest and most
well-documented Resurrection Mary sighting
occurred in 1976 when a police sergeant
from the Justice Police Department received
a late-night phone call from someone claiming
a blonde woman in a white dress had been
locked inside Resurrection Cemetery and
was wandering around just inside the gates.
Convinced it was a hoax, the police sergeant
arrived at the cemetery only to discover
that two of the bronze bars of the cemetery
gate had been pried apart. The bars were
scarred by scorch marks that bore the unmistakable
impression of finger and palm prints. The
phenomenon received widespread attention.
A year later cemetery employees removed
the two bars, sending them away to be blow-torched
and straightened. The bars were replaced,
but a single depression still remains which
many believe is a lingering thumbprint.
On October
10, 1979 there was a massive blackout in
and along Archer Avenue but only in Justice.
Commonwealth Edison and the police were
riding around in the cemetery shining their
light in the mausoleum because it was determined
that the blackout was centered in the mausoleum
in the middle of the night.
Believers say the best
time to catch a glimpse of Mary is in the
early morning hours, preferably on a full
moon night. It also doesn't hurt if you're
a man because almost all of the documented
sightings of Resurrection Mary have been
by men. She may try to hitch a ride, or
you might see her walking along the side
of the road near the cemetery fence. But
no matter who she once was or what form
her appearance, she still remains Chicago's
most well-known and best-loved ghost.
The Willowbrook
Ballroom was formerly known as the O'HenryBallroom.
Legend has it that Mary and her friends
were dancing here on the cold January
night she died in a tragic auto accident.
A few years after her death, Mary was
reported to dance with young men at the
O'Henry. She'd request a ride home and
disappear from the vehicle while passing
Resurrection Cemetery.
Experience the Ghosts, Local Legends & Best Kept Secrets of the Windy City!
Resurrection
Mary Sources
Bielski, Ursula. Chicago
Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City. Chicago:
Lake Claremont Press, 1998.
Crowe, Richard T. Chicago's
Street Guide to the Supernatural. Oak Park,
IL: Carolando Press,
2000.
Resurrection
Mary, Ghost Research Society (www.ghostresearch.org)
© 1998 Dale Kaczmarek. All rights reserved.
Resurrection
Mary: The Movie http://www.resurrectionmary-movie.com/
Resurrection Mary's story
may have inspired similar legends in other
cities. One such story, written in 1965
by fifteen-year-old Cathie Harmon for a
Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, was picked
up by psychologist-songwriter Milton Addington,
who used it as the basis for Dickey Lee's
song Laurie (Strange Things Happen In This
World).
Artist: Dickey Lee Lyrics
Song: Laurie (Strange Things Happen)
Lyrics
Last night at the dance I met
Laurie,
So lovely and warm, an angel of
a girl.
Last night I fell in love with
Laurie -
Strange things happen in this
world.
As I walked her home,
She said it was her birthday.
I pulled her close and said
"Will I see you anymore?"
Then suddenly she asked for my
sweater
And said that she was very, very
cold.
I kissed her goodnight
At her door and started home,
Then thought about my sweater
And went right back instead.
I knocked at her door and a man
appeared.
I told why I'd come, then he said:
"You're wrong, son.
You weren't with my daughter.
How can you be so cruel
To come to me this way?
My Laurie left this world on her
birthday -
She died a year ago today."
A strange force drew me to the
graveyard.
I stood in the dark,
I saw the shadows wave,
And then I looked and saw my sweater
Lyin' there upon her grave.
Strange things happen in this
world.
|
RESURRECTION
MARY ON THE INTERNET
RESURRECTION
MARY!
I like to think of Resurrection Mary as
Chicago’s most famous ghost. ... The
Most Authentic Resurrection Mary Encounter
of All! Who was Resurrection Mary? ...
http://www.prairieghosts.com/resurcem.html
WHO
WAS RESURRECTION MARY?
The most accurate version of the story of
Resurrection Mary concerns a young girl
who was ... So, if Resurrection Mary was
not Mary Bregovy, who was she? ...
http://www.prairieghosts.com/whomary.html
Resurrection
Mary
"Resurrection Mary" is undoubtedly
Chicago's most famous ghost. ... But Resurrection
Mary is a legend and has been one - particularly
in the Polish ...
http://www.ghostresearch.org/sites/resurrection/
Resurrection
Mary: The Movie
Nominated: Michael Lansu, Nominated: Resurrection
Mary ... knows you're dead." - Ian
Hunter, from the song "Resurrection
Mary" ... "You must die the
day before the Devil
knows you're dead."- Ian Hunter, from
the song "Resurrection Mary"
http://www.resurrectionmary-movie.com/
Resurrection
Mary
"Resurrection Mary" is the best-known
ghost story in the Chicago area. According
to the legend, a young Polish girl (between
17 and 22) was killed in a car ...
http://www.graveyards.com/IL/Cook/resurrection/mary.html
Resurrection
Mary - Personal Experiences
I was looking at your website about Resurrection
Mary, and I wanted to share ... One thing
to know is to never, but NEVER ask about
"Resurrection Mary" in ...
http://www.mysticaluniverse.com/hp/rm/rm2/rm2.html
Resurrection
Mary
Resurrection Mary March 1934 - Chicago,
Illinois ~ 10 Cents a Dance? Click here
for Reports of peoples Experiences with
Resurrection Mary ...
http://www.mysticaluniverse.com/hp/rm/rm.html
Resurrection
Mary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Resurrection Mary is a famous ghost story
and is considered by many to be the ...
One of the many legends of Resurrection
Mary is that she was a young ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_Mary
In
Search of Resurrection Mary
Resurrection Mary. It is said that Mary
was a beautiful young Polish American girl
... Read more about Resurrection Mary and
additional strange incidents ...
http://chuckstraub.com/Letterboxing/resurrectionmary.htm
"Resurrection
Mary"
"Resurrection Mary," also known
as the "Vanishing Hitchhiker,"
is Chicago's best-known ghost story. A young
Polish lady around twenty years old, ...
http://chicago.about.com/b/a/158676.htm
|
|
We
build one haunted web page at a time
for you.
HAUNTED
AMERICA TOURS Official Web Site
is a ghost tour information site;
our information is only as reliable
as readers' contributed ghost and
haunted reports. We assume no credit
for your adventures, and accept no
liability for your misadventures.
Use common sense. Read our ghost hunting
recommendations. Before visiting any
"haunted" site, verify the
location, accessibility, safety, and
other important information. Never
trespass on private and/or posted
property without permission from the
proper authorities.
HAUNTED AMERICA TOURS STRIVING TO BE
THE VERY BEST MOST HAUNTED WEB SITE
ON THE INTERNET. EACH OF YOUR VISITS
BRINGS US THAT MUCH CLOSER TO BEING
YOUR NUMBER 1. RESOURCE FOR HAUNTED,
PARANORMAL, GHOST INFORMATION TO THE
WORLD WIDE WEB.
Advertise
with us today!
AND SEE WHO STARTS HAUNTING YOUR
SITE!
|
NEW
Ghost Articles & Haunted Stories |
|
NEW
ARTICLES |
| Confessions
of a Ghost Hunter |
| Gina
Lanier's Top Ten Favorite Haunted Paranormal
People |
| HAUNTED
AMERICA CONFRENCE 2008 |
| "How
to Plan and Take a Real Haunted Vacation"
Summer 2008 |
| Evolution
of an Entity |
| I
AM NOT AFRAID OF GHOSTS, OR OF THE PEOPLE WHO
HUNT THEM? |
| Don’t
go in with all guns blazing |
| INTERVIEW
WITH A REAL GHOST |
| Has
Ghost Haunted Television Given Paranormal Investigation
A Bad Name? |
| Ghost
Hunting Syndrome -- How to fight it with a smile
on your face! |
| Shannon
McCabe: I Actually Had a “Conversation
with a "Dead" Serial Killer” |
| June
2008 Friday the 13th --- The most Haunted Day
Of 2008! |
| A
womb with a Boo! --- Womb Ghost |
| The
Devil Baby Is Alive And Well And Lives In New
Orleans |
| OLD
HAG: Incubus - Succubus versus Sleep Paralysis |
| How
To Train Your Dog To Be A Professional Ghost
Hunter |
| Ghosts
in the Crystal Ball |
| I
Smell Dead People... I mean Ghosts! |
| Whats
in A Name? By Ken Deel |
| A
CAMERA AND A EMF DETECTOR DOES NOT MAKE YOU
A GHOST HUNTER |
| If
You Died Today Would You Come Back To Haunt
The Living? |
| A
HAUNTING MYSTERY --- The Ghosts of the Villisca
Ax Murder House |
| Ohio's
Haunted Histoy --- by Sherri Brake-Recco |
| TAROT
CARDS AND REAL GHOSTS |
| THE
HOUSE ON RIDGE AVENUE --- By Troy Taylor |
| New
Ghost Photos - Just when you thought you've
seen it all! |
| Ghost
Hunting Video Guided Tour Of The Brookdale Lodge
With Shannon McCabe |
| The
Seven Wonders OF The Paranormal World |
| Lisa
Lee Harp Waugh -- The Great American Texan Necromancer |
| Ghost
Hunting Equipment Do It Yourself --- with Ghost
Breaker Kim Kowalczyk |
| An
Interview with a Demonologist: (17 more questions
for Demonologist Kenneth Deel) |
| April
30 - May 1 Walpurgis Night Ghosts |
| THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF 3:AM |
| Has
the "Paranormal" finally become normal? |
| The
Honey Island Swamp Monster, Bigfoots Southern
Cousin |
| Ghosts:
My passion, my calling, my life... Pete Haviland
of Texas' Lone Star Spirits |
| Paranormal
Diversity |
| Helping
the Paranormally Affected Client |
| The
2008 Most Haunted State In America |
| The
Top 10 Haunted Best Ghost Hunting And Paranormal
Web Sites... You've Probably Never Ever Heard
Of |
| The
Ghost Girls Encounter a Past Life Regression |
| Necromancy
--- Rituals to contact the Spirits |
| Haunted
Mausoleum |
| Vampires
Amongst Us |
| GRAVE
SIDE GHOSTS IN PHOTOS |
| ROMAN
RITUAL AND DEMONOLOGISTS By Ken Deel |
| HPI
Chronicles: Do I Really Believe In Ghosts? |
| "Plight
of the Departed Jesuits?" By Greg Myers |
| ISLAND
SCARES 2: GHOST STORIES FROM THE PHILIPPINES |
| Real
Spirits In Photos ... Can you believe your eyes? |
| THE
HAUNTED VAULT ARCHIVES MISSED AN ARTICLE FIND
IT HERE NOW |
| |
| SITE
MAP |
| HAUNTED
AMERICA TOURS TOP TEN HAUNTED SEARCHES |
| Link
To Us Haunted Banner
Exchange |
|
|
| FREE
GHOST AND HAUNTED DESKTOP WALLPAPER DOWNLOADS |
|
SITE
FEATURES |
| 20 Questions with Your favorite Paranormal
Investigators |
| TOP
TEN HAUNTED SEARCHES |
| SHOP
HAUNTED AMERICA TOURS HERE |
| BUY:
Ghost Hunting Equipment ON LINE |
| BUY:
Ghost Tour Tickets |
| Banner
Exchange Haunted America Tours |
| THE
PARANORMAL BOOK STORE |
| FREE
DESKTOP DOWNLOADS |
|
|
| THE
HAUNTED MUSEUM --- ENTER HERE NOW IF YOU
DARE |
| THE
HAUNTED VAULT ARCHIVES |
| GHOST
HUNTING |
| GHOST
PHOTOS |
| GHOST
CAMS LIVE |
| GHOST
TOURS ACROSS AMERICA |
| GHOSTS
ON VIDEO |
| REAL
GHOST STORIES |
| GHOST
VOICES EVP'S |
Haunted
Submissions
Have
a photograph or image or story of interest
to Haunted America Tours visitors? Please
visit this page. |
|
| HAUNTED
ARCHIVES |
| HAUNTED
BATTLEFIELDS |
| HAUNTED
BUILDINGS |
| HAUNTED
CEMTERIES |
| HAUNTED
DOLLS |
| HAUNTED
FURNITURE |
| HAUNTED
HOTELS |
| HAUNTED
HOUSES |
| OUR
HAUNTED LINKS |
| HAUNTED
POSSESSIONS |
| HAUNTED
SKULLS |
| REAL
HAUNTED WEB SEARCH |
|
GHOSTS
AND PARANORMAL CONVENTIONS EVENTS BULLETIN
BOARD PLEASE VISIT HERE
Paranormal
Convention Submissions
Have
a upcoming event of interest to Haunted
America Tours visitors? Please
visit this page.
|
| HOW
TO MAKE A GHOST REPORT |
| HOW
TO START YOUR OWN GHOST TOUR |
| HOW
TO BECOME A REAL GHOST HUNTER |
| Paranormal
Investigators Directory... PLEASE
VISIT HERE |
HAUNTED
AMERICA TOURS Official Web
Site is
a ghost tour information site;
our information is only as
reliable as readers' contributed
ghost and haunted reports.
We assume no credit for your
adventures, and accept no
liability for your misadventures.
Use common sense. Read our
ghost hunting recommendations.
Before visiting any "haunted"
site, verify the location,
accessibility, safety, and
other important information.
Never trespass on private
and/or posted property without
permission from the proper
authorities.
At HauntedAmericaTours.com
we invite you into our Ghost
Haunted Paranormal world where
art, News stories, photography
and the unexplained merge
into a new landscape that
will leave you truly spellbound.
HauntedAmericaTours.com is
a continuous work in progress;
we will keep it updated for
you on a regular basis, so
that you can come back and
see a ghost or two, and meet
some new ones. HAUNTED AMERICA
TOURS is not responsible for
the content of external internet
sites.
|
|
|
Please
Read Our Disclaimer.
|
Haunted
America Tours is not responsible for the content of external internet
site links connected to or from this web site
|
Site
Contents Copyright © HAUNTEDAMERICATOURS.COM 2010 All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of any component of this site,
in whole or in part, is a violation of applicable federal copyright laws
and international copyright treaties.
WARNING
- if you received email that says its from "hauntedamericatours.com",
and has attachments, do not open them. They are not from Haunted
AmericaTours.com. hauntedamericatours.com never emails attachments
to anyone.
YOU SHOULD NEVER - EVER - OPEN EMAIL ATTACHMENTS!
[PLEASE NOTE: The articles released, posted,
published OR issued by haunredamericatours.com and/orhaunted America
Tours. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author.
The Articles releasse or reproduced solely for the dissemination
of the enclosed information.]
Haunted America Tours does not send spam,
and will not sell your email address to anyone. Haunted America
Tours does not support or endorse any myspace.com pages including
spoof myspace pages claiming to be Haunted America Tours. If you
receive a friends request or any other contact regarding Haunted
America Tours on Myspace please disregard as we DO NOT maintain
any presence on myspace or any other Internet blogging sites. |
www.hauntedamericatours.com
Copyright © 1994 - 2010 all rights reserved
|
Changing
The Way You See The Paranormal
World One Day At A Time!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
