Chicago…continued: Resurrection Mary
Resurrection Mary is one of my favorite ghosts because she represents a classic urban legend in ghostlore: The Phantom Hitchhiker. Part of my interest in hauntings – besides the adrenaline rush that comes with being scared and the curiosity about the unknown – is the anthropological side of the folklore. Fact or fiction aside, who started telling these stories in the first place, and why?
Mary’s story might seem familiar, as many cities have phantom hitchhiker legends. Maybe the only reason Mary’s story has prevailed is that it’s quite possible she was more than a myth.
Since the 1939, the story of a young, pale blonde woman in a white dress hitchhiking near Resurrection Cemetery on Archer Avenue has circulated in Chicago. Once a (usually male) driver picks up Mary, she accompanies him to a ballroom or nightclub where she dances the night away. Mary’s “companions” have described her as secretive and very cold to the touch. When it is time to leave, Mary once again climbs into her companion’s car, giving vague directions to her house. Suddenly, she orders the driver to stop right in front of Resurrection Cemetery. At that point, Mary either gets out of the car and runs right through the cemetery gates, or simply vanishes from the passenger seat of the car. Other versions of the tale have Mary silently climbing into the backseat of someone’s car as they pass through the area, or just materializing out of thin air as the driver goes down Archer Avenue past the cemetery.
Unsolved Mysteries segment on Resurrection Mary:
Historians in Troy Taylor and Ursula Bielski’s group have used details from the encounters to tentatively trace Mary to a young Polish woman buried in Resurrection Cemetery. The woman, 21-year-old Mary Bregovy, was killed in a car accident in 1934 on her way home from a dance. However, Bregovy had short, dark hair and was buried in an orchid-colored dress.
Different neighborhoods and ethnicities in Chicago have at some point claimed Mary as their own. Historians suspect at least two other candidates buried in the cemetery could be the “real” Resurrection Mary.
One curiosity involving the legend of Resurrection Mary are these oddly bent bars on the front gates of Resurrection Cemetery. Some say Mary’s ghostly hands pulled them apart so she could re-enter — or escape from — the cemetery. Visit http://www.hauntedchicago.com/images/b8rea232.jpg to see another photo.
Leave a Reply