Julia Buccola - Ghost of Innocence

Perhaps no cemetery more than Mount Carmel Cemetery in the south Chicago suburb of Hillside, Illinois, illustrates the equality that death brings to all of us. No matter how glamorous or ordinary, how wealthy or struggling, or how we lived our lives, we all physically end up in the same place. Nowhere is this truer than in Mount Carmel Cemetery, where the executors of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre are interred on the same ground as some of their victims. Warring Mafia henchmen and leaders alike are resting peacefully alongside their rivals. This dichotomy may not be starker when considering that criminals like Charles Dion O’Bannion, "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn, Roger Touhy, Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, Sam Giancana, and even Al Capone are buried at the same cemetery as religious leaders like Cardinal Bernardin.

On the opposite side of the cemetery from Al Capone is the beautiful gravesite of Julia Buccola Petta, who is considered a modern-day saint. Julia's life was tragically taken at the young age of 20 while giving birth to a stillborn infant. She was buried in her wedding dress under a nondescript grave, sharing her coffin with her baby. At the time, she was remembered by her surviving family and a newly widowed husband. Now she is remembered by a whole city.

After her death, Julia’s mother began having nightmares. These nightmares consisted of her daughter begging and pleading to be removed from the earth from where she had recently been buried, as if she had been buried alive.

This started a six-year battle by her mother to have Julia’s body exhumed. Finally, the church and cemetery agreed to go through with the task to appease the elder Buccola. Their findings were remarkable.

Decomposition of the human body begins almost immediately, and it tends to be a rapid process. Knowing this, all of those present during the excavation expected to see nothing but bones once the casket lid was opened. To their complete surprise, Julia's body looked as if she were still living.

According to those who witnessed this first-hand, her skin was still fresh and soft to the touch. She looked as though she was merely sleeping. While Julia appeared completely unchanged, her infant was in the expected condition, nonexistent other than skeletal remains.

A monument was erected on Julia's grave depicting Julia standing on her wedding day. There are two photographs attached to the base of the monument. One is Julia on her wedding day while the other was taken the day her body was exhumed, just before reburial.



Those who knew the story immediately considered Julia a saint. She died while giving birth to her first child and her body was proven to be incorruptible. She was an instant heroine for Chicago's Italian American women.

Indeed, Julia has been seen outside of her grave and without the help of an exhumation. Her ghost has been seen walking the grounds of the cemetery in the area nearest to her Harrison Street gravesite.

For the most part, she has been seen at night, but there is at least one notable daylight encounter where a lost little boy was eventually found holding Julia's hand. When the worried parents finally found their child, Julia vanished.

Julia's memory and inspirational past continue to live on throughout Chicago and, in particular, in the neighborhood around the cemetery.

If you'd like to read more about Chicago hauntings, please check out Scott's book at Voices From The Chicago Grave.

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