Postcard from Monopoli, Italy: Church dedicated to liberating poor souls in purgatory

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Travel is not simply assuming the role of boulevardiers. Journeys this past year lifted some of the weighty worries about religion haunting my childhood. A year ago in Malaga, Spain, I found out Limbo was gone. It was banished by the church and vanished. All those little babies stuck in Limbo have been liberated to flit upward to heaven.

There is still purgatory though, with bazillions of souls trapped in purgatory waiting to be freed by prayers. How could God keep them there, suffering, denied entrance into heaven for sometimes seemingly minor infractions? My memory of religious instruction is rather hazy, but it seems as though we only devoted one day a year, All Souls Day, to try to liberate them.

This past fall, I learned there are Italians looking after them, praying for their release. There is both a church and a cemetery dedicated to this effort year-round in Naples.

And in Monopoli we found Chiesa di Santa Maria del Suffragio detta del Purgatorio. Tucked on a narrow street adjacent to the bell tower at the back of the Cathedral, the church dates from the late 1600s. Symbols of death are carved into stone on the facade, and a pair of skeletons dominate the carvings on the door.

Locals refer to it as “the church of the dead who walk.” But, alas, we found the church closed. We squinted through cloudy, very smudged glass trying to see the reason why. Mummies. With imagination, we kind of could make out maybe four of them.

The bell tower at the back of the Monopoli Cathedral with the facade of Chiesa del Purgatorio on the right

There are a total of eight robed figures – skeletons really – poised erect in glass cases inside the church, founding members and administrators of the church who refuse to retire from their mission. And a young mummified girl somehow made the cut for permanent display as well. Know you are disappointed to have no shots of the mummies, but Atlas Obscura has taken care of that for you.

Postcard from Monopoli, Italy: Almost had the place to ourselves

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monopoli fishing boats

An ancient fortified port in Puglia at the top of the heel of Italy’s boot, Monopoli has a reputation for being less touristy than many of the picturesque towns in the region. We hopped a train there from Lecce in mid-November, way past high season, and almost had the place to ourselves. Even the locals were sparse. Which meant the old town center was perfect for us to wander freely among its plazas and narrow streets.

The custodien closing the heavy wooden doors of the Baroque cathedral at noon kindly allowed us to do a whiplash tour just as the church bell was ringing its 12 dongs. The basilica dedicated to Madonna della Madia was constructed in the mid-1700s on the site of an earlier church.

Construction of the first church began in 1107 but was halted due to a lack of building materials for the roof. But, lo and behold, a miracle occurred in 1117. A raft formed from enormous beams tied together (a madia) floated into the harbor bearing an Byzantine image of the Virgin Mary. The revered icon is centered above the altar, and a piece of one of the original beams which allowed the completion of the roof is preserved as a holy relic atop a gold pedestal.

La Locanda dei Mercanti
La Locanda dei Mercanti
Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia
La Locanda dei Mercanti
Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia
Reliquary in the Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia
complimentary dessert we did not know we needed at La Locanda dei Mercanti.
Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia
Charles V Castle
Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia
Relic of the raft that miraculously floated a Byzantine-style image of the Madonna to Monopoli early in the 12th century.
Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia
Basilica of Santa Maria della Madia

As someone who devoted part of her youth to buying, selling, trading and mortgaging real estate during marathon Monopoly matches, how could I not be drawn to a city bearing the name of the game.

Before hopping the train back to Lecce, the next post will take you to one more spot in Monopoli.

Linking faces to the Howard headstones: Cricket and tea in the Texas Hill Country

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howards kendall county cricket match

Cricket players on the sideline in the Texas Hill Country

When the family of John Howard Howard (1834-1894), obviously serious about being Howards, emigrated from England to Texas about 1885, they brought many of their British customs with them. The family of ten lived in Galveston briefly before settling into what they called their “cottage” on the more than 300-acre Ten Oak Hill Ranche (Yes, that’s the way they spelled it.). Their property was on the Cibolo next to the Herff family ranch, south of Boerne on what is now the Old San Antonio Road.

The Howards found there were enough British ex-pats living in the Hill Country to scare up cricket and polo matches. A picnic out in the countryside under the trees was civilized to the point that Fanny D’Argent Howard (1841-1919) poured hot tea into china cups with saucers. Daughter Eleanor Pratt Howard (Burt) (1876-1975) retained refined manners to ride sidesaddle.

John Howard Howard left Fanny a widow in 1894, which made him the first resident of the family cemetery which was the subject of a blog several years ago. With his death, the journals for the Ten Oak Hill Ranche indicate Fitz-Alan Forester Howard (1878-1956) took over the business end of running the “ranche,” at least until he married the Mister’s great aunt, Minnie Knox Spencer (1883-1972) in the mid-teens.

A box of photographs made it from Minnie to the Mister’s father, George Hutchings Spencer, and eventually to us, and self-quarantine-times led me to tackle it. I was hoping for photos of Minnie, the lover of goats more than people whom I was deprived of meeting by not entering the family until three years after her death. But, alas, no Minnie photos.

At least that is my best guess. Aside from the formal portraits taken prior to the Howards’ departure from England, almost none of the subjects are identified. All eight children are represented by headstones (if not actual remains) in the Howard Cemetery though, so I undertook to try to determine who was who and encountered several family tragedies along the way.

One of the Howard sons, probably Thomas Ferrers Howard (1874-1903)
probably William D’Argent Howard (1869-1953)
Left: Eleanor Pratt Howard (later Burt) (1876-1975); second from left: Mary Mason Kilpatrick Howard (1882-1970); second from right: Fanny D’argent Howard (1841-1919); right: Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952); baby: Marion Kathleen Howard (later Walker) 1909-1996)
Picnic birthday celebration. Front: Mary Mason Kilpatrick Howard (1882-1970); center with cake: Eleanor Pratt Howard (later Burt) (1876-1975); second from right: Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952); far right: Fanny D’Argent Howard (1841-1919)
Midstream on horseback: Eleanor Pratt Howard (1876-1975); second from right: William D’Argent Howard (1869-1953); far right: Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952)
Marion Kathleen Howard (1880-1899) with a sheep
Left: Marion Kathleen Howard (1880-1899); right: Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952)
John Howard Howard (1834-1894)
When John Howard Howard died in 1894, he became the first to be buried in what became the family cemetery.
Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952)
Fanny D’Argent Howard (1841-1919)
Left: Eleanor Pratt Howard (later Burt) (1876-1975); right: Marion Kathleen Howard (1880-1899)
Left: Fitz-Alan Forester Howard (1878-1956); pouring tea: Fanny D’Argent Howard (1841-1919); second from right: Eleanor Pratt Howard (later Burt) (1876-1975); right: Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952)
After Fitz-Alan Forester Howard (1878-1956) and Minnie Knox Spencer (1883-1972) wed in the 19-teens, Alan moved out of the family’s Ten Oak Cottage into the couple’s new quarters nearby. The couple’s house is still standing on Stonegate off Old San Antonio Road.
Eleanor Pratt Howard (later Burt) (1876-1975) rode sidesaddle
Fitz-Alan Forester Howard (1878-1956)
Middle four figures left to right probably Eleanor Pratt Howard (later Burt) (1876-1975); Mary Ignacia Howard (later Toutorsky) (1902-1988); James Hammet Howard (1867-1956); Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952); standing on plank: Maria Ignacia Martinez Howard (1876-1953)
Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952)
Ten Oak Hill Ranche journals kept by Fitz-Alan Forester Howard (1878-1956)

The youngest of the Howard clan, Marion Kathleen (1880-1899), joined her father way too soon. Marion was enrolled in classes in Galveston Business College in 1899. Two weeks after her 19th birthday, a treacherous undercurrent off an old jetty at the foot of Broadway dragged Marion and two other young women to their deaths.

While John (Jack) Simpson Howard (1871-1913) had tempted fate by signing up with the Rough Riders to join Teddy Roosevelt in the charge of San Juan Hill in Cuba, it was another brother who first fell while in the service. West Point-trained, Thomas Ferrers Howard (1874-1903) transferred from the 2nd Cavalry to the 7th in June 1898, possibly just in time to participate in the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1. He was retired as a Lieutenant in September 1899 due to disabilities incurred in the line of duty. He remained in St. Louis, Missouri, until his death at age 28, possibly from those injuries.

But back to Jack. The Customs Service of the Department of Treasury hired Jack as a mounted inspector scouting the Rio Grande for smugglers of livestock. In West Texas, he met and married Mary Mason Kilpatrick (1882-1970) in 1907. The couple had two young daughters in Candelaria. Mary must have lived in constant fear every time Jack rode off to work based on the dangerous entanglements confronting him she described in an April 2013 letter to her brother-in-law, (Fitz-)Alan Howard. Bandits from across the border would steal cattle and alter their brands in remote mountain areas.

In February of 1913, Jack, a former Texas Ranger and a brand inspector for the Cattlemen’s Association captured Francisco “Chico” Cano near Pilares. Cano and his gang were well known as smugglers of horses and mules. Jack was in front as the men and their prisoner rode single file through a deep ravine. Protected by boulders above, five or six men, including two of Cano’s brothers, ambushed the men, shooting Jack and his horse from under him. Cano fled with his rescuers, leaving behind the three wounded officials. Help did not arrive for 15 hours. Jack lingered from his wounds for more than two days in Pilares, allowing Mary time to be by his side. The San Antonio Express reported the sniper who shot Jack had used a soft-nosed bullet, which split after striking him, causing extensive internal damage in his lungs and throat. The internal hemorrhaging could not be stopped.

Other family members fared better. Frances Edith Howard (1866-1952) remained single, the primary occupant of Ten Oak Hill Cottage. James Hammet Howard (1867-1956) managed mines in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, where he married Maria Ignacia Martinez (1876-1953). Brother William D’Argent Howard (1869-1953) found Guadalajara to his liking as well, investing in two houses there, and serving as Assistant General Manager of Amparo Mining Company under James. Upon his retirement, he joined Edith at Ten Oak Hill Cottage.

While visiting her brothers in Guadalajara, Eleanor Pratt Howard was introduced to a New York-born businessman, John Lucius Burt (1868-1955). Up until his death, the couple lived in Guadalajara, San Antonio and Los Angeles. Eleanor outlived all her siblings, dying in Washington, D.C. in 1975. Perhaps she moved there to be close to her niece. Mary Ignacia Howard (1902-1988) was an opera singer who married a Russian-born concert pianist and composer, Basil Peter Toutorsky (1896-1989). The couple operated a music academy in their landmark Dupont Circle mansion, recently acquired by the Republic of Congo for use as its embassy.

Ten Oak Hill Cottage and the Howard Cemetery are now surrounded by mini-storage units of Ten Oaks Storage, 131 Old San Antonio Road. A portion of the former Ten Oak Hill Ranche is part of the Cibolo Preserve.

Note: This post will be updated if any relatives surface with better clues for identifying the Howard siblings.