Smallpox Cemetery History
Its not your usual cemetery. There are no longer any gravestones, no flowers. Every trace of memorial has long since vanished, wrote Albert Annett and Alice Lehtinen in History of Jaffrey, Vol. 1, published in 1937. The remote site is the resting place of five men and one girl who died of smallpox in Jaffrey in the autumn of 1792. Through the efforts of P. Edward Deschenes and John Bryant, the Smallpox Cemetery was officially dedicated on Labor Day 1985.
The tiny cemetery is located on the Deschenes farm, about a 10 minute walk through the woods from Nutting Road. Until the renewed interest by Mr. Deschenes, it was a pathetically small stone-walled enclosure at one end of a cow pasture that had reverted to forest. Now a simple marker of native granite records the names of those whose bodies have lain all but forgotten for 193 years. The reason the site is so remote is that in 1792 smallpox was a scourge, and victims were put in isolation to prevent the disease from spreading to the healthy. The six were separated from society not only in life but in death. They were not laid to rest in an established cemetery, but in a new place set aside especially for them.
The Reverend Richard Smith, pastor of St. Patrick Church, donated the granite slab which was found behind St. Patrick School. Norman "Red" Peard transported the heavy stone to Peterborough for the engraving and then back to Jaffrey and delivered it to the cemetery free of charge. John Kaufhold of Peterborough Marble & Granite Works did the engraving and discounted the cost. Jaffrey Boy Scout Troop #33 cut a path to the cemetery and have promised to maintain the site and decorate it with flowers.
Among the honored guests at the dedication were Gertrude Cleverdon of Peterborough, a great-great-great-granddaughter of Abel Wilder, who, ironically, never knew where her famous relative was buried; State Senator Jean White of Rindge, speaker; chairman of the Winchendon selectmen and master of ceremonies, Rayford R. Parker; Winchendon town historian Lois S. Greenwood; Winchendon selectman Burton E. Gould; Homer Belletete, a former Jaffrey selectman and historian; and members of Jaffrey's Boy Scout Troop #33. Because at least two Revolutionary War soldiers are buried there, the Jaffrey VFW and American Legion posts were represented by James Baird and J. Peter Bourque. Present also were members of the Deschenes family, who have never forgotten about the cemetery. They have stated that they do not plan to deed the cemetery to the town, but will keep it as private property that will not cost tax dollars to maintain. Altogether approximately 50 people witnessed the event.
A prayer was offered by the Reverend Richard Smith, a letter from Mrs. Paul Bridges of Keene, a descendant of Oliver Gould, was read, and Boy Scout Christopher Jaillet played taps.
The six smallpox victims, whose names are now permanently on the marker, are: Eliza Danforth of Amherst; Honorable Captain Abel Wilder, one of Winchendon, Massachusetts's most illustrious men; Revolutionary War soldier Oliver Gould, and 12-yearold Nancy Thorndike, both of Jaffrey; Enoch Thurber of Keene, age 23; and a Mr. Cambridge from Rindge.
As Jaffrey town historian, Alice Lehtinen, who viewed the marker at the site a few days before the dedication said, "This is quite a thing! I have always felt so bad about these people buried up there, especially little Nancy. She was only 12 years old. And poor Mr. Cambridge. They didn't even know his first name."
Source: Jaffrey Town History, Vol IV, 2000. Pp 139-40.