A Lonely Grave Tells The Tale Of 18th Century Disease And Custom

By Jan Howard

A solitary tombstone marks a grave located just off Route I-84 near Exit 9 in Newtown, about 600 feet east of the Tunnel Road bridge. Once visible from the highway, the grave is now unseen amid the overgrowth of trees and brush.

When the grave was photographed in February of 1963, it was surrounded by a rough log fence that was supported at each of its four corners by smaller logs. The fence still exists but the supports have crumbled and the logs lie on the ground.

When Route I-84 was designed, the road had to be moved from its original path to avoid the lone grave.

The grave is that of Silas Camp, who died of smallpox in 1771. The stone reads: In memory of Silas Camp who died February 23, 1771, aged 35 years and three months. He died with the small pox, and was buried here.

The grave has not been totally forgotten, however. For several years, two former residents placed flowers and wreaths on the grave. Recently, someone who visited it has hung rosary beads from the headstone. Nearby, outside of the grave area, a small American flag lies on the ground.

Smallpox was a dreaded, often fatal illness in 1771. Inoculation against the disease was still in its infancy stages, and many people thought vaccination was not only dangerous but immoral as well.

People unfortunate enough to have contracted smallpox were often shunned by friends and members of their families. Victims of the disease were often buried far away from the living. It was believed the contagion could survive death, so burial was often far from towns and houses.

And so it was for Silas Camp, whose solitary grave is testament to those long ago beliefs.

Not much is known about Mr Camp.

 He was born in Newtown. Ezra Johnson, in his book, Newtown 1705-1918, wrote that Mr Camp was descended from Samuel Camp, who settled in Newtown in 1707, and his wife, Rebecca Canfield. Their son, Lemuel, and his wife, Alice Leavenworth, had several children, one of whom, according to town birth records, was Silas Camp, who was born on November 21, 1736. This agrees with Mr Camp's tombstone, which notes he was 35 years and three months when he died on February 23, 1771. However, Johnson's book says his father was Joel, son of Lemuel and Alice, who married Ellen Jackson. Lemuel's son and Silas' brother, Joel, may have had a son, Silas, whom he named after his brother. A Silas Camp died in Newtown on December 8, 1825, at age 50.

A review of Newtown Congregational Church records indicates a Silas Camp and Mary Sheperd, both of Newtown, were married on July 6, 1757. He and his wife had three children, Emma who married Isaac Barnum, Marietta who married Amos Hard, and Edson, who, according to Johnson, was unmarried.

Beyond these few facts, there are also two references to Mr Camp in Johnson's history.

In 1753, Mr Camp was appointed, along with Vincent Stillson, Abiel Botsford, and Josiah Bardslee, to impound all swine older than two months found on the commons after the 28th day of March, except they be well ringed, giving notice to the owner of the swine, within 12 hours of their being impounded, said vote being for better protection of the sheep.

In addition, the name of Silas Camp is found on a list of the town's taxpayers of Newtown in 1767 with the amount of his ratable estate.

The Newtown Bee--March 8, 2000