| Notes |
- From FamilySearch:
Stephen and his wife died in the Smallpox Epidemic of 1765/6
In December 1765 and January 1766 an especially virulent strain of smallpox raced though the town. By the time the epidemic was over, sixty-one people had contracted the disease and thirty seven were dead.
The epidemic was believed to have started in the family of Deacon Paul Crowell. Contemporary theories speculated that the disease arrived in a bale of cotton imported from the South or arrived in a package of clothing from the West Indies. Garments in the package were washed in the Crowell house.
Smallpox was present in most European cities by the 18th century. Boston suffered seven major outbreaks between 1721 and 1792. The Cape had two doctors who were pioneers in the practice of vaccination, but their practices were limited to Falmouth. There is no indication that any of Chatham residents had been vaccinated at the time of the outbreak of 1765.
The hero of the Chatham epidemic was Dr. Samuel Lord, the town's physician who cared for the sick until he became ill and died January 12, 1766. Dr. Lord's ties to Chatham had begun when his father, the Reverend Joseph Lord came to preach in Chatham. There is no evidence that Dr. Lord had any special training in the care of the sick. Lord lived on a farm near Burying Hill and was listed in the 1755 rate list as having 1 poll and 2 real (2 pounds value of real estate). He never married.
A tombstone on Training Field Rd was erected in his memory by the Town of Chatham in 1941 with the inscription: 'Here lies buried Dr. Samuel Lord who died of smallpox after devoted service to the citizens of Chatham in the epidemic of 1765-66."
There is no record of another medical doctor living in Chatham after Lord's death until the Revolutionary War.
The first to die in the epidemic was Paul Crowell Jr., followed shortly by others including the entire family of Stephen Ryder. [including his parents John Ryder 1692-1766, his wife Mehitable Crowell [1691-1766], and their children Stephen Ryder 1718-1766 and his wife Mercy Sears 1718-1765 and all of their children.. Experience, Jerusha, Mercy, Stephen Jr, Richard, and David. Notable is Mercy Ryder Doane 1743-1766, wife of Capt. Joseph Doane and daughter of Stephen Ryder 1718-1766 and Mercy Sears 1718-1765]
The Smith family lost Stephen Smith [1706-1766] and his wife Bathsheba or Bathshua [Brown 1709-1766] as well as two unmarried daughters, Betty [1750-1766] and Bathsheba [1744-1766] Smith. That family also lost the wife of their son Elijah [Smith. Elizabeth Myrick 1741-1788]
In the collection of the Chatham Historical Society is a letter writtten by Chatham residents George Smith [1731-1823, son of Stephen Smith and 2nd wife Bathshua Brown] and his wife Barbara [Mayo 1729-1818] to George's half brother, Stephen [Smith, eldest son. Son of Stephen Smith and 1st wife Hannah Collins] a resident of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. On April 19, 1766 they asked Stephen to please send a letter of power of attorney to allow somebody to act on Stephen's behalf to sell the property that belongs to the estate of the Smith Family.
In the letter, George asks that "God will give us Grace to serve him more acceptable then ever as yet we have dun for his great goodness to us when in great danger of having the small pox that he has kept us from." This comment was made in spite of the death of George's parents and sisters.
To avoid spreading the disease, families omitted funeral services and often buried famiy members on their own farms. Some of these graves, marked by stones, were visible many years later. The Town of Chatham does have a cemetery dedicated to the smallpox victims and it can be visited via a path off Old Comers Road. It is marked by a sign on the side of the road.
Amother smallpox cemetery is nearby at the end of A Leonard Way (on the mound by William Nickerson's memorial marker" and includes stones for six members of the Ryder family. As both of these cemeteries are in the center of Chatham, near the current Riverbay development, this suggests that the epidemic was confined mainly to this part of town.
The town appointed Barnabas Eldredge to ask the General Court for assistance in paying the costs associated with care of those afflicted. Eldredge also asked for care of those now left indigent. There is no record that the petition was heard, but the lack of response spurred the town to appoint a representative to the court to speak on its behalf in the future.
This time Joseph Doane, agent for the town, was heard and the province directory was instructed in 1768 to confirm to the requests in the petition asking for the remittance of the sum of £98, 7 shillings and 9 pence which had been the amount of province tax on Chatham for the year 1766.
Neighboring towns as well as churches raised monies. A committee led by John Hawes received the gifts and the selectmen distributed the funds. The town voted to give the monies "for the relief of those that had been sufferers in the town by the small pox of late and shoud be disposed of to defray the charges of those poor people among us which had been exposed to great charges and had little or nothing to pay the same and to help some others that had been exosed to so great charges by such sickness that they could not pay the same witout selling great part or all of their inheritance and had families which they could not comfortably support if they did."
Source:
P42-43 Gray, Mary Ann. "Chapter 2: The exodus from Chatham" in Chatham Historical Society. THREE CENTURIES IN A CAPE COD VILLAGE: The Story of Chatham. Schiffer Publishing, 2012.
Smallpox Cemetery Burials
Paul Crowell d 1765 - November 23 - Age 21 Said to have brought smallpox to Chatham from a whaling voyage. Older, half brother of Ezra. Another brother, Eleazar Crowell b 15 Feb 1750/1 died of smallpox May 1766 while on a whaling voyage.
Mercy Doane (wife of Joseph Doane) 1766 - January 6 – Age 25 born Mercy Rider, daughter of Stephen Rider, m. Capt Joseph Doane. Captain Doane was the master of the merchant ship "The Reindeer" which saw action in the war of 1812. He was also a State Senator in 1788-1790. Joseph's daughter Mercy was the first child of his second wife Abigail Gould and was the wife of Theodore Harding and mother of Dorcas Harding Crowell.
Hannah Rider (wife of Reuben) 1766 - January 1 - Age 45. Daughter in law of Mehitable Crowell and John Rider (Mehitable sister of Paul Crowell Jr). Mehitable Crowell Rider also died 26 MAR 1766 presumably of Small pox, but isn't listed in Smith Cemetery listing.
Stephen Rider 1766 - January 18 Age- 49 a son of Mehitable Crowell and John Rider. m to Mercy Sears. 7 children. It is noted that Mercy Ryder, his wife died of smallpox, but apparently she's in the Chatham ancient cemetery. In Memory of Mrs Marcy Rider ye wife of Mr Stephen Rider She Died with ye Small Pox Dece'mr 24th 1765 inye 49th Year of her Age A life like winged head with curly hair and scallop collar carved on green slate most likely by the Soule carvers of Plymouth.
Stephen Smith 1766 - January 13 Age – 60. a large landowner in the Chathamport area, he was elected Deacon in 1747. Father of George Smith whose daughter Bathsheba married Ezra Crowell.
Bathsheba Brown Smith (wife of Stephen) 1766 - January 16 Age - 57 mother of George Smith whose daughter Bathsheba married Ezra Crowell.
Bathsheba Smith (dau of Stephen & Bathsheba) 1766 - January 18 - Age 22
Betty Smith (dau of Stephen & Bathsheba) 1766 - January 7 – Age 16
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Abt 1706 - 1766 (~ 60 years)
