Mysterious Grave at Mt Langdon Trail Head

[Jazzbo]

At end of our recent hike on 10/18, we passed by this single grave site surrounded by a broken down iron pipe fence near Mt Langdon Trail Head in Bartlett.

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In case it's not clear, the enscription reads:

Dr. Leonard M Eudy
Jan. 8, 1843 - Nov 28, 1877
He gave his life for the people of Bartlett
RIP

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Is anyone familiar with the circumstances of his death? I googled the name and only came up with his name on a list of enlistees in Union Army in 1862.

 

[Jazzbo]

Mystery no more. A forgotten hero is recalled.

During a lunch break I looked up Bartlett Historical Society on line and directed a question to the "Ask a question" link provided there. Within a day or two I recieved an email from Marcia D who responded as follows:

"Thanks for contacting the Bartlett Historical Society regarding Dr. Eudy's grave.

An account of the life and legend of Dr. Eudy can be found on page 81 and 83 in Bartlett, New Hampshire... in the valley of the Saco by Aileen M. Carroll. Pg 81 "Perhaps the the saddest smallpox story concerns not only the townspeople who were made ill by the disease, but also the doctor who treated them. The time was 1877, the doctor, Leonard M. Eudy." Pg 83 "During the epidemic of 1877, he set up a "pest house" in a lumber camp so that he could care for the men who had been stricken. Tragically, he contracted the disease himself and died on November 28, 1877, at age thirty-four. For years after, a strange rumor persisted, that in their haste to dispose of his body, the men had actually buried the poor yound doctor alive!"

There is more on the life of Dr. Eudy on these pages. If you are interested, the book is available through the Bartlett Library and you may inquire at [email protected]. Thank you again for contacting Bartlett Historical Society. Marcia D, Secretary"

This in turn reminded me of passage from Belcher's Logging RR's of the White Mts. In it he quotes a passage from a book by George Morris former federal court judge for District of New Hampshire(Reminiscences of a Yankee Jurist) who once located a single headstone he came across while laying out a sidetrack for a yard for storing logs. The quote doesn't state where this was but context implies it was located in Daniel Saunders domain on the Sawyer River. He asks Saunders about the headstone and Saunders tells him that many years before small pox had broken out in his camp and that there had been about 40 deaths and that all the bodies had been buried near where this marker was found and the family of only one of the deceased persons had erected a head stone.

Neither Belcher nor Morris states what year this happened, but it does appear to match the time frame for Dr. Eudy's death. Belcher's book states tracks began to be laid up Sawyer River in 1877. Small pox must have been stalking the area with all the itinerent RR gangs during this era of RR building.

Hard times indeed!!!

 

[Raymond]

Is that at the end of the trail that is a short distance from the blinking light in Bartlett? I hiked there recently and didn’t even see it.

I did find a more recent memorial atop Cave Mountain, however.

 

[Jazzbo]

Location of hero's grave..

One of benefits of hiking with a large group is different people notice different things. After a long day we were pretty anxious to get back to the cars. I might have walked right on by in my frame of mind, but someone in the group stopped and called us over to look at the grave. It was pretty close to the TH which is located just across the road at the Saco bridge-crossing for Bear Notch Road.

We never noticed the junction for Cave Mt not that we would have ventured up there. So there's a monument up there? Do you remember what it was about?

 

[WhiteMTHike]

That's interesting stuff Jazz. I went on that same website after reading your original post and thought I could find some information on Dr. Eudy. When I didn't I thought about sending an e-mail to that same address but didn't since I wasn't sure I'd get a response. I'm glad you got a response and shared it with us.

I now plan to hike the Mt Langdon Trail.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[gaiagirl]

The second grade teachers at Josiah Bartlett Elemenatary pointed this out to me last Spring when I did a plant walk with the class up to Cave Mountain in Bartlett. I'm grateful for all the additional information.

 

[NewHampshire]

Your persistance paid off with an exceptional historical find! Good job!

Brian

 

[Fitz]

Pest House

Thank you Jazzbo for your research and interesting story.

My house in Concord, MA was a Pest House for at least the 1792 epidemic if not others. It is located about a mile from the center of town to assist in quaranteen.

The date of the Good Doctor's death surprised me a little because even in 1792 they were experimenting with innoculation. The first lady of my house died from small pox in that epidemic and innoculation was considered important enough to mark on her gravestone that she had contracted the disease, "in the natural way", as opposed to getting it through innoculation.

There is also a separate cemetery associated with my house and the smallpox victims. If you contracted small pox, you couldn't be buried in the "regular ground". Victims were segregated and not allowed to be buried in the town cemeteries.

 

[Raymond]

Jazzbo, the memorial on Cave Mountain is at the end of the trail, just beyond the lookout ledge. It is a small, wood, elongated octagon with hand-carved letters that read:

IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
DOMENIC ACERCONE
1927-1999​

When I first saw it, I was afraid it was for someone who had fallen off the ledge, but when I read the dates that seemed less likely.

 

[erugs]

Bringing up an old thread because I was curious about the grave. So much so that I annoyed some stinging bees in the ground and have the pain to remind me of bees this time of year. We went to Cave Mountain and to the lookout above it. We didn't see the Acercone memorial, but did some stone carvings near the cave, I couldn't read the names very well, but there is a side-view of a dog's head and shoulders on the side.