Centuries-Old Burial Site 'Pock Lot' Gets Repairs With Grant Fund

GUILFORD, CT — Inside a quarter-acre enclosure in a deeply wooded area along the East River in Guilford is a part of the cemetery known colloquially as the "Pock Lot."

The burial place was acquired by the town in 1760 as part of the larger nine-acre "Pock Lot" tract, a place of quarantine for those exposed to the deadly smallpox virus.

The acreage, now privately owned, is the final resting place for Capt. Ichabod Scranton, several of his company who served in the French and Indian War and civilians who died during a smallpox outbreak in 1795.

The cemetery has been owned by the Madison Historical Society since 1949. It was deeded to the Society by a lineal descendant of Scranton, who erected a stonewall and memorial boulder just 100 years ago this year.

Now, with a $3332 grant from the state Office of Policy and Management, some basic repairs have been made on the site. According to a news release from the town, most of the grant funds were used to repair the four-sided stone wall, which, it reads, involved a "close working relationship" with representatives of the Madison Historical Society.

Tony’s Masonry of Branford completed the work.

Access to the Smallpox Cemetery must be arranged through the Madison Historical Society.

First Selectman Matt Hoey learned about the availability of cemetery repair funds through the state several years ago, the news release reads, "through an obscure general statutethat allows selectmen to repair 'neglected' cemeteries not under control or management of a functioning cemetery association.

Hoey told staffers Tracy Tomaselli and Joel Helander, who have administered two cemetery grants with Karen Quercia, administrative assistant to the First Selectman, and the grant application process was begun.

The first Guilford cemetery to benefit from state grant funds was the Goldsmith Family Cemetery on Moose Hill Road. Repair work in "that little hallowed plot of ground was completed in 2019," the town noted.