A Soul Rescued from Obscurity
Foxboro Reporter
A John or Jane Doe, whose century-old unmarked grave was found only recently on the property behind the former state hospital complex, drew a crowd of state and local officials for a re-committal ceremony Saturday at the State Hospital Cemetery on Cross Street.
The service for the unknown former Foxborough State Hospital patient, whose remains were moved from the solitary grave to join other deceased patients in the Cross Street cemetery, included brief presentations from Lester Blumbert, General Counsel for the Department of Mental Health, and Lynda Walsh, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
Also attending were officials from the Wrentham Development Center (the former Wrentham State School), which cares for the cemetery.
Father Steve Madden of St. Mary's Church and Pastor Bill Dudley of Union Church led the committal service.
Town Historian Jack Authelet (full text of his remarks appear below) was the main speaker, providing an account of the process of locating the grave, which at the time some 100 years ago had been segregated because the patient had died of a "highly communicable disease," and then getting all the permits and volunteers needed to move the remains.
Blumbert offered special praise for the town and Authelet.
"Thanks to the efforts of so many of you here today, but especially to Jack Authelet, this soul has been rescued from obscurity and is being afforded the dignity in death that each of us wishes for ourselves and our loved ones," Blumbert said in prepared remarks.
"I am personally touched by the respect and reverence that Jack, his partners and the community of Foxboro have given to this nameless individual."
Walsh also thanked all who worked to have the nameless patient moved to a proper gravesite.
""We are truly blessed to have folks willing to help when help is needed by one of their neighbors," she said.
"We have brought this individual's life and death full cycle and should take pride in the fact that we came together today to respectfully place this unknown person in this resting place of peace and light."
Authelet offered thanks to Town Clerk Bob Cutler "for hanging tough during the permit process," Willow Grove Nursery and Arthur Kelly and his crew for opening the grave behind the hospital, Bob Hicks for help at the scene, Bruce Roberts of Roberts and Son Funeral Home "for lending his expertise and overseeing execution of the permit," members of the Board of Selectmen and Foxborough Historical Commission "for support and encouragement of this undertaking," and Mark Ferencik for helping secure the headstone.
He also acknowledged the assistance provided by Bay Colony Surveying, Anna Chinappi, Lester Blumberg and others that DMH, the staff at the Wrentham Development Center and volunteer services and the Wrentham Girl Scouts who place flowers on these graves for Memorial Day.
AUTHELET REMARKS: Patient returned to the 'embrace of mental health community'
The following remarks were delivered by Town Historian Jack Authelet at the committal service Saturday for a former Foxborough State Hospital patient whose remains were moved from the former hospital grounds to the state hospital cemetery on Cross Street.
We can but wonder about the circumstances in the life of the individual who is recognized in this service this morning. What brought that person to a state institution in search of treatment at the height of the century of social engineering undertaken by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when it built its grand institutions of learning, the layers of public service agencies, the institutions for the blind, the deaf? The capstone of that century of caring climaxed with Massachusetts becoming a model for the nation in its recognition of alcoholism as a treatable disease. It was a proud moment, the opening of the Massachusetts Hospital for Dipsomaniacs and Inebriates, later moved to Pondville (now Norfolk) thus facilitating the opening of the Foxborough State Hospital.
We can but wonder how much this individual may have been helped by the pioneering advancements in the treatment of the mentally ill, whether the individual would later have benefitted from the vast Outpatient Treatment network established here, allowing former patients to live full lives back with their families with hospital staff to rely upon for support.
We can but wonder if this individual ever got to meet any of the women from Foxborough credited with hundreds of hours of volunteer work with patients, if the individual ever got to see the dining hall all decorated for special days like Thanksgiving and Christmas, a real specialty of local volunteers.
We can but wonder what the challenge was like when contagious sickness would spread through the hospital, the urgency to contain it to prevent an outbreak in the wider community.
We cannot question the medical protocols of that era, the firm belief that if an individual died from a highly communicable disease, it was necessary to segregate that grave in an effort to protect others. That protocol was followed in every cemetery in Foxboro: the state was no exception.
We can but wonder if there was family to mourn the death of this individual, of their inability to claim the body for private burial, the need to let their loved one remain in state care, even in death. We can but wonder if it was a matter of choice or necessity or a lack of other options.
The individual did pass away while in state care. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts accepted its responsibility for this individual who would remain in its care, even in death while at the same time fulfilling its responsibility to halt the spread of the disease the best way it knew how: the grave was segregated in an effort to protect others, located in a wooded area between the hospital complex and the adjacent railroad.
We can but wonder if it was meant to be that the story would not end there. Certainly nobody envisioned the closing of the Foxborough State Hospital at that time. And when it did close, it remained empty for 35 years before a reutilization plan was approved.
The individuals planning the reutilization of this facility -- the best reutilization plan in the Commonwealth, I might suggest -- had no knowledge of a single grave remaining behind the main complex. The Town of Foxborough, accepting the land as part of a new recreation area, had no knowledge of a grave existing on the property.
But yet references to such a grave would surface from time to time, and each time an effort was made to confirm its existence. Repeatedly, the reference: repeatedly the inability to confirm. Yet another search of state and local records was commenced, to no avail. But the matter could not be laid to rest. Desperation sometimes spurs innovation, and the search turned from state records to those of the land surveyor who conducted the requisite survey to facilitate transfer of ownership.
There on the plan on the far edge of the property was an area of interest. The area was so heavily overgrown sight references to existing buildings were impossible. Voice contact with an individual remaining stationary near the building facilitated finding the area of interest on the map.
The presence of the grave was confirmed. Such knowledge hung heavy with responsibility. Caring people were left with no choice but to make every attempt to remove the remains of this individual from the segregated grave and return him or her to the embrace of the hospital complex by relocating the individual to this state hospital cemetery.
Weeks stretched to months, the months to years, but finally a rare "John Doe" removal permit was issued, the grave opened, the remains removed.
We can but wonder what would have happened, if a caring community had not persisted in an effort to do right by this unknown individual.
Each one of you here this morning can stand very proud as a participant in the final chapter of this story, the return of this individual to the embrace of the mental health community to which he or she had turned so many years ago.
I tell you honestly this morning, that over the months of bringing this effort to fruition, not one person who was asked to assist in any way hesitated for a moment. Unhesitant, enthusiastic, they threw themselves into the task with open hearts and willing hands.
If I could presume, just for a moment, to speak for the unknown individual who drew us to this place this morning, it would be to say "Thank you, each and every one."
This article was
published by Foxboro Reporter
on Thursday, October 7