in june, 1773, marblehead was stricken by an epidemic of smallpox. the typical response to an outbreak was undertaken by town officials, including daily surveillance of the inhabitants by a committee of inspection, fencing off of infected areas, moving infected people to pesthouses, inspecting cargo arriving into the town, and limiting out of town visitors. some forward-thinking townspeople argued in favor of inoculation of the disease; diluted, contaminated material (pus) from a person with mild disease would be injected into a healthy person who would, with hope, develop a very mild case of the disease, fully recover, and then be immune. however, most people at the time were terrified of and vehemently opposed to the practice.