Charles Irving Thornton (January 20, 1841 – March 12, 1842) was an American

infant An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

from the state of Virginia. His tombstone, located in

Cumberland State Forest Cumberland State Forest is a Virginia state forest located in the piedmont of the state, in Cumberland and Buckingham counties. The forest borders the Willis River. Within its confines may be found Bear Creek Lake State Park and a small famil ...

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, is listed on the

Virginia Landmarks Register The Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) is a list of historic properties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Registe ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as one of only two gravestones in the world, and the only one in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, known to exist with an

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

History

Charles Irving Thornton was the son of Anthony and M. I. Thornton of Cumberland County. He died on March 12, 1842, at the age of 13 months and 19 days. A Dr. Deane was attending to the child, and upon his death was moved to write to Dickens to request an epitaph to be placed on the child's grave. Dickens had recently visited

as part of his tour of the United States, but by mid-March had moved on to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The author's reasons for complying with the doctor's request remain unclear, especially given the extreme distaste that he expressed toward Virginia's continued economic dependence on

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

; to explain his possible motivations, some historians have attempted to establish a genealogical link between Dickens, the Thorntons, and

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

. Thornton's grave may still be visited today; it is in a difficult-to-find area of the state forest, but park rangers are willing to direct people to the site.

Epitaph

The epitaph was edited slightly from the one provided by Dickens. It reads:

References

External links

National Register nomination

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Charles Irving Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia 1842 deaths Works by Charles Dickens National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland County, Virginia People from Cumberland County, Virginia Burial monuments and structures 1842 works Child deaths American children