Craig Colony – New York State Custodial Institution for Epileptics.
“The Craig Colony for Epileptics was established in 1894 following the discovery of a promising new method of treatment for people with epilepsy. This method, known as the ‘colony care plan,’ was discovered by Dr. Frederick Peterson, a physician at the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane. He had observed that the epileptic patients under his care were subjected to conditions that provided little remedy for their illness, and became interested in the search for ways to improve their treatment. In 1886, while on an “inspection tour of foreign asylums,” he came across Bethel Colony in the city of Bielefeld, located in the Westphalia region of Germany. Bethel Colony consisted of several thousand people with epilepsy living and working together to create a self-sufficient community. There were no secret remedies, and no all-healing drugs, there was simply attention paid to a proper diet, proper habits and a therapeutic environment. Most importantly, the inhabitants labored during the day to bring about a healthy physiological fatigue. Physicians believed that this helped exert energy that would otherwise have been released during an epileptic seizure.” (American Journal of Insanity, Vol. 49, 1893).
It appears that Craig Colony had at least some engraved headstones.