The Dudleytown Curse

By: Melanie Billings

The Truth about Dudleytown
 

Travel up the steep, winding and appropriately named "Dark Entry Road" in Cornwall, Connecticut and you will come across a few old cellar holes and the ruins of numerous stone walls. This is all that remains of Dudleytown-the original "Village of the Damned" and home to the legendary Dudley family curse.

The ruins of Dudleytown have long been rumored to be one of the most haunted spots in the world. Paranormal enthusiasts and ghosthunters alike have flocked to the remote area for decades, seeking to uncover the truth behind the legend.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in the paranormal is most likely familiar with the Dudleytown legend.


The Dudleytown Curse


According to legend (depending on which version you are familiar with), a curse was placed on the Dudley family in the early 1500's after Edward Dudley was found guilty of treason against King Henry VIII. The curse seemingly followed the family across the ocean to America years later. Founded in 1747 by two Dudley brothers after their return from the French and Indian war, Dudleytown has been the location of many unexplained events over the years.

Abiel Dudley, one of the founding brothers, was the first victim of the curse. He was rumored to have gone insane in his later years, muttering about "Hoofed creatures" that haunted Dudleytown, and later died homeless and alone.

It seemed that no one living in Dudleytown was immune to the effects of the curse, whether they were in the Dudley family or not. The family that bought Abiel's home, the Carters, also fell victim to extreme bad luck and most of them were murdered by Indians in 1764. After that, the curse seemed to gain momentum and claimed dozens of victims over the years. In 1813, several residents were killed in a mysterious epidemic that swept through the small hamlet.

Even Dudleytown's famous residents were not left untouched by the curse. General Herman Swift's (aide to George Washington) wife was struck by lightning and as a result of his grief, the General went insane. Horace Greeley's (founder of the New York Tribune) wife, born in Dudleytown, committed suicide under mysterious circumstances.

In addition the mysterious deaths associated with Dudleytown, the residents also suffered troubles with their crops. Nothing seemed to want to grow on the little patch of land and it seemed that the land itself was cursed. Not surprisingly, people began to relocate and by the late 1800's, Dudleytown was all but deserted.

The last remaining resident, John Brophy, stubbornly refused to move and he and his family tried to lead normal lives in the empty town. The curse did not leave them unscathed, however. Within a matter of months, Brophy's livestock, wife and sons all disappeared without a trace. Brophy himself went insane and raved about "demons" and "hoofed creatures" haunting Dudleytown. Soon after, his house burned down and Brophy himself disappeared, never to be heard from again.

Dudleytown was a virtual ghost town until the early 1920's when a New York Doctor, Dr. William Clark, decided to build a summer home on the isolated Dudleytown property. Soon after, his wife fell victim to the curse and went insane. She spent the remainder of her life in a mental institution.

Since then, Dudleytown has been completely abandoned, except for the brave souls that have ventured there to find out for themselves if there is truth to the legend. Many people have reported strange occurences at the site, including a TV crew who attempted to film footage at Dudleytown in the mid-1980's. Their cameras malfunctioned and refused to work on site but worked perfectly after they returned to the studio.

Dudleytown has since been labeled "the most haunted town in New England" and was also called "the most haunted place on Earth" by Dan Akroyd in his infamous 1983 interview with Playboy.

All in all, the Dudley town legend is fascinating. But is it based on truth or is it simply an urban legend?

Rev. Gary P. Dudley, author of The Legend of Dudleytown: Solving Legends through Genealogical and Historical Research, thinks the legend of Dudleytown is nothing more than a work of fiction and he has done the research to back his claims.


Historical Inaccuracies


Rev. Gary P. Dudley, a noted genealogist and history teacher, first became interested in the legend of Dudleytown while researching his own family name. Intrigued by the possibility of being linked to such an interesting legend, he began researching the facts indepth and to his surprise, he soon learned that most, if not all, of the "facts" concerning the Dudleytown Curse were simply untrue. His research showed him that the legend also had more than one version, each with its own slightly different set of "facts".

Combining historical research with genealogy, Rev. Dudley soon uncovered the true story behind Dudleytown-one that was vastly different from the legend that had been passed down for decades and generally accepted as historical fact.

Using several resources, including Cornwall town records, he researched each and every major character in the Dudley legend. "With specific names and the place (Cornwall), I was able to find the exact birth and death dates, along with obituaries in newspapers, and land assignments for all but one of the people that were specifically named in the Legend." Rev. Dudley explains.

Rev. Dudley was astonished at the historical inaccuracies he found. "Some of the occurrences never took place in Dudleytown--some 3 or 4 states away! Those that did occur there was so embellished that it was almost laughable what had been done to the facts."

The first and most glaringly obvious error was that the founders of Dudleytown, the Dudley brothers, had returned from the French and Indian war and founded the town in 1747. Nothing wrong with that fact except that the French and Indian war didn't begin until 1754, several years after the brothers had "returned from the war".

He also found that some versions of the Dudleytown legend include someone named "Abijah". Wondering who this "Abijah" person could have been, Rev. Dudley researched a bit and found that someone had simply misspelled a name during a granting of property rights. "Abijah" was actually Abiel. Thus, a different version of the legend had sprung forth from a simple spelling error.

Through his research, Rev. Dudley discovered that many, if not all, of the unexplained, mysterious deaths connected to the curse were actually deaths due to natural causes. In fact, only one death stood out as mysterious--Sarah Swift, who was struck by lightning.

Abiel Dudley, the first victim of the curse, was said to have died penniless and insane. According to records, Abiel Dudley died as a ward of the town at the age of 90. To live to age 90 was almost unheard of in those days. The average lifespan in his time was around 40-50 years and Rev. Dudley theorizes that Abiel was simply suffering from senility, not insanity.

The fate of the Carter family was correctly reported in the story, for the most part, although the legend fails to mention the fact that all three of the Carter children who were taken captive by the Indians were eventually released. One of those taken captive, David Carter, grew up to become a journalist and editor of the "Cherokee Advocate" newspaper. He was later appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation and was the Cherokee Delegate to Congress.

Rev. Dudley also discovered interesting facts about Horace Greeley's wife, Mary Cheney Greeley, who, according to the legend, was born in Dudleytown and committed suicide. "Mary Greeley was NOT born in Dudleytown/Cornwall, but two cities over in Litchfield, and died in New York (I found that in the New York Times) of lung disease! She had never set foot in Dudleytown."

And what of John Brophy, the man whose entire family disappeared? According to Cornwall town records, Rev. Dudley discovered that Brophy's sons were wanted for theft and ran away to avoid jail time and that his wife died of consumption. No one mysteriously disppeared except for Brophy himself, and Rev. Dudley suspects that the man simply left because he had no reason to stay any longer.

Dr. William Clarke's wife Harriet, who went insane in their summer home at Dudleytown, according to the the legend, actually died in a New York hospital after a long history of mental illness. Dr. Clarke continued to live near Dudleytown and went on to form the Dark Entry Forest, Inc. (DEF) which owns all of Dudleytown today.

As for the mass exodus of Dudleytown residents, Rev. Dudley believes that this was due to a general decline in local industry, most notably in timber and iron. With the advent of modern techiques like the Bessimer process in the late 1800's, Dudleytown's way of doing things was eventually phased out and people began to move on to different locations with better job prospects. And, it must be noted that Dudleytown was never actually a real town in itself and that its population never exceeded 100. It is actually part of Cornwall.

Rev. Dudley concludes that there is no Dudleytown curse. Eliminating all the natural deaths of people involved with the curse, there is only one unnatural death left, that of Sarah Swift, meaning there was only one unexplained death in the legend's entire 165 year history.

Furthermore, he believes that if anything out of the ordinary had occured in Dudleytown, it would have been recorded in the town records. "We must remember the times. The supposed events in Dudleytown--the early ones, at least--where not that far removed from things like the Salem witch trials. If something unnatural had occurred, it WOULD have shown up in the town records. Nothing did. All the records were kept in Cornwall, and they reflect nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever."


Origins of a Legend


If the legend of Dudleytown is so obviously not based in fact, then the question remains--how did the legend get started and why do people believe it so readily and without question? "One simple reason--no one before me had EVER checked the "legend" out." Rev. Dudley says. "People tend to believe anything in print - after all, if its in a book, or a magazine, then somebody MUST have done research on it, and it MUST be true."

Rev. Dudley believes that the legend began in part with the publication of They Found a Way, a book published in 1938, that chronicles the history of Dudleytown and takes great liberty with historical fact, embellishing the story of the 'curse from England". That, coupled with the mystery and controversy surrounding the DEF (Dark Entry Forest, Inc) organization that owns the land, and magazine and newspaper articles focused on the Dudleytown curse, added fuel to the fire and the Dudleytown legend was born.

Visitors to the Dudleytown site have often reported bizarre occurences and supernatural encounters, from capturing odd mists and fog on film to actually being touched by something unseen. Rev. Dudley suggests that the odd experiences may be partly due to what he calls "confirmation experience". "As for what people report seeing, I can offer a theory. Ever go to a concert? Days before the concert, you begin listening to the artist you are going to see. You talk about them, read about them...and you KNOW it will be awesome! Sure enough, the concert is! Now apply that to any haunted place. You hear about it, read about it, listen to "first hand" experiences -- on the way to the place, you talk more-- you KNOW it will be spooky. At the place, all is quiet, you anticipate - and sure enough, you experience or feel something."

Rev. Dudley does not personally believe that Dudleytown is haunted. "IF Dudleytown is haunted now--which I do NOT believe--then it is from something that was brought in, NOT by something that was already there."

Some paranormal events that transpired at Dudleytown have turned out to be anything but paranormal. In The Legend of Dudleytown, Rev. Dudley reports on the infamous TV crew and its malfunctioning equipment. In fact, the crew was able to go film footage before the camera broke and the crew later joked about the curse of Dudleytown. Since then, a number of other film crews have been to the site and have reported little or no problems.

The Dudleytown site is owned by Dark Entry Forest, Inc. and was closed to the public in 1999, due to vandalism.

Rev. Dudley offers this advice to anyone thinking of exploring the Dudleytown site, "Do not go. It is against the law to do so, it is PRIVATE PROPERTY that has people STILL living on the roads up and down. Should the DEF ever open it up again (not for one year after all trespassing ceases) then go expecting NOTHING. Go expecting to see only an abandoned town. Listen for the wood animals and birds (yes, there are many, no matter what anyone tells you), and be out before dark…it is dangerous enough up there during the day, at night it would be absolutely foolish."


Fact or Fiction?


Does the Dudleytown Curse exist? It is hard to say yes when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It is impossible to dispute historical and genealogical fact and Rev. Dudley presents a very convincing case. Facts do not lie.

There is still the question of whether the Dudleytown site actually haunted, however. Paranormal phenomena like that can only be left to individual interpretation. There is ample evidence to support both sides of the argument and that debate could go on for years without a definitive answer. It seems that Dudleytown will always be at the center of an unsolved mystery.

A Note about Researching Legends

Interested in researching a legend on your own? Rev. Dudley gives a few tips on how to get started researching another legend like Dudleytown:

"Most Legends are fact based--that is, they are based on actual occurrences with dates (or time periods), places and names. First, narrow your investigation to specific years and a place. From there you can actually start with any encyclopedia. Are there articles about your area? Do any of the names match? You may also check to see if the area has a historical society..many towns do. They would be the perfect place to see if any information is available about your area and any associated names. Cornwall had one that supplied me with names, dates, court documents, town records, etc etc, that saved me about a year's worth of research.

From there, get specific. Did someone die mysteriously? Check the name in local newspapers (especially the obits), the cemetery the person was buried in, the town history to see if it was mentioned. Don't overlook this. If the person died any other way but naturally--it WILL be mentioned somewhere. Did the house burn, or was otherwise destroyed? That would be mentioned also. All of this may destroy your legend right there. Or, you just may find something truly odd."

Rev. Gary P. Dudley's book, The Legend of Dudleytown: Solving Legends through Genealogical and Historical Research, is available at amazon.com.

More information can be found at his website: legendofdudleytown.com.

His work was also featured on: NationalGeographic.com