Nothing in our family's history fascinates people more than "our haunted Dudleytown." The feature of scores of magazine articles, written up in hundreds of newspapers, a chapter in at least six books, and the subject of at least one full-sized book, Dudleytown is one of the most notorious "ghost stories" in New England history. It was even called by actor Dan Ackroyd "one of the scariest places on earth." But is it?
I will divide this chapter into two parts. First, I will briefly tell you the story. Then I will present the facts. Please note that the story differs from article to article, book to book.
Edmund Dudley was accused of looting the British Treasury under Henry VII. When Henry the VIII came to the throne, Edward was cursed and beheaded. Or not. It depends on whom you read. At any rate, his son John, Duke of Northumberland, was beheaded for the Lady Jane Grey affair (see the chapter on him), and (maybe) he was cursed. His son Robert, Earl of Leicester, had a son Robert and his offspring came to America. Three (or four) Dudley brothers founded Dudleytown in 1745 when they were returning from the French and Indian War.
Things went bad in Dudleytown right from the start. First, one of the brothers, named Abeil, went mad and became a ward of the town, and died in poverty. Then William Tanner was murdered at Gershom Hollisters house and Tanner goes mad. Then the Carter family moves from Dudleytown, settles at the banks of the Delaware River, and is massacred by Indians. The children disappear.
Crops begin to fail. General Herman Swift, an aid to General George Washington, returns home from helping Washington in 1804 to find his wife had been struck in the head by lightning and had died. More crops fail. Mary Cheney was born and raised in Dudleytown. She later marries Horace Greely, and just before the election of 1872 hangs herself.
More crops fail, and people begin leaving Dudleytown until only Patrick Brophy is left. Then his children disappear, his wife dies a mysterious death, and his house burns down. However, his body is never found. It had disappeared!
Dr. William Clark buys land in Dudleytown. One night he is called away to New York on business. His wife begs him not to go, but he does. He returns to find his wife upstairs, cackling uncontrollably. She had gone completely insane!
The story may or may not stop here, depending on what book or article is read. Some report modern happenings of apparitions, or weird feelings.
First, lets put a few things in order. No where in history is there ever a report of Edmund, John, Robert, or anyone else being cursed. Additionally, any one familiar with the "branches" of the Dudley family tree will note that the three Dudleytown brothers–Gabriel, Barzillai, and Abiel–descend from William of Guilford and not Robert, Earl of Leicester. So, before we even begin, we see that there is no curse.
Now, lets get some dates straight. According to the legend, the Brothers were returning from the French and Indian War and founded Dudleytown in 1747. Unfortunately, the French and Indian War did not begin until 1754, and ended in 1763. I seriously doubt that the brothers would be returning from a war that hadn't even started yet. Secondly, George Washington died in 1799–five years before Sarah Swifts death in 1844. Lastly, the "Dr. William Clark" of the legend is Dr. William Cogswell Clarke, who bought his Dudleytown land in 1900, which, by the way, is one year before Patrick Brophy's incident.
This makes the town 153 years old minimum, if we accept all the dates. Seven "supernatural" events in 153 years–or, one every 26 years. Another way of looking at it is that if you add up all the actual deaths attributed to the "curse," its one every seven years. Well, we must conclude that this certainly is not a very active curse, is it?
Now lets look into a few of the "deaths".
According to The History of Sharon, Connecticut, by Rev. Starr, Gershom Hollister (whom was actually from Sharon) fell during a barn raising at William Tanner's house. The Carters, whom were massacred, were two states away at the time of their death–what did that have to do with Dudleytown? Moving on, Patrick Brophy's sons did disappear–running from the law because (according to Rev Starr's The History of Cornwall) they were caught stealing "sleigh robes." His wife's mysterious death was "consumption," which any doctor will tell you is tuberculosis. His house did actually burn down, but according to Rev. Starr, he "left town" the next day.
And then there is Mary Cheney, whom supposedly was from Dudleytown, married Horace Greely, and committed suicide. According to town records, she was actually from Litchfield–two towns over from Dudleytown–and never set foot in Dudleytown itself. Additionally, according to the New York Times, she died of lung disease (which she had had for 20 years) in New York City.
Lastly, the story of Dr. Clark. After his wife's death (its still unknown as to what exactly happened to her–even Dr. Clarke's children still don't know) he remarried and bought, with other doctors and nurses, all 850 acres of the land that Dudleytown sits on and formed Dark Entry Forest, Inc. as a retreat for New York Professionals. So, his wife goes mad and commits suicide, and he goes back and buys the land. Sound spooky to you?
What is actually more mysterious than the legend is how it came to be a legend. One book started it all–They Found a Way, published in 1938. It is the first known book to put the happenings in Dudleytown–which we have seen contained nothing out of the ordinary–into the tale above. Why? Just to compile a few odd tales and make them sound a little more strange than they were. No one paid any attention to the book then, and it was only during the late 1960's that the story started appearing in New England newspapers and magazine articles that the "curse" became widespread.
Today vandalism has forced DEF to close the land completely to hikers and others, and "No Trespassing" signs are posted everywhere. It is unknown how long this will be in effect. All that is left of Dudleytown are the dense trees, wildlife, and a few cellar holes. Nothing else remains. Yet, for the last 10 years ghost hunters and paranormal "experts" have managed to trash the land so much that it had to be closed to protect it. How sad.
I first started studying Dudleytown when I first began compiling my genealogy. I thought is would be so neat to have a "haunted" town in the family! The study resulted in my book The Legend of Dudleytown, an internet site, and appearances on radio shows, and interviews for magazines and newspapers. Nothing helped. People want to believe Dudleytown is haunted no matter what evidence you show them.
I really do not think this will go away. For more information, I suggest my book on the town, and definitely a visit to my website. The address is:
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