True Life Tuesday: Dudleytown Curse

 

 

I have always been fascinated by ghost towns. What causes an entire population of people to leave a place deserted? In this case a curse is to blame.

Dudleytown is located in the Dark Entry Forest in northwestern Connecticut. It actually was not a town but a part of the town of Cornwall. The first settler was Thomas Griffis in 1738. Eventually the Dudley family came to the area from England in the 1740s. The land was acidic and did not receive much sun since it is in a valley so it was not good for farming. To support themselves the people in the area cut lumber from the forest. 

It is believed that the Dudley family who came to the area was the same one that had a curse placed on it in England. The family was believed to be cursed because one of their members was the first carrier of the bubonic plague. It is also believed that the family ran afoul of the British royal family and aristocrats. 

Gideon Dudley was the first family member to come to the area and he bought land from Thomas Griffis in 1748. His brothers, Barzillai and Abiel, soon followed. This where the misfortune began. Abiel Dudley lost his fortune and went insane. He spent the rest of his life as a pauper in the streets. A friend of Abiel's, Gershon Hollister, was found dead in the home of William Tanner. It was rumored that Tanner murdered Hollister and Tanner eventually went insane from the rumors. Many other citizens met strange fates, such as being slaughtered by Native Americans, being struck by lightening and many suicides. 

As rumors swirled the population dwindled to nothing. Today few remnants of the original buildings remain. The land has been owned by the Dark Entry Forest, Inc since 1924. They are letting the land go back to nature. Due to trespassing and vandalism the area is now closed to the public.