This post was published 2 years 5 months 26 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dudleytown, also known as Owlsbury, is an extinct settlement/Ghost Town in the Appalachian Mountains in Litchfield County, Connecticut. A remote extension to the town of Cornwall, it is best known for its “haunted” forest.Although this place is often reffered to as a town it never became one and is instead simply a section of Cornwall It is located between three mountains,the Coltsfoot Triplets, Bald Mountain, and Woodbury Mountain

Dudleytown in decline
For a hundred years Dudleytown struggled, despite the hard work and versatile skills of the families who lived there over a single generation. During the later part of the 18th Century, few prospered from the booming iron industry centered around the “great furnace” on nearby Mt. Riga having stripped the mountainside of most every tree which further eroded the already taxed land. By 1800, Dudleytown had developed sufficiently to possess its own town hall and meeting house. Improved access followed, by way of Dudleytown and Dark Entry Roads, to accommodate the heavy traffic of horses and riders into the town proper of Cornwall Bridge where the school, church, local cemetery and general store were located at the bottom of the mountainside. Even with these improved roads, the low birthrate of the families and the arrival of many different epidemics (like small pox and yellow fever) in the tiny Dudleytown settlement never raised the population in excess of one hundred people (not exceeding twenty-six families at the populous-peak).

During the American Civil War, almost every Dudleytown family augmented its farming pursuits by cutting and burning wood for charcoal to stoke the numerous furnaces in the area. Some families even operated their own backyard smelters, fed by locally mined ore, heated with local “wood-coal”.

Eventually, the community declined due to a number of factors. Once the trees were gone, the spring and summer rains and the run-off from winter snow soon washed away much of Dudleytown’s soil making crop growth poor to non-existent. There was a general reduction in local industry (mostly timber and iron based) due to the advent of modern techniques like the Bessemer process for making steel in the late 1800s. The opening of great expanses of farmland in the American West, combined with improved means of transport to distant markets, enticed farmers to seek locations with better prospects. By the time the “chestnut blight” hit Connecticut in the early 1900’s, there were few if any permanent residents in Dudleytown. Letters from other states written by the adult children of Dudleytown residents are evident as they implored their parents to move away from the settlement which offered no viable prospects for a good lifestyle.

With no new families moving in to occupy the abandoned homesteads, the houses that had stood for a hundred years crumbled. Their massive hand-cut beams collapsed and decayed beneath protective blankets of wild tiger lilies. Brush and vine now reduced Dark Entry and Dudleytown Roads to little more than tangled trails shrouded in a permanent gloom.

Haunted reputation
In addition to the economic factors in its decline, Dudleytown developed a reputation as a haunted place. Tales of several suicides, mass hysteria, ghost sightings, and demonic contacts have been mistakenly attributed to the small settlement of Dudleytown, leading to many modern-day rumors. In a 1993 interview in Playboy Magazine, comedian Dan Aykroyd claimed that Dudleytown, “Massachusetts” was “the scariest place on Earth”. Dudleytown is actually located in Connecticut. While it has been speculated that the fear generated by such legends contributed greatly to the decline of Dudleytown, the town’s ultimate demise more likely occurred due to poor choices of location by its original founders. The settlement, in addition to being sequestered from the town proper in a difficult-to-reach area, and having very poor soil for crop-growth, lay in the shadows of three mountain peaks which minimized its exposure to sunlight, hence the name of its largest avenue, Dark Entry Forest Road.

The “Curse of Dudleytown” is said to have been begun in the 1940s, but in actuality has its origins in 1938 with the publication of a book by Iveagh Hunt Sterry and William Garrigus entitled “They Found A Way: Connecticut’s Restless People”. The book’s authors allude to the Dudleytown curse and refer to many of these myths and legends as historical fact. From the Connecticut Heritage: “Sterry, Iveagh H., and Garrigus, William H. They Found a Way: Connecticut’s Restless People. Brattleboro, 1938. It is full of legend and long-exposed myths put out as though they were true. One would do much better with Peals, Lee, or Roth.” The curse was revived in a 1970s National Enquirer article whose headline proclaimed, “Deadly Curse Turned New England Village Into A Ghost Town!”. The uncredited article caught the attention of The Warrens of Connecticut, who proceeded to shoot a Halloween special on the paranormal at the site of the former settlement. After proclaiming that Dudleytown was “demonically possessed”, paranormal groups and amateur ghost hunters from all over the world began to descend on the small Connecticut town of Cornwall. The “curse” allegedly had its beginnings in England where the court of King George II took action against the Barons Dudley for supposed malfeasance against the crown. Their father was supposedly descended from these Dudleys who had fled England in the 1700s to escape accusations of high treason. The Dudley family was said to be cursed for its political opposition to the king. However, the Dudleys of Dudleytown appear to have no genealogical descent from the Barons Dudley of England. According to the actual town records of Cornwall, no murders or suicides ever took place in Dudleytown. As for the ghostly sightings and demonic activity, no town records of such occurrences exist to support such claims.

Due to its “haunted” reputation, the area has attracted many ghost hunters, as well as adolescents willing to cause trouble. In the late 1990s, vandals visiting the area committed arson, resulting in a large forest fire that threatened many of the private residences on the property. Following this episode, the Dark Entry Forest Association (which owns the property that includes the site of the former settlement) closed the area down to unauthorized visitors to protect the assets of the community. Still, multiple arrests are made every year, prompting the DEF to continue to keep the area off limits to visitors.

In 2006, Red Barn Films, a small production company in Massachusetts initiated an investigation into the “Curse” and the reported paranormal phenomena in Dudleytown, as the basis for a feature film. The film is planned for 2009.

It Just Wasn’t Meant To Be
As was mentioned previously Dudley town was simply not in a good place for a starting town. Dudley town was in the shadow of three mountains: the Coltsfoot Triplets, Bald Mountain, and Woodbury Mountain. So it is very often shady and pitch black during the night. This area is also filled with trees and these trees are filled with owls which people claim can be quite irritating. For the settlers to do anything they had to cut down trees and move rocks. Dudley town is at an elevation of 1,500 feet, over 1,000 higher than Cornwall Plain so the runoff water from the mountains runs through the area. Once all of these trees and rocks were moved the water run off from the mountains washed away the dirt leaving more rocks. So it was very hard for the settlers to grow anything. Also, with all of the rocks there are very many places where the rocks have created holes, which are hard to see. If a person or animal missteps into one of these holes they will either be stuck or procure an injury which would make them an easy target for local wildlife accounting for the missing animals.

One of the very few things that did grow in Dudley town was rye. When rye is left to sit it can become infected with the fungus ergot. Ingestion of enough ergot can result in hallucinations, erratic behavior, and even death. Ergot poisoning has been linked to other reports of hauntings and supernatural events.

The Legend of Dudley Town
There are two versions of the original legend of Dudley town, neither of which can be supported by historical fact but, which are the basis of the “haunting” which is supposed to be located at this sight. They start off with genealogies of the families, which are supposed to be cursed.

First Version
It is historically noted that in 1510 Edmund Dudley was beheaded for planning to overthrow the King of England. It is said that for this reason he had a curse placed on him, his living family, and any of his descendants. Edmund Dudley’s son, John Dudley was the Duke of Northumberland. He also plotted to overthrow the king by getting his son to marry Lady Jane Grey. The plan was unsuccessful and all three were beheaded. Soon after another of his sons traveled to France and returned with the plague killing thousands, including himself. The final of the three sons Robert the Earl of Leicester wanted to escape the curse and moved out of England. This third son had a child named William Dudley; William came to America in 1630 and had a family. The story begins from here . . .

Second version
Thomas Dudley, a man from Massachusetts, is related to the Edmund Dudley from the previous version he is Uncle to. Brothers settle the Dudley town area. The brothers’ names are Abijah, Bavzillai, Gideon, and Abviel. They founded Dudley town in 1632. The uncle becomes a governor and is supposed to be a horrible man, killing everyone who is not a Puritan. One of the people he kills places a curse on the man and the Dudley town land. Thomas Dudley (in this legend) meets a horrible fate; people found him hacked to death in the area that would in the future be Dudley town. The story starts here . . .

The story
In 1738 Thomas Griffith bought land in the southern part of Cornwall, Connecticut. Others families soon moved in nearby. The first Dudleys moved into the area in 1747. Since there were so many Dudleys in the town it was called “Dudley town.” Abiel was the first case of something strange going on it is said that he went quite mad. The second odd thing that happened was Nathaniel Carter, the man who bought Abiel’s house felt something was wrong with the town so he moved his family away and somehow one of his sons was left behind. Nathan the son who was left became the only lucky member of the family when in October 1764 mother, baby, and father were killed by Indians and the three remaining children taken captive. His brother and his family then died of a cholera epidemic.

Gershon Hollister was found murdered at William Tanner’s house in 1792 and Tanner is said to have gone crazy. Another woman was struck by lightning.

Horace Greeley married Mary Cheney, a Dudley town resident. He ran for president against U.S. Grant a week before the election his wife hung herself.

Crops started failing, many more people died and farm animals went missing and it seems that everyone left.

John Brophy moved to the area in 1892 and started to notice strange things. First his two children went missing and then his sheep and his wife died suddenly. In 1901 he came into a nearby town muttering about hoofed things and demons, his clothing tattered and torn; that night he disappeared forever.

A final family moved up there in 1930 Dr. William Clark and his wife to be precise. Then in 1937 when Dr. Clark returned from business he found his wife cackling and completely mad. It has been deserted ever since.

The Truth Behind the Deaths and Madness
The first madness that is mentioned in the legend is that of Abiel. According to Cornwall town vital records Abiel was 90 when he died. Even in current day that is a long life and they didn’t have modern medicine yet senility wasn’t understood as a part of old age and madness was sometimes considered supernatural. William Tanner the man who in the legend is accused of murder live to the age of 104 and his “madness may be attributed to the same thing. Gershon Hollister the man who Tanner was supposed to have murdered fell from an unfinished barn and that was the cause of his death. Nathaniel Carter and family moved into Indian Territory and were killed by Indians. It doesn’t sound to strange when you put it that way. The children who were taken captive were ransomed back to the British later.

As for all of the people who were killed by the plague, two plagues swept through the entirety of Cornwall and many other places nothing supernatural about them. As for the women who was killed by lightning. This woman did not even live in Dudley town but in the surrounding area, the area is filled with tall trees and many people get hit by lightning it isn’t unheard of. Mary Cheney the women who hung herself never lived in Dudley town she lived in Litchfield. (Litchfield Vital Records, Volume 2, page 12) Click here to see her obituary. She died of lung disease which she had, had her entire life.

John Brophy was the next person in the legend. His two children who disappeared were being charged with robbery and it is entirely possible that they were trying to escape the law. His wife Died of Tuberculosis and then his house burnt down. Although no one knows what happened to John himself it seems understandable that he might want to disappear after what he had been through.

Dr. Clarke is the final person in the story. His wife did commit suicide while he was on business in New York but his descendants say the she had some sort of chronic illness though it is not know what. The problem with him leaving at the end of the story is that he actually remarried and started the DEF, which now owns Dudley town and moved there. This hypothosis is speculative given the amount of, and frequency of paranormal events having occured in said area.

Press Release
Dark Entry Forest, Inc. P.O. Box 259 Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754-0259

“News Release” Please release this on October 15, 22 & 29, 2001.
Dark Entry Forest, Inc. is privately owned land, which is posted thoroughly with “No Trespassing” and “No Parking” signs on all roadways leading into the area known as Dudleytown. Dudleytown is not on state property, nor is it in a state forest; therefore this property is not open to the public.

The Connecticut State Police and Department of Environmental Protection Officers will continue to patrol and strictly enforce all trespassing and illegal parking laws and regulations. The owners of Dark Entry Forest, Inc. will seek the arrest and prosecution of all trespassers to the full extent of the law. Additionally, parking is prohibited on the roads leading into Dark Entry Forest and owners will be ticketed and vehicles will be towed should they be blocking vehicular traffic and/or driveways.

This year Law Enforcement Officers have been summoned 79 times to the Dark Entry Forest area, resulting in arrests for criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, illegal parking and littering. We will also assist the police by obtaining vehicle registration numbers and photographing them for evidence in citizen complaints.

Dark Entry Forest, Inc. regrets having to take these measures, but we are dedicated to the preservation of our fragile woodlands, as well as our own peace and tranquility.

Working as a Manager for Uhaul, when I do get spare time I sit with my ouija board, do as many paranormal investigations as I can, and research everything and anything paranormal. I am also very interested in railroads and model trains in general.

Connect me on Facebook | Twitter | Google + | Website