Dudley Town - Dudleytown Mythology

Dudleytown Mythology

The supposed “curse of Dudleytown” appears to have begun with the 1926 publication of Edward C. Starr’s History of Cornwall. For reasons that have yet to be explained, Starr wove together a fanciful and inaccurate two-page account of Dudleytown residents over the centuries. No accounts of the supernatural in Dudleytown have been found prior to the publication of his book.

Starr’s account has formed the basis of every story published since then about Dudleytown. Sometimes Starr’s account is reprinted almost word for word, with an emphasis on anything that sounds even remotely spooky. Other times it is embellished to make it more exciting for new readers. Still other times portions are reworked, changing names and other details.

The following facts contradicting popular Dudleytown myths have been uncovered by the Cornwall Historical Society:

The Dudley family of Cornwall has no connection to English nobility.

Mary Cheney Greeley never lived anywhere in Cornwall. She and the rest of the Cheneys lived in Litchfield.

Abiel Dudley did not go insane. His neighbors described him as “distracted” and unable to care for himself beginning around 1756 or earlier. In their 1771 petition to the Connecticut General Assembly for reimbursement for taking care of him, Dudley’s neighbors made no mention of anything unusual about him or his mental incapacities. They noted that he never had any wealth, only land that he did not cultivate.

General Heman Swift lived to be 81 years old; if, as Starr suggests, he suffered from dementia in his later years, natural causes seem far more likely than supernatural ones.

Swift’s wife, Sarah, was indeed killed by lightning in 1804; however, this was not an uncommon occurrence in the 1800s, when many houses were not protected by lightning rods. Newspapers from all over the country, throughout the 19th century, had frequent accounts of dramatic lightning strikes rolling through living rooms and kitchens.

The Irish laborer (who has been given several names in later retellings of the story) was unnamed in Starr’s account. According to Starr, his sons were caught stealing, which is why they left Cornwall. Starr also notes that the unnamed man’s wife died of consumption, a common cause of death in the 1800s (later retellings claim her cause of death was unknown, and that their sons mysteriously vanished).

Several retellings claim the Irish laborer’s name was John Brophy. Most versions of the story agree with Starr’s claim that the Irishman’s home burned down in 1901. The only Brophys in Cornwall on the 1900 census were Calvin and Sarah Brophy, and Richard and Mary Brophy (and their son Henry). The two Brophy families also appear in Cornwall on the 1880 census, and arrived in the U.S. in 1862.

Starr also referred to an unnamed “solitary Pole” who “failed to make good, lost his farm, and removed.” A few retellings have assigned the name Joseph Matyas to this man, while others have left him nameless (while embellishing the story with a surprising amount of detail, considering that his identity is unknown). It seems unlikely that Starr was referring to Matyas, as he lived in Cornwall with his wife and children long after Starr’s book was published (and was Hungarian, not Polish).

Perhaps the strangest piece of misinformation in Starr’s account is his tale of the New York doctor and wife. As later retellings clarify, this is surely a reference to Dr. William C. Clarke, the founder of Dark Entry Forest, Inc. Starr, a Congregational Church minister, somewhat cruelly and very fancifully relates the suicide of Clarke’s first wife, claiming that the doctor never returned to Dudleytown. Yet on the very next page, Starr mentions the creation of Dark Entry Forest. Perhaps he chose to sacrifice truth for the sake of telling a romantic story that might help the sale of his book; or perhaps he simply didn’t do enough research.

Enthusiasts should also be aware that the name “Dark Entry” does not and never was intended to have ominous overtones. It is actually a fairly common name, found in several other towns.

There are just as many birds singing in the Dark Entry Forest as there are in any other forested area of Connecticut. In fact, Cornwall has one of the largest and most diverse populations of breeding birds anywhere in the country.