A deadly, centuries-old curse wiped out the once-thriving New England village of Dudleytown, driving residents to suicide and madness, say researchers.
Today the site of Dudleytown, Conn. is an uninhabited ghost town, with only crumbling stone foundations of buildings as a reminder of the village’s tragic history.
“There is absolutely no question that Dudleytown was destroyed by the Dudley Curse,” said world-famed psychic researcher Ed Warren.
Warren said that according to legend, the curse originated in 1510 when an Englishman named Edmund Dudley was beheaded for plotting to overthrow the King of England. Satanists in the royal court placed the curse on his family.
A great-grandson, William Dudley, came to the U.S. in 1630. About 100 years later, his descendants founded Dudleytown, which became a bustling community.
Soon, however, the Dudley Curse had started taking its deadly toll. In 1774, six members of the family, who had settled in Dudleytown, died from cholera.
“About the same time, Abviel Dudley, the oldest of the four founding brothers, went mad, raving that he saw weird animals and terrifying green creatures,” Warren said.
In 1792, a Dudleytown resident, Gershom Hollister, was found murdered at the home of William Tanner – who babbled insanely about demonic creatures.
Then, in 1804, lightning killed Sarah Gaye Swift, wife of one of Dudleytown’s most prominent citizens, General Herman Swift.
John Brophy moved to the town in 1892. His two children went missing and then his sheep and his wife died suddenly. In 1901 he wandered into a nearby town muttering about hoofed things and demons, his clothing torn; he disappeared that night forever.
The horrible incidents grew even worse until the early 1900s, when the once-proud little town had become the sad, deserted ghost town it is today.
The Dark Entry Forest Association now owns the land, and entry is no longer permitted.
