Duddleytown and Roanoke

Paranormal scientists say that the whole area is
covered in intensely negative energy, which could
have had a hand in all the unusual activities that
have taken place over the last 200 years.

Dudleytown is an abandoned settlement located in
Cornwall, Connecticut. It was nicknamed
Dudleytown after its founding family, who settled
there in 1738.

The Dudley name had already been reportedly
cursed for over 100 years at that time. Family
history stretched back as far as Saxon times in
England, but the first recorded disaster took place in
the 16th century when a Dudley family member was
beheaded by King Henry VIII.

Dudley and Empson were on King Henry VII's Privy
Council, and were appointed as Finance Ministers in
the early 1500's. Word had traveled to Henry VIII
that the two men used very unsavory means to
collect money and enforce law for the Crown. Upon
the death of his father, Henry VIII had the two men
arrested and then executed. He called them
traitors, and in a proclamation, said that they had
tarnished the memory of his father, King Henry VII.

Such harsh words from the King, who seemed to the
people of England to be a 'Golden Sun God," must
have embarrassed the Dudley's and shunned them
from the rest of society. That shame traveled with
them when William Dudley left England for America.

Another famous Dudley was Thomas, who was the
Governor of Massachusetts in the late 1600's. He
helped lay the foundation for religious persecutions
that resulted in the Salem Witch Trials. 24 people
were unjustly killed in the Summer of 1692.

3 Dudley brothers, Gideon, Abiel, and Barzillai finally
settled into the area now known as Dudleytown. in
1738. It was a wild area to live and was surrounded
by dense forest, it's land too rocky for farming. For
a short time the only profitable industry was coal
from pine trees.

Life was bleak in the confines of Dudleytown, and
quickly odd incidents plagued the village. Madness
seemed to be spread through the water* as did
suicide. The town quickly gained a reputation for
being cursed, and no one wanted to live there.
Unusual diseases would suddenly wipe out whole
families, and death by unusual means, such as
lightning occurred often.

The madness of Dudleytown was brought to the
attention of the public eye when Mary Cheney, wife
of the 1872 presidential candidate Horace Greeley.
committed suicide in New York. She had previously
lived in Dudleytown.

After so many deaths and no new citizens,
Dudleytown was abandoned in 1899, and the forest
reclaimed the land.

The town was brought back to life briefly in the
1920's when a doctor fell in love with the spot, and
built his summer home there. He was the founder of
the "Dark Entry Forest Association," which still
protects the land today. One evening, while the
doctor was away, his wife went mad, and claimed to
have been attacked by a creature from the forest.

Photographs of the barren place have revealed
ghostly mists and other strange phenomena.
Poltergeist activity has left visitors physically
attacked, leaving long scratch marks from invisible
fingernails. Apparitions have been seen of lonely
traveling souls, and also of a phantom horse.

Unfortunately, Dudleytown is no longer open to the
public. Several incidents of vandalism, and even
arson have closed the area off to potential ghost
hunters or visitors.

Note * Some scientist have suggested that perhaps the
madness that was prevalent in the village may have been
caused by a large amount of Lead in the ground.

Also, there is no clear evidence that I am aware of that the
Dudley residents of the town are actually related to the
Dudley executed by King Henry VIII. There are apparently
many theories as to who the Dudley's are really related to.

Here's a mystery for you; How do 150 English
settlers suddenly disappear into thin air? Well,
that's not an easy question to answer, but here
goes...

When the first English settlement on Roanoke
Island failed in 1586*, Sir Walter Raleigh whipped
up another group of 150 people, and sent them on
their way. They were headed for Virginia to
paradise, or so they thought. The first settlement
had been made up completely of men, military in
nature. They built a fort near the waters edge,
and several cottages behind it on the North end of
the island. Unfortunately, they had made a mess
of their relationship with the local natives, and the
new settlers would have to deal with its backlash.

They arrived on the island on July 22, 1587, and
on August 18, Virginia Dare was born. She was the
first English child to be born in the New World.
After the colony was settled, their governor, John
White, Virginia Dare's grandfather, returned to
England for supplies. He wouldn't return for about
three years.

The reason that he was never able to return was
that England had gone to war with Spain, and
Queen Elizabeth I would need every ship to defeat
the mighty Spanish Armada. During that long
campaign, the settlers of Roanoke were alone.
What happened to them during that time is
unknown.

There is a legend that surrounds Virginia Dare that
I will insert here...

It goes that a blue eyed child (Virginia) was
adopted by the Indians. As she grew into a
beautiful young woman, she aroused jealousy
among the men. A medicine man seeking to end
the quarrel, placed a magic necklace around
Virginia's neck, and it transformed her into a silvery
white doe.

But back to the story...

On August 18, 1590 after finally getting the money
and resources needed, Governor White returned to
Roanoke to find the village empty. There was no
sign of the 150 settlers that were left behind, and
the village looked as though it had been abandoned
for some time. The houses were flattened, and
tree trunks and curtains had been placed around
the village as a barrier. It was said to have looked
very "fort like," On a bare tree trunk, someone had
carved "CRO" in Roman letters, and on another tree
was the word,

"C - R - O - T- O - A" in English.

Governor White immediately raced to the Crotoan
Island nearby, which was inhabited by Indians.
The relationship had been strained between the
Indians and the settlers, but when White had been
there, they were on friendly terms. Bad weather
kept the ship that White boarded from ever
reaching Crotoa, and the settlers were never
found. Later when others landed at Jamestown,
they still searched for the Raleigh colonists, but
they had disappeared.

All but one anyway. The silvery white doe is still
seen on occasion at the site of the Fort Raleigh
National Historical Museum on Roanoke Island.

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