The wondrous and prophetic folklore legend of “Doctor Steal”

It is said that a stranger arrived in eastern Haddam sometime in the 1700’s. Nobody knows when for sure. His name was Dr. Steal, but in later decades it was misspelled as Steele. Some said he was an alchemist, while others called him a magician. Whatever it was, it was clear that he understood forces beyond this world, and it was those forces that drew him to Connecticut.

Some time before the stranger’s arrival, the town of East Haddam was plagued by an eruption of strange, agonizing noises that sounded to some as if the earth itself was an animal screaming in pain. These sounds seem to emanate from the area of ​​town now known as Moodus, a name derived from the long Native American term for “bad noise place”.

The disastrous cacophony brought robbery to the city. After the locals gave him directions to the Salmon River, he searched for the confluence of the Modus River and unearthed two dimples, the mysterious stones that struck the ground and were the source of the mysterious noise. Dr. Steal leaves with stones but warns that there will be seedlings buried in the same wet sand that will eventually grow back, and the voices will return.

This part of Connecticut folklore explains temper sounds, a phenomenon observed throughout the region’s history that we now know was caused by earthquakes. But the first known version of Dr. Steele’s story appeared in 1790 in a letter published in the New London Connecticut Gazette. The following year the murmur in the land did indeed return, but this time with greater fury than before or since.

On May 16, 1791, the quake began with “two shocks of great strength in quick succession,” one modern witness recalled, according to Today in Connecticut History. “The first was the strongest; the earth seemed to be having severe convulsions. The stone walls shook, stacks of [sic] It was opened, and the doors which had been locked were opened, and a crevice in the ground of several bars was then discovered in the run.”

The earthquake, Connecticut’s worst in recorded history, came on an unusually clear, moonlit night. On a boat in what is today Clinton, a ship captain reported seeing a fish jump out of the water. People felt more minor shocks as far away as Boston and New York.

Seismologists today estimate that the quake would have measured between 4.4 and 5 on the Richter scale. While it is impossible to determine the epicenter with certainty, many believe it originated in the Mudus region of eastern Haddam.

While researching the story of the May 16th earthquake, I came across Dr. Steal’s story. Noting the timing between his appearance and the earthquake, I couldn’t help but wonder: Did Dr. Steele’s story predict the earthquake?

The short answer is almost certainly not, though the timing is undoubtedly scary. Dr. Steal’s story is fictional, and perhaps more than that, it follows a folkloric motif that predates the version of the tale told in Connecticut. “The story of an educated man entering a river, mountain, or underground chamber to discover treasure—often an ember—was a notable folk narrative in medieval Europe. University of Massachusetts Amherst folklore professor Stephen Gincarella writes in his book Spooky Trails and Tall Tales Connecticut,” This carried on well into the Age of Exploration and Colonization.” “The legend of Dr. Steele is supposed to have ridden with sailors or immigrants—the carbuncle tradition was widespread in Ireland, for example. These motifs mixed regional traditions and inspiring variants with local flair.”

References to mood sounds predate the robbery tale. However, mood noise is not as clearly associated with Aboriginal culture as European colonizers portrayed it. “Archaeological evidence and land titles from the late 17th century indicate that the area served as a seasonal camp and hunting ground for a number of indigenous peoples, including Wangonk, Mohegan, Pequot, and Niantic,” Gincarella writes. “We don’t know for sure what stories these people told about the noise, but Mohegan medicine lady Gladys Tantaquidjohn once speculated that the culture’s hero, Mochob, may have played a role.”

This lack of certainty about local traditions associated with noise did not prevent generations of European settlers from forming supposedly indigenous legends about the noise that often had colonial and racist overtones.

As for the story of Steal and his mysterious mission in Moodus, this too would be repeated and take on new forms many times over the years, including in an 1819 poem by John Gardiner Calkins Brainard. Moodus noises will also be heard again over the years including during the earthquakes in 2011 and 2015. While Steal’s story is just a story, if you’ve heard of a mysterious stranger arriving in Moodus and digging up a stone near a salmon place with Moodus rivers, you might It’s time to seek refuge in a strong entrance.

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