On Friday, Oct. 24, the Ledyard Historical Society will host its fall program at the Ledyard Congregational Church Fellowship Hall at 7:30 p.m. Of particular interest will be the special viewing of the recently completed short film, The Curse of Micah Rood, which will be open to the public at no charge.
The film, which was largely shot at the Nathan Lester House in Gales Ferry, stars Ron Pallilo, most well known for his role as Arnold Horshak on the hit 1970s television series, Welcome Back, Kotter, and was written by Nicholas Checker, both of whom are University of Connecticut graduates.
Based upon an old Connecticut legend that may contain some truth, The Curse of Micah Rood tells the story of Micah Rood, a reclusive yet industrious farmer who moved to Franklin—then Norwich West Farms—in 1693. On his farm land was an orchard of apple trees renowned for their excellent flavor, and favored by many of the locals. Gradually his neighbors began to notice changes taking place in Rood as he stopped going to church services and had begun to let his farm deteriorate.
Checker explained that this reclusive aspect of Rood, known to be historically accurate, was one the things that makes the film tick.
“What was intriguing was the fact that this apple farmer had basically put himself in a self-imposed exile and in his own solitude he created his own reality,” Checker said. “He doesn’t see other people regularly enough to relate to anyone, and in a sad and almost insane kind of way he ends up relating to his apple trees, and one tree in particular. So it’s the tale of a guy on the fringe of insanity, and all it takes is this one peddler who comes along and pretty much says all the wrong things.”
As legend goes, one night a wandering peddler traveled through town stopping at various houses to sell his wares. After stopping at Rood’s house the man was never seen again (some accounts say his bloodied, dead body was found underneath Rood’s favorite apple tree). Aware of his neighbors’ curiosity, Rood denied any wrongdoing, yet the next fall when the orchard came into bloom, Rood’s favorite tree, which had always produced white flowers along with all his other trees, produced red flowers. In addition, the apples it produced contained a blood-red globule at the center, a rarity never before seen. The “blood” at the center of the apples was said to be a silent judgment on Rood from the supernatural world and some remembered him slipping into an ever-deeper insanity thereafter. According to records from the ecclesiastical society discovered by the New London County Historical Society, and reported on in 1891, Rood passed away on Dec. 17, 1728, just a few years after the “bloody” apples had appeared.
“The whole idea of this movie, what we call an ‘historic haunt,’ is to put together an intriguing and frightening story that doesn’t reek of violence or foul language and gore,” Checker explained, “but in many ways harkens back to a Twilight Zone brand of horror. The story of Micah Rood actually did happen, and it’s interesting to think, were these visions he saw real or were they products of a mind consumed by his own demons? We stayed within the parameters of the history of this man…we just put the spice into it.”
While there is no longer any physical evidence of what came to be known as the “Micah Rood apple” in existence, an article written in the New York Times in 1888 reported on the shipment of the apples from a farm in Franklin to the markets in Windham. Apples with red fruit do exist worldwide but generally either with the whole fruit being red or red fruit on the outside with the core being white, never with a white interior and a “drop” of red flesh at the center.
For more information of the film, visit www.historicalhaunts.com.