Jersey Devil

From MysteryWiki

The Jersey Devil or Leeds Devil[1] is a legendary creature often associated with the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey.

Origins

Professor Crutis D. MacDougall of the journalism school at Northwestern University alleged, in 1960, that the Jersey Devil was, in fact, the 1906 creation of Norman Jeffries, a press agent for C. A. Brandenburg's Museum in Philadelphia (Kolesar, "The Jersey Devil").

Legends

It has been suggested that the Jersey Devil was born in 1887 in Estellville, New Jersey to a Mrs. Leeds (Kolesar, "The Jersey Devil").

Ethel Noyes reported in 1973 that the Jersey Devil never harmed anyone, although "some who dallied with him got white hair overnight" (Mockridge).

Sightings

Purported Early Sightings

Modern Sightings

Sightings of 1909

Reportedly, the Devil's body was found on Tuesday, 19 October 1909 near the New Jersey town of Kinkora. The creature was then meant to be mounted in the state museum of New Jersey under the director of the museum's coordinator Professor Henry Moore. The body was described as "resembling a wildcat", being some twenty inches in length[2], with teeth three quarters of an inch to an inch in length[3] ("The Jersey Devil: A Curious Beast").

On 8 January 1910, "mysterious" footprints reportedly appeared in Clayton, New Jersey, but were quickly explained away as a combination of bear tracks and the tracks of "sundry residents of the borough who had suffered frozen or frosted feet" ("Mystery in Bear Tracks").

Later Sightings

William A. Bishop[4], a driver and salesman employed by a Camden milk firm, reported seeing the Devil on 22 February 1924 around 3:00 AM while delivering milk at Sixth street and River drive, Westville. The News in Frederick, Maryland reported:

He [Bishop] said it [The Jersey Devil] looked like a tall, narrow man about seven feet in height with hair hanging down longer than the tail of a horse. The hair was a sort of gray ... and the object [The Devil] had a burlap bag tied around its waist. The "devil" or whatever it was, took two bottles of milk and a package of cottage cheese fromt he milk wagon and darted toward Timber Creek, where there are two houses.

Bishop later hurried to the home of the Sunday school superintendent Charles C. Dempsey, telling of what he had seen. Dempsey reportedly then showed Bishop the tracks in his own yard, with Bishop saying the creature created similar tracks in the snow earlier. Chief of Police Frank Ellender was then informed and searched the banks of the creek, but to no avail ("See 'Jersey Devil' Take Food from Wagon").

On 1 October 1924, following a report to police by Mrs. William Otlo that an animal had killed six chickens, three ducks a collie the previous morning on her farm in Pleasant Valley Way, Judge Herbert Lightbite of the West Orange Police Court announced that "if the Devil is not caught before the hunting season opens Nov. 11, he [Lightbite] will head a party of sportsmen from Orange and bring back 'whatever it is, dead or alive'" ("Jersey Devil Appears Again").

The Ogden Standard Examiner noted that the perennial Jersey Devil appeared in Swedesboro, New Jersey "[s]lightly behind its usual schedule" in August 1927. Its appearance at a distance was noted as that of a "feathered quadruped about the size of a fox, with a cry 'half bark, half hoot'" ("Flashes of Life").

Influence in Popular Culture

Crime

Ralph Graham, a notorious jewel thief, used the pseudonym "William Borton" was reportedly known as "Jersey Devil" Borton ("Suspect Tells Of $1,000,000 Jewel Ring").

Food & Drink

The Smith Hotel in Smithville, New York named a mixed drink after the creature. "The Jersey Devil Cocktail" was concocted by putting together "apple jack, cranberry juice, Triple Sec, and lemon juice" (Mockridge).

Sports

Notes

  1. ↑ Also referred to as the "Garden State phantom" ("Jersey Folk to Discuss Folklore").
  2. ↑ 50.8 centimeters.
  3. ↑ Approximately 1.905 to 2.54 centimeters in length.
  4. ↑ New Jersey resident living on Third avenue in the town of Brooklawn. He was about 50 years old at the time.

See Also

External Links

References

  • "Jersey Devil Appears Again." Middletown Daily Herald, 1 Oct. 1924.
  • "The Jersey Devil: A Curious Beast." Warren Evening Mirror, 21 Oct. 1909, pp. 1–2.
  • "Mystery in Bear Tracks." The Indianapolis Star, 9 Jan. 1910.
  • "See 'Jersey Devil' Take Food from Wagon." The News, 23 Feb. 1924.
  • "Suspect Tells Of $1,000,000 Jewel Ring." Syracuse Herald, 25 Mar. 1939, p. 12.
  • Associated Press. "Flashes of Life." Ogden Standard Examiner, 4 Aug. 1927.
  • Associated Press. "Jersey Folk to Discuss Folklore." Berkshire Evening Eagle, 10 May 1945.
  • Boyle, Hal. "Mythical Monster." Daily Review, 18 Nov. 1960, pp. 2.
  • Dispatch to New York World. "'Jersey Devil' Dead." The Washington Post, 21 Oct. 1909.
  • Kenen, Regina H. "Negotiations, Superstitions, and the Plight of Individuals Born with Severe Birth Defects." Social Science & Medicine. Part A: Medical Psychology & Medical Sociology, vol. 14, no. 4, 1980, pp. 279–286., doi:10.1016/s0271-7123(80)90123-6.
  • Kolesar, John. "The Jersey Devil." The Evening Standard, 18 Nov. 1960.
  • Kolesar, John. "A Monster Sustained By Myth." Newport Daily News, 18 Nov. 1960.
  • Kolesar, John. “'Jersey Devil' Keeps Small Town in Uproar.” Daily Chronicle, 18 Nov. 1960.
  • Kolesar, John, and Associated Press. "Story About Jersey Devil Persists in Many Sections." Abilene Reporter News, 21 Nov. 1960.
  • Mockridge, Norton. "Ye Olde Towne." El Paso Herald-Post, 2 July 1973.
  • Regal, Brian. "The Jersey Devil: A Political Animal." New Jersey Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015, p. 79., doi:10.14713/njs.v1i1.13.
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