Jersey Devil

Many areas of the country have their own myths and legends. The Jersey Devil is one in New Jersey. The people in the area are proud of it rather than afraid. The local hockey team is even named for this cryptic creature.

Sometimes it’s called the Leeds Devil, and goes back to the Native Americans. The Indian name for the area was Place of the Dragon, and Swedish explorers later named it Drake Kill. However, a 1735 story is what most people in New Jersey believed to be the origins of this beast. Mother Leeds, a witch whose husband was supposedly the devil, had 12 children. She claimed that if she had another it would be a devil. The 13th baby quickly changed after being born. It grew hooves and wings and flew out of the house. It disappeared for 100 years after an exorcism.

History shows that Mother Leeds may be Deborah Leeds. 12 children were mentioned in her husband’s will. That fact agrees with the story. But many people believe that the story is just made up by some of the settlers. People who didn’t want to be found escaped to the Pine Barrens. Groups of these people were referred to as pineys. They turned to highway robbery as the pine robbers. So stories formed about monsters. Especially since the reputation of the bandits was less than wholesome.

The Jersey Devil even gets humorous. An outdoors man by the name of Tom Brown Jr. spent many seasons living in the wilderness. People who met him thought they had seen the Jersey Devil. This often happened after Tom covered his body with mud to keep off the mosquitoes. Seems like the mud worked better to repel people than bugs.

The Jersey Devil may have a scientific explanation. Cryptozoologists believe that it possibly is a creature with wings and cloven hooves. Others hold that it is the sand hill crane, a native bird with a 7 foot wingspan.

Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil remains popular. It might be fun to take a trip to find it.

Filed under: Fun Stuff

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