Jersey Devil
In
Origin of the legend
Mother Leeds's 13th child
According to popular folklore, the Jersey Devil originated with a Pine Barrens resident named Jane Leeds, known as "Mother Leeds." The legend states that Mother Leeds had twelve children and, after discovering she was pregnant for the thirteenth time, cursed the child in frustration, declaring that the child would be the "devil." In 1735, Mother Leeds was in labour on a stormy night while her friends gathered around her. Unfortunately for her, the thirteenth child was born normally. However, it transformed into a creature with hooves, a goat's head, bat wings, and a forked tail. Growling and screaming, the child beat everyone with its tail before flying up the chimney and heading into the pines. In some versions of the tale, Mother Leeds was supposedly a witch and the child's father was the devil himself. Some versions of the legend also state that local clergymen subsequently attempted to exorcise the creature from the Pine Barrens.[5]
The Leeds family
Prior to the early 1900s, the Jersey Devil was referred to as the Leeds Devil or the Devil of Leeds, either in connection with the local Leeds family or the eponymous Leeds Point in South Jersey.[6]
"Mother Leeds" has been identified by some as the real-life Deborah Leeds,[7] on grounds that Deborah Leeds' husband, Japhet Leeds, named twelve children in the will he wrote during 1736,[8] which is compatible with the legend. Deborah and Japhet Leeds also lived in the Leeds Point section of what is now Atlantic County, New Jersey,[9] which is commonly the location of the Jersey Devil story.
Brian Regal, a historian of science at Kean University, theorizes that the story of Mother Leeds, rather than being based on a single historical person alone, originated from the reputation of the local prominent Leeds family in the southern portion of the colonial-era Province of New Jersey, where religious-political disputes became the subject of folklore and gossip among the local population. Regal contends that folk legends concerning these historical disputes evolved through the years and ultimately resulted in the modern popular legend of the Jersey Devil during the early 20th century. Regal contends that "colonial-era political intrigue" involving early New Jersey politicians, Benjamin Franklin, and Franklin's rival almanac publisher Daniel Leeds (1651–1720) resulted in the Leeds family being described as "monsters", and it was Daniel Leeds' negative description as the "Leeds Devil", rather than any actual creature, that created the later legend of the Jersey Devil.
Much like the Mother Leeds of the Jersey Devil myth, Daniel Leeds' third wife had given birth to nine children, a large number of children even for the time. Leeds' second wife and first daughter had both died during childbirth. Leeds and his family were prominent in the South Jersey and Pine Barrens area. As a royal
Starting in the 17th century,
In response to and in spite of this censorship, Leeds continued to publish even more
During 1716, Daniel Leeds' son, Titan Leeds, inherited his father's almanac business, which continued to use astrological content and eventually competed with Benjamin Franklin's popular Poor Richard's Almanack. The competition between the two men intensified when, during 1733, Franklin satirically used astrology in his almanac to predict Titan Leeds' death on October of that same year. Though Franklin's prediction was intended as a joke at his competitor's expense and a means to boost almanac sales, Titan Leeds was apparently offended at the death prediction, publishing a public admonition of Franklin as a "fool" and a "liar". In a published response, Franklin mocked Titan Leeds' outrage and humorously suggested that, in fact, Titan Leeds had died in accordance with the earlier prediction and was thus writing his almanacs as a ghost, resurrected from the grave to haunt and torment Franklin. Franklin continued to jokingly refer to Titan Leeds as a "ghost" even after Titan Leeds' actual death in 1738. Daniel Leeds' blasphemous and occultist reputation and his pro-monarchy stance in the largely anti-monarchist colonial south of New Jersey, combined with Benjamin Franklin's later continuous depiction of his son Titan Leeds as a ghost, may have originated or contributed to the local folk legend of a so-called "Leeds Devil" lurking in the Pine Barrens.[10]
During 1728, Titan Leeds began to include the Leeds
The Leeds Devil
Regal notes that, by the late 18th century and the early 19th century at the latest, the "Leeds Devil" had become an ubiquitous legendary monster or ghost story in present-day South Jersey. In the early to mid-19th century, stories continued to circulate in southern New Jersey of the Leeds Devil, a "monster wandering the Pine Barrens." An oral tradition of "Leeds Devil" monster/ghost stories became well-established in the Pine Barrens area.[6]
Although the "Leeds Devil" legend has existed since the 18th century, Regal states that the more modern depiction of the Jersey Devil, as well as the now pervasive "Jersey Devil" name, first became truly standardized in current form during the early 20th century:
During the pre-Revolutionary period, the Leeds family, who called the Pine Barrens home, soured its relationship with the Quaker majority ... The Quakers saw no hurry to give their former fellow religionist an easy time in circles of gossip. His wives had all died, as had several children. His son Titan stood accused by Benjamin Franklin of being a ghost ... The family crest had winged dragons on it. In a time when thoughts of independence were being born, these issues made the Leeds family political and religious monsters. From all this over time the legend of the Leeds Devil was born. References to the 'Jersey Devil' do not appear in newspapers or other printed material until the twentieth century. The first major flap came in 1909. It is from these sightings that the popular image of the creature—batlike wings, horse head, claws, and general air of a dragon—became standardized.[10]
Indeed, many references to a "Leeds Devil" or "Devil of Leeds" appear in earlier printed material prior to the widespread usage of the "Jersey Devil" name. During 1859, the
Whenever he went near it, it would give a most unearthly yell that frightened the dogs. It whipped at every dog on the place. "That thing," said the colonel, "is not a bird nor an animal, but it is the Leeds devil, according to the description, and it was born over in Evesham, Burlington County, a hundred years ago. There is no mistake about it. I never saw the horrible critter myself, but I can remember well when it was roaming around in Evesham woods fifty years ago, and when it was hunted by men and dogs and shot at by the best marksmen there were in all South Jersey but could not be killed. There isn't a family in Burlington or any of the adjoining counties that does not know of the Leeds devil, and it was the bugaboo to frighten children with when I was a boy.[13]
Reported sightings
There have been many claims of sightings and occurrences involving the Jersey Devil.
According to legend, while visiting the Hanover Mill Works to inspect his cannonballs being forged, Commodore Stephen Decatur sighted a flying creature and fired a cannonball directly upon it, to no effect.[3]
Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of Napoleon, is also claimed to have seen the Jersey Devil while hunting on his Bordentown estate about 1820.[14]
During 1840, the Jersey Devil was blamed for several livestock killings. Similar attacks were reported during 1841, accompanied by tracks and screams.[3]
In
Wave of sightings in 1909
During the week of January 16–23, 1909, newspapers published hundreds of claimed encounters with the Jersey Devil from all over South Jersey and the
Description and explanation
Skeptics believe the Jersey Devil to be nothing more than a creative manifestation upon the imaginations of the early English settlers in South Jersey, with plausible natural explanations including: bogeyman stories created and told by bored Pine Barren residents as a form of children's entertainment; the byproduct of the historical local disdain for the Leeds family; the misidentification of known animals; and rumors based on common negative perceptions of the local rural population of the Pine Barren (known as "pineys").[27]
The frightening reputation of the Pine Barrens may indeed have contributed to the Jersey Devil legend. Historically, the Pine Barrens was considered inhospitable land.
Due in part to their isolated and undeveloped nature, the Pine Barrens have themselves fostered various folk legends.
Jeff Brunner of the Humane Society of New Jersey thinks that “vagrant” sandhill cranes are partially the basis of the Jersey Devil stories, adding, "There are no photographs, no bones, no hard evidence whatsoever, and worst of all, no explanation of its origins that doesn't require belief in the supernatural."[34] Sandhill cranes are not indigenous or well-known to South Jersey, are approximately the same size as the alleged Jersey Devil, and produce distinctive loud vocalizations; as unfamiliar animals with a distinctively loud, trumpeting call, wayward or vagrant migrating Sandhill cranes that ended up in South Jersey would thus potentially startle or frighten Pine Barren residents at night or under other circumstances in which the animal’s true appearance was unclear.
Outdoorsman and author Tom Brown Jr. spent several seasons living in the wilderness of the Pine Barrens. He recounts occasions when terrified hikers mistook him for the Jersey Devil, after he covered his whole body with mud to repel mosquitoes.[35]
Medical sociologist Robert E. Bartholomew and author Peter Hassall cite the infamous 1909 series of sightings of the Jersey Devil (and the subsequent public panic) as a classic example of
One New Jersey group called the "Devil Hunters" refer to themselves as "official researchers of the Jersey Devil", and devote time to collecting reports, visiting historic sites, and going on nocturnal hunts in the Pine Barrens in order to "find proof that the Jersey Devil does in fact exist."[36]
Writing in
Hoaxes
Gordon Stein in Encyclopedia of Hoaxes (1993) noted that the alleged footprints of the Jersey Devil during 1909 resembled a horse's hoof. According to Stein, a man later admitted he had faked some of these footprints.[38]
Geoff Tibballs in The World's Greatest Hoaxes (2006) has claimed that Norman Jeffries was involved in hoaxing the Jersey Devil:
Norman Jeffries, publicist for Philadelphia's Arch Street Museum and renowned hoaxer, was well aware of the stories about the Jersey Devil. So when the museum proprietor, T. F. Hopkins, admitted that it was in danger of closure unless Jeffries came up with something to boost attendances, the publicist decided that a captive Jersey Devil would be the ideal crowd-puller.[39]
He also planted nonfictional newspaper stories about new sightings of the Devil.[39] During 1909, Jeffries with his friend Jacob Hope, an animal trainer, purchased a kangaroo from a circus and glued artificial claws and bat wings onto it. They declared to the public they had captured the Devil and it was displayed at the museum. Twenty years later, Jeffries admitted to the hoax.[40][41]
Cultural relevance
In Man and Beast in American Comic Legend, folklorist Richard Dorson outlines six criteria for establishing distinction among legendary creatures of American folklore. While the Jersey Devil was not expressly cited by Dorson, it nevertheless qualifies for this same level of relevance.[original research?] Dorson specifies that the qualifier must: exist in oral tradition, inspire belief and conviction, become personalized and institutionalized, be fanciful or mythical , and contain a "comical side," which endears it to the American public.[42]
Oral tradition of the Jersey Devil well predates printed newspaper accounts, and belief in its existence by many continues. The latter is made evident not only by commentators who elaborate on this possibility but also by investigative programs such as Mother Leeds' 13th Child,[43] In Search of Monsters,[44] Lore[45] and Monsters and Mysteries in America.[46]
As a fixture of organizations, it is the namesake for two professional ice hockey teams. The first, the Jersey Devils of the Eastern Hockey League, played from 1964 until the league folded in 1973. The second, the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League, have played since 1982. The current team was formerly known as the Colorado Rockies, and their name was chosen by a poll shortly after the team relocated to New Jersey.[47][48] This same trend towards cultural incorporation is further exemplified by the Jersey Devil's appropriation in toy lines, such as its inclusion as a vinyl figure in Cryptozoic Entertainment Cryptkins blind box,[49][50] as well as its application as a motif by Six Flags Great Adventure for their Jersey Devil Coaster developed by Rocky Mountain Construction.[51][52]
Moreover, the Jersey Devil's fanciful or mythical nature is explored in the numerous works of fantasy it makes an appearance in, including:
See also
- Belled buzzard
- Pope Lick Monster
- Dover Demon
- Fearsome critters
- Goatman (urban legend)
- Mothman
- Sasquatch
- Snallygaster
References
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- ^ Johnson, Carol; Munn, David, Jersey Devil-Fact or Fiction?, Atlantic County and the Government, retrieved March 18, 2024
- ^ ISBN 0-912608-11-0
- ^ "The Jersey Devil & Pine Barrens Folklore – New Jersey Pine Barrens". Pinelands Preservation Alliance. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- JSTOR 1497076. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ a b Trethan, Phaedra (November 11, 2016). "Haddonfield talk explores Jersey Devil's 'real' roots". Courier-Post. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ Mallowe, Mike, "The Enduring Reign Of The Jersey Devil" The Bulletin (Philadelphia), October 30, 2008
- ^ Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State Of New Jersey, 1st Ser., Vol. XXX Ed. A. Van Doren Honeyman, (Union-Gazette, Somerville, N.J.) 1918.
- ^ Rundstrom, Olive Conover, "Daniel Leeds and his Descendants", Atlantic County Historical Society Year Book, vol. 6, no. 4, p. 156 (1971)
- ^ a b c d e Regal, Brian. (2013). "The Jersey Devil: The Real Story". Csicop.org. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
- . Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- ^ Yuhas, Alan (October 17, 2015). "Jersey Devil 'sighting' reignites excitement but experts pour cold water". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "The Devil of Leeds". Elkhart Sentinel. October 15, 1887. p. 8. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ^ S. E. Schlosser. "Joseph Bonaparte and the Jersey Devil". Archived from the original on 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
- ^ Daily Times of Woodbury, December 15, 1925, quoted in, Moran, Mark and Sceurman, Mark (2004). Weird N.J.: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Barnes & Noble. p. 107.
- ^ Laura K. Leuter (1937-07-28). "The Devil Hunters – Official Researchers of the Jersey Devil". Njdevilhunters.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ "CNBNEWS.NET: In 1909, the Jersey Devil was sighted in Gloucester". Gloucestercitynews.net. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ISBN 978-0-439-85479-5.
- ^ "h2g2 – The Legend of the Jersey Devil". Bbc.co.uk. 2006-12-02. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ "Legend of the New Jersey Devil". Archived from the original on 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ Moran, Mark and Sceurman, Mark (2004). Weird N.J.: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Barnes & Noble. pp. 104–105.
- ^ Moran and Sceurman (2004). p. 105.
- ^ "The New Jersey Historical Society". Jerseyhistory.org. 2000-10-26. Archived from the original on 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ Fair, Susan (2013), Mysteries and Lore of Western Maryland. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, pp. 16–23, "The Snallygaster."
- ^ ISBN 978-1633881235. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ "The Jersey Devil Legend". Thefixsite.com. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ Regal, Brian (November 2013). "The Jersey Devil: The Real Story". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Skeptical Inquirer Volume 37.6 (November/December 2013). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ The Monster in Jersey's Pines Archived 2006-05-01 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 24, 2006.
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- ISBN 978-0912608198. Accessed September 24, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0912608105. Accessed September 24, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0912608174. Accessed September 24, 2015.
- ^ Polhamus, Andy (January 25, 2015). "'Blue Hole' hike in Monroe Township shares history, dispels myths of South Jersey landmark". NJ.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ "The Devil Went Down To Jersey". Archives.citypaper.net. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
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- ^ Barry, Dan (8 September 2008). "THIS LAND; In the Wilds of New Jersey, a Legend Inspires a Hunt". The New York Times. p. 14.
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- ^ Dorson, Richard (1982). Man and Beast in American Comic Legend. Bloomington, IL: Indiana Univ. Press. pp. 12–14.
- ^ Wiseman, Jack (narrator) (1974). Mother Leeds' 13th Child (television special). New Jersey Public Broadcasting.
- ^ Kunda, Gabe (narrator) (24 April 2019). "The Jersey Devil". In Search of Monsters. Season 1. Episode 4. Travel Channel. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ Aaron Mahnke (February 8, 2019). "A Devil on the Roof". LorePodcast.com (Podcast). Aaron Mahnke. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ Rose, Roger (narrator) (14 February 2014). "Flying Creatures". Monsters and Mysteries in America. Season 2. Episode 8. Destination America. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ Mifflin, Lawrie; Katz, Michael (1982-06-30). "SCOUTING; 'Jersey Devils' Wins Name Poll". The New York Times.
- ^ "Jersey Devils – hockey uniforms". sportsK. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ^ "Cryptkins Vinyl Figures". Cryptozoic.com. Cryptozoic Entertainment. Retrieved August 3, 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ John Squires (February 13, 2018). "New Vinyl Toy Line 'Cryptkins' Will Feature Blind Box Monsters of Myth". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
- ^ Puhak, Janine (2019-08-31). "Six Flags' Jersey Devil ride will be 'world's tallest, fastest, longest' single rail coaster". Fox News. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ "Jersey Devil, world's tallest single-rail coaster, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey". CNN. 14 June 2021.
- ISBN 978-0002557023.
- ^ Behaviour Interactive (1997). Jersey Devil (PlayStation and Windows).
- ^ Telltale Games (2013). The Wolf Among Us (Windows). Scene: Episode 4.
- ^ Ashley, Thomas and Stockage, Steven(directors) (October 25, 2002). 13th Child (Motion picture). Painted Zebra Productions.
- ^ Munroe, Kevin (directors) (March 17, 2007). TMNT (Motion picture). Imagi Animation Studios.
- ^ Malach, Matthew (writer); Roth, J.D. (voice) (September 17, 1996). "The Spectre of the Pine Barrens". The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. Season 1. Episode 17. Cartoon Network. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ Bousman, Darren Lynn (director) (September 28, 2012). The Barrens (Motion picture). The Genre Company.
- ^ Wilson, Sheldon (director) and Phillips, Lou Diamond (actor) (April 25, 2009). Carny (Motion picture). RHI Entertainment.
- YouTube
- ^ Aurelio, Marco (director); Rodríguez, Ibarra (Director) (February 24, 2017). "Jersey Devil". Legend Quest. Season 1. Episode 2. Netflix. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ Newacheck, Kyle (director) (August 17, 2022). "Pine Barrens". What We Do in the Shadows. Season 4. Episode 7. FX. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ "Fallout 76 Atlantic City - America's Playground arrives on Xbox and Windows PC". Yahoo News. 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
Relevant literature
- Regal, Brian and Frank J. Esposito (2018). The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created a Monster. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1421424897