From Leeds To Lore: The Jersey Devil

(From the Weird Darkness episode, “From Leeds to Lore, The Jersey Devil”: https://weirddarkness.com/jerseydevil/)

New Jersey is a highly sought-after residential area, situated between New York City and Philadelphia. This state boasts the highest population density in the entire Union, with over 1,200 individuals per square mile (Alaska, in contrast, has a mere one person per square mile). Despite New Jersey’s reputation for suburban expansion, a hidden jewel lies within: the Pine Barrens. Also referred to as the Pinelands, this vast expanse of land encompasses approximately 1.1 million acres, which equates to 22 percent of New Jersey’s total land area.

The Pine Barrens feature sandy soil, dense woodlands, and untouched waterways, creating a pristine environment. However, amidst this wilderness lies a chilling legend: the Jersey Devil. Roaming the barrens is a creature described as having enormous leathery wings, a horse’s head, glowing red eyes, and sharp claws, causing fear among locals for almost three centuries.

Legend has it that the Jersey Devil came into existence on a dark and stormy night in 1735, born to a woman named Mother Leeds. Residing in Leeds Point, a coastal community in southeastern New Jersey, she was in the throes of a difficult and prolonged labor while pregnant for the thirteenth time. In excruciating pain, she uttered, “Let this one be a devil!” A seemingly healthy child was born, but shortly after delivery, the infant developed a tail and wings. Emitting a piercing scream, it flew up the chimney and vanished into the night sky. Garden State folklore contains various accounts of the Devil’s origins. One version suggests that Mother Leeds, portrayed as a witch, engaged in relations with the devil. Another tale describes the monster as the offspring of a cursed relationship between a Jersey girl and a British soldier during the Revolutionary War. The indigenous Lenape people of southern New Jersey revered a forest deity named M’sing, depicted as a deer-like creature with bat-like wings. It is plausible that European settlers in the area assimilated this woodland deity into their legends of the so-called Leeds Devil.

These narratives have presented historians with an intriguing enigma: the true genesis of the Jersey Devil. Professors Brian Regal and Frank Esposito from Kean University have linked the legend to a 17th-century English settler named Daniel Leeds. Born in Leeds, England around 1652 to Quaker parents, Leeds embraced the Quaker faith as an adult before immigrating to New Jersey circa 1677. He and his family established themselves in Burlington within a lively Quaker community.

Leeds pursued a career as a surveyor and acquired land on New Jersey’s southern Atlantic Coast in the 1690s, where Leeds Point, the family residence, was established. He ventured into writing and publishing, beginning with an almanac detailing celestial movements and astrological symbols. The publication of the almanac and subsequent works drew the disapproval of the Quaker community, who eventually branded him as “evil” and “Satan’s harbinger.” Regal and Esposito posit that it was Leeds’s tarnished reputation that led to the Leeds name being associated with monstrous and supernatural entities. The search for historical evidence of Mother Leeds’s identity has been fruitless. Daniel Leeds, her husband, was married four times. His first wife, Mary, who bore him several children, passed away in England. After moving to New Jersey, Leeds remarried three more times. Among his wives, Dorothy Young stands out as a potential candidate to be the real Mother Leeds, as she gave birth to eight of his children before her death in 1699. Yet, no 17th-century sources exist that explicitly refer to Dorothy, or any of Leeds’s wives, as Mother Leeds, suggesting that they are unlikely to be the inspiration behind the legendary cursed mother.

The origins of the Leeds Devil legend can be traced back to the religious disputes involving Daniel Leeds, which sowed the seeds for the tale. Stories of the creature lingered in the local folklore of the region, shared as ghostly tales or cautionary warnings about lurking dangers in the forests. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Leeds Devil remained a prominent figure within a strong oral tradition.

It was not until the early 19th century that the Jersey Devil captured greater attention. Legend has it that distinguished figures like American war hero Stephen Decatur encountered the Leeds Devil at his foundry in the Pine Barrens, while ex-king of Spain Joseph Bonaparte claimed to have encountered the beast on his estate Point Breeze. Despite efforts by historians, the original source material for these encounters, found in Decatur’s and Bonaparte’s records, remains elusive. Additionally, a spate of livestock attacks in 1840 were attributed to the creature. The first documented mention of the Leeds Devil can be found in an 1859 article in the Atlantic Monthly, which covered the folklore of the Pine Barrens. The author, while critical of the local community and its folklore, noted instances where “Little children did be eaten and maids abused” by the monstrous entity. Interest in the Jersey Devil surged during the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the emergence of firsthand testimonies about the creature in newspapers. An article from the 1893 New York Sun featured an Erie Railroad engineer’s claim of an encounter with the Jersey Devil attacking his train. In 1905, The Trenton Times reported that the Leeds Devil, born in Bordentown, resembled more of an ape or chimpanzee.

During the first week of January 1909, Philadelphia newspapers extensively covered the Jersey Devil, along with rumors of peculiar footprints appearing in the Pine Barrens. Some reports described incidents of streetcars and social clubs being targeted by a red-eyed, “winged kangaroo”-like creature. The media frenzy incited public fear, leading to the enforcement of curfews by local authorities and the formation of hunting groups.

A Philadelphia trickster asserted to have captured the Jersey Devil, showcasing it at the Ninth and Arch Street Dime Museum as an attraction. The curious public swarmed to witness the creature, which turned out to be a kangaroo painted with artificial wings. The deception was soon unveiled, with the New York Times exposing the fraud in late January 1909. Although the hysteria waned, the legend endured. Sightings of the Jersey Devil persisted throughout the 20th century, albeit not as frequently as in 1909.

Folklorists continued to explore tales of the Jersey Devil, cementing the creature’s presence in New Jersey’s folklore—so much so that roller coasters and even a National Hockey League team, the Jersey Devils, pay homage to it. The monster has evolved into a symbol of pride for New Jersey; today, visitors can tour locations linked to the local legend in the serene yet sometimes ominous Pine Barrens forests.

(“From Leads To Lore, The Jersey Devil” source: Amy Briggs, National Geographic: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mw722p3f)