The Jersey Devil

Where:Pine Barrens and the surrounding areas
Description: Head like a Collie,
Face like a Horse,
Wings like a bat,
Legs like a Crane,
Hooves like a Horse,
a long neck,
Height: three and a half feet,
Build: skinny.

        The legend of the Jersey Devil has been around for 260 years, it has been witnessed by over 2,000 people.
        The birth of the Jersey Devil varies from person to person, depending on which version they heard. Though there are four popular versions. The first two take place in Leeds Point while the third takes place in Estelville NJ and the fourth in Brighton.

1.The legend says that Mrs. Shrouds of Lees Point made a wish that if she were to have another shild that it be the devil. Sure enough she had another child, this child was deformed and mishapen. Fearful of people seeing it she kept him in the house at all times. One stormy night the kid flapped his arms, which then turned into wings and flew up the chimney and was never seen by Mrs. Leeds again.

2.The second version also takes place in Leeds Point. It is said that during the Revolutionary War, a young girl fell in love with a British soldier. The people of Leeds Point cursed her. She then gave birth to the devil.

3.It is also said that in Esterville Mrs. Leeds, after finding out she was pregnant with her thirteenth child wished it to be a devil.The child was born with horns, tail, wings, and a horse like head. The creature visited her everyday and she would stand at the door and tell it to leave. Eventually it left for good never returning to her again.

4.This version took place in Brighton in 1785. It was a stormy night and Mother Leeds ws in labor with her friends gathered around her.She was a supposed witch, while the father was said to be the devil himself. The kid itself was born normal,but quickly cahnged, growing a forked tail, wings, hooves and a horses head. Before it flew up the chimney it beat everyone. The devil circled over villages and then headed for the pines.

       After it was born it terrorized cities, mostly in 1909, and even though the devil was seen mostly in 1909 there were a few sightings before then.

        In the early 19th century, a naval hero known as Commodore Stephan Decatur was testing cannon balls on a firing range, when he saw what he thought was a strange creature flying across the sky. He fired at the creature and hit it, but the creature kept flying. Former king of Spain and brother of Napoleon, Joseph Bonaparte, saw the Jersey Devil in Bordentown while he was hunting between the years of 1816 through 1839. In 1840 through 1841 many chickens and sheep ewre killed by a creature with a peircing scream and weird prints. In 1859 through 1894 in Haddenfield, Bridgeton, Smithville, Long Branch, Brigantine, and Leeds Point the Jersey Devil was seen a numerous times and reportedly carried off anything that would move.

        In 1903 Charles Skinner claimed that the legend of the devil had run its course, and for six years New Jersey stopped worrying about seeing the devil. Then in the year 1909 the week of January 16-23, the devil made it's biggest appearance ever.

        Sunday the morning of January 16 Thack Cozzens of Woodbury saw a flying creature with glowing eyes flying down the street. In Bristol John Mcowen heard and saw the strange creature on the banks of the canal. Patrolman James Sackville fired at the creature as you flew away screaming. E.W. Minister, also saw a bird like creature with a horses head with a peircing scream. When daylight came Bristol was covered with strange prints that couldn't be recognized by local trappers. The next day in Burlington the Lowdens found prints around their trash, which was half eaten, and in their yard. In fact these prints were in almost every yard in Bristol, on top of rooves, up trees. The prints would be traced through a field that wuodl just end in the middle of it, tracks halfway across the road.The same tracks were also found in Columbus, Hedding, Kinhora and Rancocas.

        On the 19 made the longest appearence yet. Mr. & Mrs. Nelson Evans of Gloucester at 2:30 am were awaken by a strange noise they watched the devil from their window for ten minutes.

        Tuesday afternoon 2 hunters tracked the devil for 20 miles in Gloucester. The trail jumped five foot fences and under 8in spaces. The hoof prints were found in more parts in south Jersey. A group of people in Camden saw the devil before it barked at them and flew off.

        The next day Burlington police officer and the Reverend John Pursell of Pemberton saw the Jersey Devil. Posses in Haddonfield found tracks that ended abruptly. In Collingswood, NJ, a posse watched the devil fly off toward Moorestown. Near Moorestown, John Smith of Maple Shade saw the devil at the Mount Carmel Cemetery. George Snyder saw the devil right after Mr. Smith and their descriptions were identical. In Riverside, NJ, hoof prints were found on roof tops and also around a dead puppy. On Thursday, the Jersey Devil was seen by the Black Hawk Social Club. He was also seen by a trolley full of people in Clementon as it circled above them. The witnesse's descriptions matched others from the days before. In Trenton, Councilman E.P. Weeden heard the flapping of wings and then found hoof prints outside his door. The prints were also found at the arsenal in Trenton. As the day wore on the Trolleys in Trenton and New Brunswick had armed drivers to ward off attacks. The people in Pitman filled churches. Chickens had been missing all week throughout the Delaware Valley, but when the farmers checked their yards that day, they found their chickens dead, with no marks on them. The West Collingswood Fire Department fired their hose at the devil. The devil retreated at first, but then charged and flew away at the last second. Later that night, Mrs. Sorbinski of Camden heard a commotion in her yard, when she waked out she saw the devil with her dog in it's mouth. She hit the devil with a broom until it let go of her dog and flew away. She started screaming as a crowd joined around her. Then hearing a scream from Kaigan Hill, the crowd ran that way. The police shot a couple of shots at the beast as it flew into the night. On Friday, Camden police officer Louis Strehr saw the Jersey Devil drinking from a horses trough. The school in Mt. Ephraim was closed because no students came in. Mills and factories in Gloucester and Hainesport had to close because none of the employees came to work. Officer Merchant of Blackwood drew a sketch of the creature he saw. His sketch coincided with the descriptions from earlier in the week. Jacob Henderson saw the devil in Salem and described it as having "wings and a tail". The devil was only seen once more in 1909 in February.

        In 1927 a cabbie got a flat tire on his way to Salem, as he was fixing it, a creature covered in hair and standing up right landed on his car. The creature shook the car so violently that it scared the cabbie, who fled the scene leaving his tire and jack behind. The characteristic screams of the Jersey Devil were heard in the woods near Woodstown, N.J., in 1936. A sober and honest man named Philip Smith saw the devil walking down a road in 1953. Around 1961, 2 couples were parked in a car in the Pine Barrens. They heard a loud screeching noise outside. Suddenly the roof of the car was smashed in. They fled the scene, but returned later. Again they heard the loud screech. They saw a creature flying along the trees, taking out huge chunks of bark as it went along. There have been other sightings since 1909, such as the Invasion of Gibbsboro in 1951. The people there saw the devil over a 2 day period. In 1966, a farm was raided and 31 ducks, 3 geese, 4 cats, and 2 dogs were killed. One of the dogs was a large German Shepard which had it's throat ripped out. In 1981, a young couple spotted the devil at Atsion Lake in Atlantic County. In 1987, in Vineland an aggressive german Shepard was found torn apart and the body gnawed upon. The body was located 25 feet from the chain which had been hooked to him. Around the body were strange tracks that no one could identify.