Ah, the Jersey Devil. One thing I'll never understand is why people still cling to the "Mrs. Leed's 13th Child" origin story, when the Lenape Indians have stories about it predating any European colonization in the region.
The jersey devil is most often described as a hulking humanoid beast with a serpentine torso, with hooved feet on horselike legs razor sharp claws on its hands, and wings vast enough to grant it flight, topped by the head of a dog or wolf with the horns of a ram, standing anywhere from 4 feet to 10 feet tall (its gotten shorter over the years). It's skin has been described as green or red, apparently depending upon the time of year (green in the summer, red in winter) and its eyes glow.
It is generally assumed that the Pine Barrens of NJ are its home, though it has been seen as far north as southern NY, and as far south as Virginia. A sighting of the Jersey Devil is supposed to be a portent to some event of great misfortune to either the individual witnesses or society at large.
The ancient lenape indian stories notwithstanding, there are three tales regarding the birth of the Jersey Devil, all dating to the 18th century and focusing on a Mr.s Leeds. The first is that living alone and in poverty with her 12 children, she was angered when she found she was to have another child and cursed it by sayd "I want no more children! Let it be the Devil!". When born, the deformed child clawed itself free of her womb and scurried up the chimney to escape into the woods, where it would feed on small animals and children. Other stories involve a young Leeds Point girl cursed by a gypsy whom she had refused to give food after he had frightened her. The last story is actually of Loyalist fabrication, claiming the Jersey Devil was the God-accursed results of being conceived by the union of a girl living in Leeds Point and a british soldier, which would have been considered an act of treason.
Many unconfirmed sightings of the creature by single individuals predate 1840, at which time the creature became quiet for about 60 years. Sightings really picked up steam in the early 1800's. At a barracks at the site of what is now the Monmouth Naval station, the Jersey Devil was witnessed by the night garrison commanded by Stephen Decatur, a future navy commodore. The site was used to test artillery pieces, so he ordered the creature be attacked using artillery pieces at the site. The story claims that several artillery shells simply bounced off the creature before it retreated beyond range and flew away.
In another incident at this time, the former king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napolean, reported seeing the Jersey Devil while hunting near Bordentown, NJ.
The last mass sighting incident of this period was in Clayton NJ, where a posse chased the Jersey Devil until they lost track of it.
After this, was another period of invidiual sightings, with mass sightings by entire towns occuring in 1859, 1873, and 1880.
The most astounding stretch of sightings occurred from Jan 16 to Jan 23, 1909, in which over 2000 people reported seeing the Jersey Devil. It started in Woodbury NJ, the night of Jan 16, with a sighting by Zack Cozzens, who reported "First I heard a hissing sound, then something white flew across the street. I saw two spots of phosphorus, the beast's eyes, and they were moving as fast as an auto." Another group of people in Bristol, PA reported seeing it the same night, where police fired upon it. The next day, it was seen flying over Burlington, NJ, where it went on a garbage munching rampage throughout the town. That night, at 2:30 AM, a couple in Gloucester City, NJ reported they had watched the beast cavorting in their garden shed for a good ten minutes.
The following morning, Tuesday, a party of professional hunters was put together to track down and kill it. They traced it some 20 miles southeast into Gloucester County, along a trail that jumped completely over several 5 foot high fences and passed through openings as small as 8 inches high. While they were tracking it, it apparently avoided them by flying back to Camden NJ, where more witnesses reported encounters with it.
Wednesday was an even more hectic day, as many municipalities formed posses to hunt it. It was seen again in Burlington, where police fired on it again. Then in Haddonfield, NJ, a posse chased it until it flew off to Collingswood where another posse chased it until it flew off towards Moorestown, NJ, where it took a break at a local cemetary. Its day ended in Riverside NJ, where it killed a dog.
Thurday, the beast was seen circling a trolley full of passengers in Clementon, NJ, before flying off to Trenton, where it was seen by a state congressman and visited what I assume was a national guard arsenal in the city. By the end of the day, mass transit in New Brunswick and Trenton had armed guards to protect the passengers. That same day, the West Collingswood Fire Department hosed it down, only to drive it back before it charged them and abruptly flew away. It returned to Camden, where it attacked another dog. The dog's owner attacked the Jersey Devil with a broom until it let go and flew away. Her screams drew a mob of about 100 people and several police officers, when more screams were heard from a nearby cemetary. The mob responded and the police fired on the Jersey Devil, driving it to flight once again.
As the week closed, schools and factories closed in Mt Ephraim, Gloucester City, and Hainesport, to name just a few NJ towns affected like this. Most NJ residents wouldn't even leave their own homes during daylight hours.
Sightings taper off drastically, with the last in February, 1909, though the woman who reported it later claimed the sightings happened almost daily for years after that. Most figure that sightings are probably quite common to this day, but after the hysteria of 1909, most folks don't bother reporting for fear of being considered crazy.
What the Jersey Devil actually is is anyone's guess. Some think it is a prehistoric animal, though scientists haven't found anything even vaguely similar to date. Other claim it could be a white crane, well known for its 7 foot wingspan, screeching cry, and propensity to attack people. And others think it truly is some kind of supernatural beast inhabiting the woods of NJ. One thing is clear, however. No one knows how to kill it. It has been electrocuted, exorcised, burned, beaten with a broom, and shot with both hand guns and cannons, yet has survived to haunt the region for hundreds of years.
On a side note, the Jersey Devil is also responsible for the "Blue Hole" myths around the state. Apparently at some point a large meteorite fragmented over NJ, creating dozens, if not hundreds of craters around the state, many in the range of 100 to 200 feet wide and up to 100 feet deep. Having long since filled with water, they tend to either a strange blue color or murky brown color to the water, remaining very cold even in the middle of summer. Swimmers claim that the Jersey Devil reaches up to grab them if they try swimming in there, but this is likely a combination of roots in the water, the quicksand-like nature of the water's bottom, cramping from the cold water, and the effort to climb the steep banks of these ponds. Another amusing facet of the "Blue Hole" stories is the "bottomless" aspect. While one can clearly see the bottom of many on a sunny day, they inevitable revolve around a story of a scientist, local government person, fisherman, etc. trying to plumb the depth, but never having enough cable to reach the bottom, even if they used a mile of it. These "Blue Hole" myths started with the Blue Hole, one of these small ponds located in Monroe Township, NJ.
As to why I gave such an in-depth writeup of the Jersey Devil, well, I live in the middle of his stomping grounds. Most of the towns mentioned are a short drive away. Woodbury, for instance, is a few miles up the road, as is Clayton, while Burlington takes about half an hour to drive through. Some of the schools around here even spend a week covering the Jersey Devil as part of their literature curiculum. Imagine what we felt as fourth graders hearing about this stuff in a stuffy, dimly lit elementary school library...
