What is the story behind the Jersey Devil?
- The Curse:
- The Birth:
- The Creature:
The Jersey Devil is described as a creature with a horse's head, bat-like wings, a long tail, and hooves, with some variations mentioning horns and a goat-like body.
- The Escaping:
The Jersey Devil is said to have escaped through the chimney and into the Pine Barrens, where it has haunted the area for centuries.
Variations of the story
- Different Names:
The woman is sometimes referred to as Deborah Leeds or Mrs. Leeds, and the location of the event is sometimes placed in Estellville, near Mays Landing, or Leeds Point.
- Other Origins:
Some variations of the story suggest the Jersey Devil was born from a curse placed on a young girl by a gypsy or a curse placed on a town during the Revolutionary War.
- Religious and Political Clashes:
Some believe the story's roots may lie in religious-political clashes in colonial Burlington County.
The Jersey Devil's impact on the area
- Sightings and Reports:
For over two centuries, people have reported sightings and incidents involving the Jersey Devil, including strange tracks, livestock killings, and blood-curdling screams.
- Rewards Offered:
In the past, merchants in Camden offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Jersey Devil, along with the promise of building a private zoo to house the creature.
- Cultural Significance:
The legend of the Jersey Devil has become ingrained in the culture of New Jersey, with the creature being a popular mascot for the New Jersey Devils hockey team and a symbol of the Pine Barrens' mystique.
Specific sightings & incidents
Devil craze of 1909
The Jersey Devil's fame solidified itself in January of 1909 when nearly 1,000 reports came in from eyewitnesses throughout South Jersey. While testing cannon balls at Hanover Mills Works in the Pine Barrens, Navy Commander Stephen Decatur reportedly saw the creature and shot it. The cannon ball blew a hole in the Devil, but it apparently wasn't fazed by the projectile. Strange tracks were found in fields, but bloodhounds allegedly refused to follow the tracks. The kids were fine with it all, though, because schools in the Pine Barrens were closed.
Mary Ritzer Christianson told Weird NJ that she got the "heebie jeebies" one night in 1972 when she spotted the Jersey Devil on Greentree Road. Christianson was driving from Blackwood to Glassboro, when she says she saw a towering figure crossing the road about twenty-five feet behind her car. She described the figure as standing taller than the average man, with thick haunches like a goat and a huge wooly head.
Forest rangers are experts on the wildlife that inhabits the woods they patrol. But in 1980, Wharton State Forest Chief Ranger Alan MacFarlane saw something that both grossed him out and stumped his wild animal knowledge: a brutal scene on a South Jersey farm where a pack of pigs had been killed. He reported that the backs of their heads were eaten, and their bodies were scratched and torn. However, there were no tracks surrounding the bodies and no blood on the ground.
Dirt bikes and the Devil
In the late 1980s, a group of friends went camping and riding dirt bikes in the Pine Barrens. While riding down a trail about 100 yards from camp, the bikes all stalled. One biker said it could have had to do with terrain, or the nearby power plant. However, as suddenly as the bikes quit running, the men heard a piercing, inhuman scream coming from the woods. When they returned to camp, those who stayed behind said they also heard the screams. That evening, one of the men went into a local bar and told the bartender about the screams in the woods. The bartender informed the visitor that he had most likely had an encounter with the Jersey Devil.
In the late 1980s, a group of friends went camping and riding dirt bikes in the Pine Barrens. While riding down a trail about 100 yards from camp, the bikes all stalled. One biker said it could have had to do with terrain, or the nearby power plant. However, as suddenly as the bikes quit running, the men heard a piercing, inhuman scream coming from the woods. When they returned to camp, those who stayed behind said they also heard the screams. That evening, one of the men went into a local bar and told the bartender about the screams in the woods. The bartender informed the visitor that he had most likely had an encounter with the Jersey Devil.
10 feet tall and stopping traffic
While traveling on Route 9 in Bayville, three cars were forced to slam on their breaks, when according to one witness a ten-foot-tall Jersey Devil figure with a long head and short flat ears ran across the road. One witness reported that the creature emerged from a wooded area near a mini-mall and galloped out in front of traffic, disappearing into the woods on the other side of the street.
Llama or Devil?
One of the most recent sightings occurred in Galloway Township in October of 2015. Little Egg Harbor resident David Black said he was driving along Route 9 near a golf course when he saw what he thought was a llama walking in and out of the tree line on the side of the road. Suddenly, the creature spread its wings and flew away. He captured the beast's image with his cell phone and the photo went viral.
One of the most recent sightings occurred in Galloway Township in October of 2015. Little Egg Harbor resident David Black said he was driving along Route 9 near a golf course when he saw what he thought was a llama walking in and out of the tree line on the side of the road. Suddenly, the creature spread its wings and flew away. He captured the beast's image with his cell phone and the photo went viral.
A few days after David Black supposedly captured the Jersey Devil with his cell phone camera, Emily Martin shot a video of what appears to be the same creature after she spotted it on Old Port Republic Road near Leeds Point. Both Black and Martin swear neither the image nor the video were edited or set up.
SOURCES:
Suggested reading:
The Secret History of
the Jersey Devil
by Brian Regal & Frank J Esposito
The Pine Barren's Devil
by Leigh Paynter
The Jersey Devil
by James McCloy & Ray Miller Jr
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