The Jersey Devil: Legend And Fact

It sounds like a bad campfire story. Deep in the Pine Barrens-- a haunting woodland in New Jersey-- there is an old, dilapidated shack believed to be the birthplace of a monster. In 1735, a woman was about to give birth to her 13th child. Impoverished and bitter, she cried out to the midwife, "I hope it's a devil!" The mother gets her wish. She gives birth to a creature with wings like a bat, a long head like a horse, cloven hooves and a forked tail. No sooner than the moment it makes its appearance in this world, the devil-child flies up the chimney and into the surrounding woodlands. Reported sightings of a strange creature, livestock mutilations, unusual hoof prints on roof tops and inhuman cries began.
Of course, like all good legends, there are variations on the story. In some versions, the woman's name is Leeds; in some, her name is Shrouds and she lived in Leeds point. In some versions, the child is born normal, then turns into a demon. The woman casts it from the home. Another version tells that the child was born deformed and abnormal; the mother kept it prisoner in the attic until it sprouted wings and broke free, never to return. Still another variation is that the family treated a minister poorly, and was cursed by him, resulting in the devil child. One of the eeriest versions is that the mother was a witch, and the child was the spawn of Satan himself.

There are no records confirming or denying the birth. The only facts that are known is that, in the area, there was a Leeds family and a Shrouds family at that time. Also known is that in 1740 a minister performed an exorcism, which was supposed to have the power to banish the creature for 100 years. During that time, the Jersey Devil disappeared and wasn't heard from again until the mid 1800's.Admittedly, it is a strange story that appears to have little to no grounding in reality. But what is more strange is the more than 2,000 reported sightings of something with large, bat-like wings, a horse-like head, hooves, and a tail that gives off a piercing cry. This creature, believed to be the Jersey Devil, has been spotted frequently by locals and visitors over the past two centuries.
One of the first reports came from a rather famous person in the early 1800's. Former king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon's brother), claims to have seen the devil when on a hunting trip in the area. He was a lawyer, a diplomat, a soldier, as well as a known alcoholic. While some believed him to be a credible witness, others shrugged off his claim as the hallucinations of a drunk. But around the same time, Commodore Stephen Decatur, an honorable naval hero, claimed to have seen the Devil flying overhead while testing the firing range of cannon balls in the area.
Even if one were to dismiss some of the earlier sightings, it is hard to explain the occurrences that happened in January of 1909, when there were no less than 1,000 reported sightings of the Jersey Devil in a single week. Too many to list individually here, I will say the oddest thing about the reports was that the Jersey Devil was spotted not just by individuals, but by couples and groups of people. Reports were made by local residents, law enforcement officers, hunters, politicians, firemen, and men of the cloth.
Since 1909, reports of Devil sightings have continued, though not with the frenzy of that week in "˜09. Most of these reports came from urban locals who claimed to have seen something traipsing through their yards or mutilating their livestock. There are also reports from groups of people, such as the Black Hawk Social Club, who spotted the Devil during a meeting. Long ago, the press and the local authorities began to ignore any calls or references to the Jersey Devil, however you will still hear stories from the locals (who refer to it as the Leed's Devil), and can find some interesting stories on the internet.
It is highly likely that all of the stories of the Jersey Devil's origins came after some strange sighting reports- myths invented by locals, jumbled in a long game of "telephone" as people sought an explanation. With such odd descriptions, a demon child seems as good an idea as any. Still, this doesn't account for the numerous sightings of the creature flying- not to mention the fact that, if the Jersey Devil was a deformed child let loose in the woods, it would currently be pushing the ripe old age of 270.
But what of all the sightings of- something? The question then becomes, are all of these people staging hoaxes, or victims of one that spans centuries? Were they drunk? Insane? Or, were they simply mistaken?
The Pine Barrens is a host to many migrating birds, specifically of the Sandhill Crane, a tall creature with thin legs, a long face and wings that issues a shrill cry. Some theorists believe that the Jersey Devil is nothing but the overactive imagination of people catching glimpses of cranes. Another theory follows along the lines of the Loch Ness Monster and "Champ," the sea monster purported to lurk in Lake Champlaign in New York. This theory states that the Jersey Devil is a rare species that has survived underground from prehistoric times and still thrives in the New Jersey woodlands. Specifically, a pterodactyl. Could all of the sightings reported have been simple errors? Or could the explanation lie in the supernatural?
Sightings of the Jersey Devil are believed to increase before and during war times. Some people believe that the Devil is some kind of supernatural warning of world conflicts. Another belief is that the creature is the embodiment of evil itself, feeding on the negative energy of man's atrocities.
No matter what you believe about the Jersey Devil, one thing is for sure. Something is out there in the Pine Barrens, that continues to scare the pants off locals and visitors unlucky enough to run into it.

The Jersey Devil: Legend And Fact