The Jersey Devil is a legendary creature said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, United States. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many different variations. The common description is that of a kangaroo-like creature with the head of a goat, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, cloven hooves and a forked tail. It has been reported to move quickly and often is described as emitting a âblood-curdling scream.â
The Lenape tribes called the area âPopuessingâ meaning âplace of the dragonâ. Swedish explorers later named it âDrake Killâ (âdrakeâ being a word for dragon, and âkillâ meaning channel or arm of the sea (river, stream, etc. in Dutch).Â
A popular origin of the story is as follows: âIt was said that Mother Leeds had 12 children and, after finding she was pregnant for the 13th time, stated that this one would be the Devil. In 1735, Mother Leeds was in labor on a stormy night. Gathered around her were her friends. Mother Leeds was supposedly a witch and the childâs father was the Devil himself. The child was born normal, but then changed form. It changed from a normal baby to a creature with hooves, a goatâs head, bat wings and a forked tail. It growled and screamed, then killed the midwife before flying up the chimney. It circled the villages and headed toward the pines. In 1740 a clergy exorcised the demon for 100 years and it wasnât seen again until 1890.â
âMother Leedsâ has been identified by some as Deborah Leeds, on grounds that Deborah Leedsâ husband, Japhet Leeds, named twelve children in the will he wrote in 1736,  which is compatible with the legend. Deborah and Japhet Leeds also lived in the Leeds Point section of what is now Atlantic County, New Jersey, which is commonly the location of the Jersey Devil story.
Brian Regal a historian of science at Kean University, wrote that Mother Leeds was merely part of the popular legend of the Jersey Devil created in the 20th century. Regal contends that long-forgotten âcolonial-era political intrigueâ involving early New Jersey politician and rival almanac publisher Daniel Leeds (1651â1720) led to the Leeds family being portrayed as âpolitical and religious monstersâ, and it was his negative portrayal as the âLeeds Devilâ, rather than any actual creature, that spawned the later legend of the Jersey Devil. According to Regal:
References to the Jersey Devil do not appear in newspapers or other printed material until the twentieth century. The first major flap came in 1909. It is from these sightings that the popular image of the creatureâbatlike wings, horse head, claws, and general air of a dragonâbecame standardized.Â
There have been many claims of sightings and occurrences allegedly involving the Jersey Devil.
According to a legend of unknown origin, while visiting the Hanover Mill Works to inspect his cannonballs being forged, Commodore Stephen Decatur sighted a flying creature flapping its wings and fired a cannonball directly upon it to no effectÂ
Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of Napoleon, is also claimed to have witnessed the Jersey Devil while hunting on his Borden town estate around 1820.  In 1840, the devil was blamed for several livestock killings. Similar attacks were reported in 1841, accompanied by tracks and screams.  There unfortunately tends to be a lack of citations contemporary with the supposed events.
Claims of a corpse matching the Leeds Devilâs description arose in Greenwich in December 1925. A local farmer shot an unidentified animal as it attempted to steal his chickens. Afterward, he claimed that none of 100 people he showed it to could identify it.  On July 27, 1937, an unknown animal âwith red eyesâ seen by residents of Downingtown, Pennsylvania was compared to the Jersey Devil by a reporter for the Pennsylvania Bulletin of July 28, 1937. In 1951, a group of Gibbstown, New Jersey boys claimed to have seen a âmonsterâ matching the Devilâs description  and claims of a corpse matching the Jersey Devilâs description arose in 1957. In 1960, tracks and noises heard near Mays Landing were claimed to be from the Jersey Devil. During the same year the merchants around Camden offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Jersey Devil, even offering to build a private zoo to house the creature if captured.
During the week of January 16 through 23, 1909, newspapers of the time published hundreds of claimed encounters with the Jersey Devil from all over the state. Among alleged encounters publicized that week were claims the creature âattackedâ a trolley car in Haddon Heights and a social club in Camden. Police in Camden and Bristol, Pennsylvania supposedly fired on the creature to no effect. Other reports initially concerned unidentified footprints in the snow, but soon sightings of creatures resembling the Jersey Devil were being reported throughout South Jersey and as far away as Delaware and Western Maryland. The widespread newspaper coverage led to a panic throughout the Delaware Valley prompting a number of schools to close and workers to stay home. During this period, it is rumored that the Philadelphia Zoo posted a $10,000 reward for the creatureâs dung. The offer prompted a variety of hoaxes, including a kangaroo with artificial wings.
(jersey devil as pictured from an episode of the x-files)