The Jersey Devil
The Jersey Devil has become a famous icon in leagues in Leeds Point New Jersey. In fact New Jersey’s hockey team in the NHL is named for this legendary creature. Over the years many claimed events have led to the growing mythology.
The first American war hero who didn’t serve in the Revolution was Commodore Stephen Decatur. He was a man of good, dependable character. In 1820 he died when wounded during a duel. He left his wife $75,000, which was over $1 million in current money. He greeted the Jersey Devil with a cannonball to the stomach. Supposedly it blew a hole in the creature. Supposedly the creature wasn’t even fazed by this. It casually left the scene.
The Jersey Devil had a run in with Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother. The former king of Spain had 1000 acres in New Jersey. He too was well respected.
There were many property raids made by the Jersey Devil in the 1800′s. The monster took chickens and sheep. This included a raid on Vincentown in 1899. Many people there reported many missing animals. In 1909 thousands of people claimed to have seen the monster. This happened all around the Delaware Valley.
In Burlington the Jersey Devil caused a stir when its footprints appeared all around town. These were not normal human footprints. They looked like animal prints – hooves. Some Jacksonville hunters decided to capture the creature. But the hunting dogs became so afraid when they smelled the tracks that they couldn’t be controlled. A Glaucester city man claimed to have seen it walking around on his roof for about 10 minutes. He described it as about 3 ? feet high with the head of a collie, the legs of a crane, the face of a horse and 2 foot wings.
The Jersey Devil went after a telephone pole worker . The devil chased him until he climbed the telephone pole. He was only saved when a coworker appeared, driving it off by shooting it in the wing. If a cannonball couldn’t harm it how could a mere bullet drive it off?
Maybe the Jersey Devil only appears to people who have had a few too many. But the myth is fun.
Filed under: Fun Stuff on March 4th, 2009
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