The Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil is one of America’s oldest and most enduring cryptids. Since the eighteenth century, residents of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens have reported encounters with a creature variously described as having bat-like wings, a forked tail, cloven hooves, and a horrifying scream. The legend has persisted for nearly three hundred years, with sighting waves continuing into the twenty-first century.

Origin Legend

According to the most common legend, the Jersey Devil was born in 1735 to a woman named Jane Leeds, also known as “Mother Leeds.” She was a poor woman who discovered she was pregnant with her thirteenth child. In frustration, she cursed the unborn baby, declaring, “Let it be the devil.”

When the child was born, it was initially normal but quickly transformed into a creature with hooves, a forked tail, bat wings, and a horned head. It killed the midwife, beat everyone present with its tail, and flew up the chimney, escaping into the Pine Barrens where it has lived ever since.

Variations of the legend exist. Some name the father as the Devil himself. Some place the birth earlier or later. What remains consistent is the cursed thirteenth child and its monstrous transformation.

Description

Witnesses describe the Jersey Devil as approximately three to four feet tall, with a long neck, thin legs ending in hooves, bat-like wings spanning six feet or more, a pointed tail, and a face that has been compared to a horse, dog, or goat. Its most memorable feature is its scream—a blood-curdling shriek unlike any known animal.

The creature is said to be shy of humans but aggressive when cornered. It has been blamed for livestock kills throughout the region.

The 1909 Sighting Wave

The most famous period of Jersey Devil activity occurred during the week of January 16-23, 1909. Across southern New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware, hundreds of people reported seeing the creature.

Schools closed. Workers refused to go to their jobs. Police and posses hunted the Pine Barrens. The Philadelphia Zoo posted a $10,000 reward for the creature’s capture. Newspapers published daily accounts of sightings.

During this week, witnesses included a former mayor, police officers, and professionals of various kinds. Tracks were photographed. A trolley car full of passengers allegedly watched the creature fly overhead.

By the end of January, the wave subsided as suddenly as it had begun. No explanation was ever offered, and the creature was never captured.

Continuing Sightings

Reports of the Jersey Devil have continued throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Rangers, hikers, and residents of the Pine Barrens region report encounters with something matching the traditional description.

Assessment

The Jersey Devil is embedded in New Jersey culture. The state’s NHL hockey team takes its name from the creature. The Pine Barrens themselves—a vast, isolated wilderness in the heart of the densely populated Northeast—seem to require some sort of monster.

Whether a genuine unknown creature inhabits the Pine Barrens, or whether generations of folklore have created a shared hallucination that people continue to see, something has haunted New Jersey for nearly three hundred years.