The Jersey Devil
The Jersey Devil has become a famous icon in leagues in Leeds Point New Jersey. An NHL hockey team even took its name. Over the years many claimed events have led to the growing mythology.
A hero of the Barbary wars, Commodore Stephen Decatur was the first American war hero who was not part of the Revolutionary war. In other words he was well respected. He died in 1820 from wounds suffered during a duel. His estate included about $75,000 which would be over $1 million dollars in current money. He greeted the Jersey Devil with a cannonball to the stomach. The result was a gaping hole right in its middle. Supposedly the creature wasn’t even fazed by this. It flew into the sky without a care in the world.
Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, saw the Jersey Devil while he was hunting on his estates. He had settled in America and 1000 acres in the New Jersey area. He had formerly been king of Spain. He too was well respected.
The 1800′s saw the Jersey Devil raid man people’s property. It took people’s livestock. Vincentown was the target in 1899. Many people there reported many missing animals. There were thousands of sightings in 1909. These people were from many of the 30 towns in the Delaware Valley.
Panic ensued in Burlington when footprints belonging to the Jersey Devil were found in backyards and on rooftops covered with snow. The footprints did not belong to humans. They were cloven hooves. A group of Jacksonville hunters organized a search. But their hunting dogs, upon seeing and sniffing the footprints became so agitated that they would not follow them. In Glaucester a man saw it on his roof. He described it as about 3 ½ 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 . It chased him up a telephone pole. A coworker chased it away by shooting it in the wing. Was that the same creature who wasn’t hurt when a cannonball blew through its stomach?
Maybe the Jersey Devil only appears to people who have had a few too many. It’s still fun to talk about it.
Posted on February 8th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Fun Stuff
