The Jersey Devil, a creature of legend. The Pine
Barrens are a thick dark woods in southern New Jersey. The trees allow
only slivers of silvery light to penetrate the dense growth. It would
be quite difficult to see any animal within a few feet of your position
and the opportunity for an animal to hide exists everywhere. Leed's
home was in a thicket of woods located by Moss Mill Road. His mother
had 12 other children and upon learning she was about to have another
screamed out "I don't want any more children, let it be a devil"
and in 1735 a child was born with a tail, bat wings, a head like a horse
and cloven feet. Upon it birth it crawled up the chimney into the woods
where it fed upon children and small animals, so says the legend., this
being the most popular explanation of the Jersey Devil out of several.
Other believe that the devil is a true dragon.
Even through the wood cutting days in the Pine Barrens, the wildlife
thrived. In the early 1900s the sightings of the devil increased and
it was sighted as close as Estell Manor and as far away as Philadelphia.
It is believed that this was due to the development taking place in
the Barrens.
There are several incidents of verified sightings. Commodore Stephen
Decatur, a naval hero, was testing cannon balls in the early 19th century,
on the firing range when he saw a strange creature flying across the
sky. He fired and hit the creature yet the creature kept on flying.
Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, former king of Spain spotted the
Devil in Bordentown when he was hunting. This was sometime between 1816
and 1839. In 1909 over 100 people spotted the Devil as it roamed all
over New Jersey and Philadelphia. The Devil had a habit of barking at
people before it flew away. It eluded 3 posses in 1909. In 1927 the
Devil landed on the roof of a cab causing the driver to run for his
life. In 1953 the devil was seen walking down the street.
Some people believe that the Jersey Devil is a prehistoric beast that
has survived underground. I guess if this were true then we must be
on our 12 generation of Devil and where there is Mr. Devil there has
to be Mrs. Devil. Other people believe that the Devil is the very essence
of evil since it was seen before the Civil War, Spanish American War,
World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. As a matter of fact
it was sighted on December 7, 1941, just before the attack on Pearl
Harbor.
In 1957 a partial skeleton with feathers and hind legs was found in
the Pine Barrens. It was not identifiable as any know creature by the
Department of Conservation. The Devil was spotted after this, leading
to the conclusion that the skeleton was not the Devil or that more than
one Devil exists.
All in not evil in the Barrens. There is another legend.from the Pine
Barrens of a White Stag, a ghostly apparition, that has a history of
appearing when disaster is to strike and rescuing people from it. It
is said that the Stag detoured an out-of-control stagecoach from crashing
into a river.
The next time you walk through the Pine Barrens of New Jersey do it
in the daytime and remember to look over your shoulder. That barking
you hear may not be a dog!
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