A rendition of the Jersey Devil that appeared in The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on January, 1909, as witnessed by Nelson Evans of Gloucherster, New Jersey:
"It was about three and a half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It didn't use the front legs at all while we [he and Mrs. Evans] were watching."
As the story goes, when Mrs. Leeds, a resident in Pine Barrens in 18th Century, New Jersey who was believed to live in the Shrouds House (a log cabin tore down in 1952), was giving birth to her thirteenth child, she yelled out that she was tired of having children and wanted “the Devil to have it.” Instantly, the child, horribly disfigured, flew from her womb and out the chimney. Another variation of this was that the child was so deformed she kept it locked in the attic until it escaped into the woods.
Another legend says that the Devil was the result of a Gypsy curse placed on a rude girl who refused to give food to a poor, Gypsy woman.
Regardless of the Devil’s origin, many people since that time believe in him, and he has been accused of everything from stealing livestock as far back as 1840, to kidnapping small children. The first reports say that he was Devil-like in appearance, with bat-like wings and hooves for feet (though later, reports say he resembled a horse), which was even confirmed by Joseph Bonaparte (brother to Emperor Napoleon) who was testing ammunition at a firing range in New Jersey. He reported he and his companions trying to shoot the monster from the sky, but I seemed unphased by the bullets.
In January 1909, between January 16th (Saturday) and the 23rd (Saturday), a hysteria seemed to take hold of the townsfolk, and hundreds of eye witnesses came forth, reporting seeing and even contact with the Devil.
The belief in the Jersey Devil never died out, but was revamped in 1951 when boys from Gibbstown, New Jersey, reported seeing a humanoid creature after hearing “ungodly screams from the woods.”
Some residents in southern New Jersey believe the monster now resides in the old Agent Orange Factory near Chatsworth. It is easy to see how this story inspired the movie Jeepers Creepers.
