Legend claims the Jersey Devil was the unlucky 13th child of a woman named Jane Leed. Pic credit: via History/YouTube
The Jersey Devil is a terrifying cryptid allegedly native to the Pine Barrens of South Jersey.
The Pine Barrens is a vast stretch of pristine woods covering about a million acres, 20% of New Jersey’s land area.
Despite being close to major population centers on the Eastern Seaboard, the Pinelands Reserve remains a largely unexplored stretch of wilderness.
According to cryptozoologist Jeff Heimbuch in an episode of The UnXplained on The History Channel, the vastness of the wilderness is such that an explorer could get permanently lost in it.
The endless stretch of trees forms a homogenously dense canopy over a dark, primeval underworld where strange plants and animals thrive.
According to legend, the hidden world below the canopy is also home to a nightmarish creature unknown to biologists and wildlife experts. But locals who claim multiple firsthand accounts of the mysterious creature call it the Jersey Devil.
Origin story
Folklorists believe the legends of the aboriginal Lenape inspired the Jersey Devil folklore. However, historians trace the origin of the modern version of the legend to the mid-18th century.
Folklore claims the Jersey Devil was the demonic offspring of a local woman. Jane Leeds of Leeds Point gave birth to the accursed child in 1735. The child was her 13th.
[Note: The Jersey Devil’s alleged historical association with the Leeds family and Leeds Point on Moss Mill Road, South Jersey, explains why it was known originally as the Leeds Devil.]
A version of the legend claimed she was a witch who sold her body and soul to the Prince of Darkness. Another version claimed Mother Leeds was so upset to learn she was pregnant with a 13th child that she cursed the baby in her womb, saying it was of the Devil.
Some claim she cursed the child amid the agony of labor, crying, “The Devil can take this one.”
The words she spoke in pain took effect as a potent curse on the unborn child. She gave birth to a beautiful infant on a stormy night in 1735. But the curse transformed it in a blink into a hideous winged creature.
Jersey Devil description
Based on alleged eyewitness testimonies, the Jersey Devil was something straight out of a nightmare. It was a living abomination with goatish or deer-like demonic features.
It had a goat’s head with horns, long, thin legs ending in goatlike hooves, leathery dragon wings, and a flailing forked tail. Some versions of the legend compared its appearance to a Kangaroo or dragon.
It did not whimper or cry like a child after birth. Instead, it uttered a hellish grunt and a piercing screech before attacking the midwives.
In the confusion that followed, it escaped through the chimney and fled into the pine woods after killing its mother.
Demonic encounters: Commodore Stephen Decatur
The creature has roamed the pines since its birth despite multiple efforts to exorcise it.
The first alleged human encounter with the fiendish resident of the Pine Barrens occurred in the early 1800s. It involved the distinguished naval officer Commodore Stephen Decatur.
Decatur reported spotting a strange winged creature resembling a dragon flying overhead. He fired a cannon at it. The cannon reportedly hit and damaged the creature’s wings. However, it managed to escape.
Decatur was a highly respected war hero and a famous citizen. Thus, his testimony lent credence to what was originally a little-known local legend.