A-Z Challenge letter J is for The Jersey Devil

For my A-Z theme this year, I decided to take you on a tour of my home state, New Jersey. We've visited some cities, historic places of interest, a couple of my favorite restaurants and I even listed a bunch of famous Jersey residents. For my letter J post, I am going to tell you all about a famous NJ legend: The Jersey Devil.

There are many pictures of what The Jersey Devil is supposed to
look like, this version appeared years ago in a local newspaper
as a bit of a farse

I first heard the tale when I moved down to south Jersey. I asked around, in the interest of writing this post, and learned that most people here found out about the Jersey Devil as kids, in the same general way I did.  My introduction to the legend was when I took my youngest daughter to a Girl Scout "night hike" through the Pinelands.** The tale of the Jersey Devil was told around a camp fire while roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. There are a couple of variations, like any old tale that's been weaved, but the legend as I heard it goes a little something like this:

This is a picture of the Leeds House which spurned this tale to life.

In 1735, a Pines resident known as Mother Leeds found herself pregnant for the thirteenth time. Mother Leeds was poverty stricken; her husband was a drunkard who made few efforts to provide for his wife and twelve children. Reaching the point of absolute exasperation upon learning of her thirteenth child, she raised her hands to the heavens and proclaimed “Let this one be a devil!”

Mother Leeds went into labor a few months later, on a stormy night, no longer mindful of the curse she had uttered previously regarding the unborn child. Her children and husband huddled together in one room of their Leeds Point home while local midwives gathered to deliver the baby in another. By all accounts the birth went routinely, and the thirteenth Leeds child was a seemingly normal baby boy.

Within minutes however, Mother Leeds’s unholy wish of months before began to come to fruition. The baby started to change, right before her very eyes. Within moments it transformed from a beautiful newborn baby into a hideous creature unlike anything the world had ever seen. The wailing infant began growing at an incredible rate. It sprouted horns from the top of its head and talon-like claws tore through the tips of its fingers. Leathery bat-like wings unfurled from its back, and hair and feathers sprouted all over the child’s body. Its eyes began glowing bright red as they grew larger in the monster’s gnarled and snarling face. The creature savagely attacked its own mother, killing her, then turned its attention to the rest of the horrified onlookers who witnessed its transformation. It flew at them, clawing and biting, voicing unearthly shrieks the entire time. It tore the midwives limb from limb, maiming some and killing others. Legend has it you can still hear the Jersey Devil shrieking in the Pines, seeking flesh to devour. 

Crreeeepy, right? Freaked me out, and I was an adult when I first heard this! Believe it or not, many, many, South Jersey residents have sworn to actually seeing the Jersey Devil or hearing it's screams. Thankfully, the only glimpse of Jersey Devil I've seen has been on the ice!!

The New Jersey Devil hockey team got it's name from this  very legend.
This is the kind of devil I enjoy running into...

**Do not attempt this at home. It was so dark on that stupid night hike I couldn't see a freaking thing, I was scared out of my mind because of the creepy Jersey Devil story and the bugs in the Pinelands are ginormous and bite hard enough to draw blood. They look like no other insects you have ever seen in your entire life!! PLUS, there is absolutely no where to pee that's safe. The ten year  old Girl Scouts I was with were teasing me for being such a wuss, but I didn't care. I refused to go in the front of the troop and I certainly wasn't going to be in the back, walking through those  woods! Nope, this Bird and her little chickadee marched right in the middle, cause I ain't beat. I've seen scary movies. And marching in the woods in the middle of the night with a Girl Scout troop talking about the devil is the way they ALL start!!! Am I right?