There have been recent reports of the New Jersey Devil in the Pinelands, according to Christine Farina, an associate professor of communication at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and a New Jersey folklore expert.
Farina is currently in production of a documentary entitled “Devil” about the New Jersey Devil and its history.
The story about the devil varies among N.J. natives, including how the devil came to be and where he is sighted.
“Typically the legend goes back to a woman called Deborah Smith who emigrated here sometime in the 1700s,” said Farina. “She came to Leeds Point and married Jim Leeds. They had 12 children together, and on the 13th child she was suffering through a terrible labor. She cursed the child when she said ‘this child is a devil’ and he sprouted wings and flew off.”
According to Weird NJ, 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, snarling face.
Other variations of the devil’s birth have been part of the creepy tale as long as they story’s inception.
According to Farina, people suspected the child was born with a defect, and may be the cause of the original stories. It’s also been told the child was cursed by a neighbor of the Leeds. Another story states Mrs. Leeds cared for the monster until she died, he then sprouted wings and fled, a conflicting account with the original version.
An alternative interpretation reports the Leeds wife was an indigent living in poverty in the woods, and the baby crawled out of the chimney. Some have claimed the child’s father was a British solder and the 13th child was cursed by way of treason.
The devil is believed to have been born in the 1720s, or sometime just before the American Revolution.
Farina, a resident of Leeds Point located in Galloway Township, frequently hears stories from neighbors and students who have first- and second-hand accounts with the devil.
“People in my class still say they have sightings. There was one girl in particular who very seriously swears her mother saw the Jersey Devil. She was gardening in the backyard and saw a monster figure with wings carrying small animals through the woods. She said her mother wouldn’t leave the house for a month after that,” said Farina.
Both the locking of the doors and a fear of leaving the house are common among New Jerseyans claiming to have seen the beast.
“It’s part of a sighting. People will stay in the house. It’s interesting because this town is very neighborly. Everyone thinks of it as a safe town and will leave their back door unlocked. As soon as there is a report of a high pitched scream, those doors are being locked again,” said Farina.
Farina gets reports from neighbors and students and students frequently.
“A year ago, a woman at the supermarket claimed she saw a green flash and a high-pitched scream. She told me the ‘devil was back.’ When I have encounters, [the sighting of the devil] is normal for them and accepted as truth,” said Farina.
Multiple sightings have been reported in over the past 200 years in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Sketch-drawn accounts of the devil and stories passed on through generations were common when it came to the tale.
According to Farina, the first time an encounter was put into print was in 1899, after a businessman heard the signature high screech in his backyard. He also claimed devil pointed at him as he flew away.
The Philadelphia Zoo put a bounty on the devil’s head for $10,000. Two men “caught the devil” and brought the creature to the zoo. The two men captured a kangaroo, painted stripes on in it, in addition to adding wings and claws by gluing them on the animal. The zoo did not reward the men for their “findings,” according to Farina.
It has also been reported there was 30-year gap of devil sightings between 1920 and 1950. Allegedly, no one saw the devil in the time frame.
Witness accounts regularly claim to have heard the same high screech emanating from a beast with wings, red eyes and hooves.
“In 1978 two boys from Chatsworth saw two red eyes in the forest and encountered a terrible smell, a foul fish odor was the description, and ran away. They didn’t investigate what happened and told the adults in the community,” said Farina. “Another encounter in Woodbury says a man reported hearing a high-pitched screeching and a hissing sound. The man claimed to have seen a white figure fly by,” said Farina.
Whether you call the New Jersey Devil the Leeds devil, hootle-doodle bird, wozzle bug, or the devil, it’s clear his local New Jersey roots remain deeply implanted in local folklore.
“A student told me he likes to hang out by the river. He told me the devil came up to him and made a loud, screeching sound,” said Farina. “He thought he was going to be eaten up by the Jersey Devil.”
