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{{Short description|Legendary creature in North American folklore}}
{{Redirect|New Jersey Devil|the NHL hockey team named after the creature|New Jersey Devils|other uses|Jersey Devil (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name=Jersey Devil
|image = Jersey Devil.svg
|caption = ''The Jersey Devil'', an illustration in ''The Evening Bulletin Philadelphia'' on January 21, 1909
|AKA = Leeds Devil
|Country = [[United States]]
|Region = [[Pine Barrens (New Jersey)|Pine Barrens]], [[New Jersey]]<ref name="Fee-Webb 2016">{{cite book |editor1-last=Fee |editor1-first=Christopher R. |editor2-last=Webb |editor2-first=Jeffrey B. |year=2016 |chapter=Jersey Devil |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXnEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA523 |title=American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore |location=[[Santa Barbara, California]] |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |pages=523–525 |isbn=9781610695671 |lccn=2015050529 |oclc=954734705}}</ref>
}}

In [[South Jersey]] and [[Philadelphia]] [[folklore]] in the [[United States]], the '''Jersey Devil''', also known as the '''Leeds Devil''', is a [[legendary creature]], or cryptid, said to inhabit the forests of the [[Pine Barrens (New Jersey)|Pine Barrens]] in [[South Jersey]].<ref name="Fee-Webb 2016"/> The creature is often described as a flying [[Bipedalism|biped]] with [[hoof|hooves]], but there are many variations. The common description is that of a bipedal [[kangaroo]]-like or [[wyvern]]-like creature with a [[horse]]- or [[goat]]-like head, leathery [[bat]]-like [[wings]], [[Horn (anatomy)|horns]], small arms with clawed hands, legs with cloven hooves, and a forked or barbed tail. It is also said that it has a strange elongated body and a thick tail.<ref>{{citation |last1=Johnson |first1=Carol |last2=Munn |first2=David |title=Jersey Devil-Fact or Fiction? |publisher=Atlantic County and the Government |url=https://atlantic-county.org/history/jersey-devil-pg1.asp |access-date=March 18, 2024}}</ref> It has been reported to move quickly and is often described as emitting a high-pitched "blood-curdling scream".<ref name=mccloy>''The Jersey Devil'', by James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr., Middle Atlantic Press. {{ISBN|0-912608-11-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/history/devil/ |title=The Jersey Devil & Pine Barrens Folklore – New Jersey Pine Barrens |publisher= Pinelands Preservation Alliance|access-date=2014-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204044250/http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/history/devil/ |archive-date=2013-12-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Origin of the legend==
[[File: Historic American Buildings Survey Nathaniel R. Ewan, Photographer May 7, 1937 EXTERIOR- WEST VIEW - Japhet Leeds House, Moss Mill Road, Leeds Point, Atlantic County, NJ HABS NJ,1-LEEPO,1-1.tif|thumb|Japhet Leeds House on Moss Mill Road in [[Leeds Point, New Jersey]], {{Circa|1937}}]]

===Mother Leeds's 13th child ===
The popular legend of the Jersey Devil or Leeds Devil is dated variously, and is almost invariably attached to the "The Pines",{{sfnp|Beck|1983|pp=244, 246}} or the South Jersey Pine Barrens,<ref name="mcmahon1980"/> and sometimes specifically [[Leeds Point, New Jersey|Leeds Point]] within the Pine Barrens.{{sfnp|Beck|1983|p=249}} The devil's mother is usually a woman named Leeds, or "Mother Leeds" of [[Burlington, New Jersey|Burlington]],{{sfnp|Beck|1983|p=249}} but other names such as the Shourds{{sfnp|Beck|1983|p=243}} have occasionally been forwarded.

According to one [[Abstract (summary)|précis]], in 1735, a woman named Leeds had twelve children and, after discovering she was pregnant for the thirteenth time, cursed the child in frustration, declaring, "Let the child be the devil!". The child, though born normally, immediately grew wings, a tail, and claws after birth and flew out to the Pine Barrens.<ref name="reiley2010">{{cite book|last=Riley |first=Karen F. |author-link=<!--Karen F. Riley--> |title=The Pine Barrens of New Jersey |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |date=2010  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Trmu2Wxs4_cC&pg=PA99 |page=99 |isbn=9781439638873}} acknowledging the [[Tuckerton, New Jersey]] Historical Society.</ref>

According to some, the child transformed into a creature with hooves, a goat's head, bat wings, and a forked tail. Growling and screaming, the child beat everyone with its tail before flying up the chimney and heading into the pines. In some versions of the tale, Mother Leeds was supposedly a [[Witchcraft|witch]] and the child's father was [[Satan|the devil]] himself. Some versions of the legend also state that local [[Clergy#Christianity|clergymen]] subsequently attempted to [[Exorcism|exorcise]] the creature from the Pine Barrens.

In a different telling, localized not at Leeds Point but at Esteville,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This was the locale favored by Alfred M. Heston (1928).{{sfnp|Beck|1983|p=248}}}} near [[Mays Landing, New Jersey|Mays Landing]], a Mrs. Leeds became pregnant around 1855 and rejected her baby, wishing a stork would deliver a devil. Thus a winged devil was born and flew out the window; it would intermittently return but the mother would shoo it away.<ref name="woods1957">{{cite journal |last1=Woods |first1=Barbara A. |title=Jersey Devil |journal=Western Folklore |date=January 1957 |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=63 |doi=10.2307/1497076 |jstor=1497076 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STie7Bfc5TgC&q=%22jersey+devil%22 |access-date=9 February 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===The Leeds family===
Prior to the early 1900s, the Jersey Devil was referred to as the '''Leeds Devil''' or the '''Devil of Leeds''', either in connection with the local Leeds family or the eponymous [[Leeds Point, New Jersey|Leeds Point]] in [[South Jersey]].<ref name=courier/>

"Mother Leeds" has been identified by some as the real-life Deborah Leeds,<ref>Mallowe, Mike, "The Enduring Reign Of The Jersey Devil" ''The Bulletin'' (Philadelphia), October 30, 2008</ref> on grounds that Deborah Leeds's husband, Japhet Leeds, named twelve children in the will he wrote during 1736,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Honeyman|editor-first=A. Van Doren Honeyman |editor-link=<!--Abraham Van Doren Honeyman-->|title=Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State Of New Jersey |series=1st Ser. |volume=XXX |location=Somerville, N.J. |publisher=The Union-Gazette Association |year=1918 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ykvRN9EXi10C&pg=PA295 |page=295}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Chaos|first=Chris |author-link=<!--Chris Chaos--> |title=Deborah Smith Leeds (Mother of the Jersey Devil?) |date=n.d.|url=https://www.academia.edu/9627222 |page=<!--unpaginated-->}}: 1735 portrait, also noting she gave "birth to 12 of his children" on page one, redaction of Japhet's will of 1736 
 on page three.</ref> which is compatible with the legend. Deborah and Japhet Leeds also lived in the [[Leeds Point, New Jersey|Leeds Point]] section of what is now [[Atlantic County, New Jersey]],<ref>Rundstrom, Olive Conover, "Daniel Leeds and his Descendants", ''Atlantic County Historical Society Year Book'', vol. 6, no. 4, p. 156 (1971)</ref> which is commonly the location of the Jersey Devil story.

[[Brian Regal]], a [[History of science|historian of science]] at [[Kean University]], theorizes that the story of Mother Leeds, rather than being based on a single historical person alone, originated from the reputation of the local prominent Leeds family in the southern portion of the colonial-era [[Province of New Jersey]], where religious-political disputes became the subject of folklore and gossip among the local population. Regal contends that folk legends concerning these historical disputes evolved through the years and ultimately resulted in the modern popular legend of the Jersey Devil during the early 20th century. Regal contends that "colonial-era political intrigue" involving early New Jersey politicians, [[Benjamin Franklin]], and Franklin's rival [[Almanac#British America and United States|almanac]] publisher [[Daniel Leeds]] (1651–1720) resulted in the Leeds family being described as "monsters", and it was Daniel Leeds's negative description as the "Leeds Devil", rather than any actual creature, that created the later legend of the Jersey Devil.

Much like the Mother Leeds of the Jersey Devil myth, Daniel Leeds's third wife had given birth to nine children, a large number of children even for the time. Leeds's second wife and first daughter had both died during childbirth. Leeds and his family were prominent in the South Jersey and Pine Barrens area. As a royal [[surveyor]] with strong allegiance to the [[British crown]], Leeds had surveyed and acquired land in the [[Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey|Egg Harbor]] area, located within the [[Pine Barrens (New Jersey)|Pine Barrens]]. The land was inherited by Leeds's sons and family and is now known as Leeds Point, one of the areas in the Pine Barrens currently most associated with the Jersey Devil legend and alleged Jersey Devil sightings.<ref name=regal>Regal, Brian. (2013). [http://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_jersey_devil_the_real_story/ "The Jersey Devil: The Real Story"]. Csicop.org. Retrieved 2015-05-02.</ref>

Starting in the 17th century, [[English people|English]] [[Quaker]]s established settlements in Southern Jersey, the region in which the Pine Barrens are located. Daniel Leeds, a Quaker and a prominent person of pre-Revolution colonial southern New Jersey, became ostracized by his Quaker congregation after his 1687 publication of [[almanac]]s containing [[astrology|astrological]] symbols and writings. Leeds's fellow Quakers deemed the astrology in these almanacs as too "[[pagan]]" or blasphemous, and the almanacs were censored and destroyed by the local Quaker community.

In response to and in spite of this censorship, Leeds continued to publish even more [[esoteric]] astrological Christian writings and became increasingly fascinated with [[Occult|Christian occultism]], [[Christian mysticism]], [[Religious cosmology|cosmology]], [[demonology]] and [[angelology]], and [[natural magic]]. In the 1690s, after his almanacs and writings were further censored as blasphemous or [[heretical]] by the [[Philadelphia Yearly Meeting|Philadelphia Quaker Meeting]], Leeds continued to dispute with the Quaker community, converting to [[Anglicanism]] and publishing anti-Quaker [[Tract (literature)|tract]]s criticizing Quaker theology and accusing Quakers of being [[anti-monarchism|anti-monarchist]]s. In the ensuing dispute between Leeds and the southern New Jersey Quakers over Leeds's accusations, Leeds was endorsed by the much-maligned British royal governor of New Jersey, [[Lord Cornbury]], despised among the Quaker communities. Leeds also worked as a councilor to Lord Cornbury about this time. Considering Leeds as a traitor for aiding the Crown and rejecting Quaker beliefs, the Quaker [[Burlington County, New Jersey|Burlington]] Meeting of southern New Jersey subsequently dismissed Leeds as "[[evil]]". In 1700, the local South Jersey Quaker community retaliated against Leeds's anti-Quaker tracts with their own tract, ''Satan’s Harbinger Encountered … Being Something by Way of Answer to Daniel Leeds'',  which publicly
accused Leeds of working for [[Satan|the devil]].<ref name=regal/>

In 1716, Daniel Leeds's son, Titan Leeds, inherited his father's almanac business, which continued to use astrological content and eventually competed with [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s popular ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]''. The competition between the two men intensified when, in 1733, Franklin satirically used astrology in his almanac to predict Titan Leeds's death on October of that same year. Though Franklin's prediction was intended as a joke at his competitor's expense and a means to boost almanac sales, Titan Leeds was apparently offended at the death prediction, publishing a public admonition of Franklin as a "fool" and a "liar". In a published response, Franklin mocked Titan Leeds's outrage and humorously suggested that, in fact, Titan Leeds had died in accordance with the earlier prediction and was thus writing his almanacs as a [[ghost]], resurrected from the grave to haunt and torment Franklin. Franklin continued to jokingly refer to Titan Leeds as a "ghost" even after Titan Leeds's actual death in 1738. Daniel Leeds's blasphemous and occultist reputation and his pro-monarchy stance in the largely anti-monarchist colonial south of New Jersey, combined with Benjamin Franklin's later continuous depiction of his son Titan Leeds as a ghost, may have originated or contributed to the local folk legend of a so-called "Leeds Devil" lurking in the Pine Barrens.<ref name=regal/>

During 1728, Titan Leeds began to include the Leeds [[family crest]] on the masthead of his almanacs. The Leeds family crest depicted a [[wyvern]], a bat-winged [[dragon]]-like legendary creature that stands upright on two clawed feet. Regal notes that the wyvern on the Leeds family crest is reminiscent of the popular descriptions of the Jersey Devil. The inclusion of this family crest on Leeds's almanacs may have further contributed to the Leeds family's poor reputation among locals and possibly influenced the popular descriptions of the Leeds Devil or Jersey Devil. The fearsome appearance of the crest's wyvern and the increasing animosity among local South Jersey residents towards [[Kingship|royalty]], [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocracy]], and [[nobility]] (with whom family crests were associated) may have helped facilitate the legend of the Leeds Devil and the association of the Leeds family with "devils" and "monsters".<ref name=regal/>

===The Leeds Devil===
Regal notes that, by the late 18th century and the early 19th century at the latest, the "Leeds Devil" had become an ubiquitous legendary [[monster]] or [[ghost story]] in present-day [[South Jersey]]. In the early to mid-19th century, stories continued to circulate in southern New Jersey of the Leeds Devil, a "monster wandering the Pine Barrens." An oral tradition of "Leeds Devil" monster/ghost stories became well-established in the Pine Barrens area.<ref name=courier>{{cite news|last1=Trethan|first1=Phaedra|title=Haddonfield talk explores Jersey Devil's 'real' roots|url=http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/2016/11/11/haddonfield-talk-explores-jersey-devils-real-roots/93652550/|access-date=7 January 2017|agency=Courier-Post|date=November 11, 2016}}</ref>

Although the "Leeds Devil" legend has existed since the 18th century, Regal states that the more modern depiction of the Jersey Devil, as well as the now pervasive "Jersey Devil" name, first became truly standardized in current form during the early 20th century:

<blockquote>During the pre-Revolutionary period, the Leeds family, who called the Pine Barrens home, soured its relationship with the Quaker majority ... The Quakers saw no hurry to give their former fellow religionist an easy time in circles of gossip. His wives had all died, as had several children. His son Titan stood accused by Benjamin Franklin of being a ghost ... The family crest had winged dragons on it. In a time when [[American Revolution|thoughts of independence]] were being born, these issues made the Leeds family political and religious monsters. From all this over time the legend of the Leeds Devil was born. References to the 'Jersey Devil' do not appear in newspapers or other printed material until the twentieth century. The first major flap came in 1909. It is from these sightings that the popular image of the creature—batlike wings, horse head, claws, and general air of a dragon—became standardized.<ref name=regal/>
</blockquote>

Indeed, many references to a "Leeds Devil" or "Devil of Leeds" appear in earlier printed material prior to the widespread usage of the "Jersey Devil" name. During 1859, the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' published an article detailing the Leeds Devil folk tales popular among Pine Barren residents (or "[[pine rats]]".)<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030143294?urlappend=;seq=564|title=Atlantic monthly v.3 1859 Jan–Jun.|website=HathiTrust|date=5 November 2021|pages=149 v|hdl=2027/mdp.39015030143294?urlappend=%3Bseq=564|language=en|access-date=2018-07-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Yuhas|first1=Alan|title=Jersey Devil 'sighting' reignites excitement but experts pour cold water|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/17/jersey-devil-new-jersey-myth-photo-origin-story|access-date=7 January 2017|agency=The Guardian|date=October 17, 2015}}</ref> A newspaper from 1887 describes sightings of a winged creature, referred to as "the Devil of Leeds", allegedly spotted near the Pine Barrens and well known among the local populace of [[Burlington County, New Jersey]]:

<blockquote>Whenever he went near it, it would give a most unearthly yell that frightened the dogs. It whipped at every dog on the place. "That thing," said the colonel, "is not a bird nor an animal, but it is the Leeds devil, according to the description, and it was born over in [[Evesham Township, New Jersey|Evesham]], [[Burlington County, New Jersey|Burlington County]], a hundred years ago. There is no mistake about it. I never saw the horrible critter myself, but I can remember well when it was roaming around in Evesham woods fifty years ago, and when it was hunted by men and dogs and shot at by the best marksmen there were in all South Jersey but could not be killed. There isn't a family in Burlington or any of the adjoining counties that does not know of the Leeds devil, and it was the [[Bogeyman|bugaboo]] to frighten children with when I was a boy.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Devil of Leeds|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/tee-veeed/clipnumber/53579/|access-date=22 June 2016|date=October 15, 1887|location=Elkhart Sentinel |page=8}}</ref></blockquote>

==Reported sightings==
There have been many claims of sightings and occurrences involving the Jersey Devil.

According to legend, while visiting the Hanover Mill Works to inspect his [[Round shot|cannonballs]] being forged, Commodore [[Stephen Decatur]] sighted a flying creature and fired a cannonball directly upon it, to no effect.<ref name=mccloy/>

[[Joseph Bonaparte]], elder brother of [[Napoleon]], is also claimed to have seen the Jersey Devil while hunting on his [[Bordentown, New Jersey|Bordentown]] estate about 1820.<ref name="americanfolklore">{{cite web |url= http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/nj6.html |title= Joseph Bonaparte and the Jersey Devil |author= S. E. Schlosser |access-date= 2010-01-05 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100202013405/http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/nj6.html |archive-date= 2010-02-02 }}</ref>

During 1840, the Jersey Devil was blamed for several [[livestock]] killings. Similar attacks were reported during 1841, accompanied by tracks and screams.<ref name=mccloy/>

In [[Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey|Greenwich Township]], in December 1925, a local farmer shot an unidentified animal as it attempted to steal his [[chickens]], and then photographed the corpse. Afterward, he claimed that none of 100 people he showed it to could identify it.<ref>''Daily Times'' of [[Woodbury, New Jersey|Woodbury]], December 15, 1925, quoted in, Moran, Mark and Sceurman, Mark (2004). ''Weird N.J.: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.'' Barnes & Noble. p. 107.</ref> On July 27, 1937, an unknown animal "with red eyes" seen by residents of [[Downingtown, Pennsylvania]] was compared to the Jersey Devil by a reporter for the ''[[Pennsylvania Bulletin]]'' of July 28, 1937.<ref>{{cite web |author=Laura K. Leuter |url=http://www.njdevilhunters.com/art19370728.html |title=The Devil Hunters – Official Researchers of the Jersey Devil |publisher=Njdevilhunters.com |date=1937-07-28 |access-date=2014-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516164426/http://www.njdevilhunters.com/art19370728.html |archive-date=2013-05-16 }}</ref> In 1951, a group of [[Gibbstown, New Jersey]] boys claimed to have seen a 'monster' matching the Devil's description<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gloucestercitynews.net/clearysnotebook/2007/02/in_1909_the_jer.html |title=CNBNEWS.NET: In 1909, the Jersey Devil was sighted in Gloucester |publisher=Gloucestercitynews.net |date=2007-02-28 |access-date=2014-01-04}}</ref> and claims of a corpse matching the Jersey Devil's description arose in 1957.<ref name=mcnab>{{cite book|author= McNab, Chris |title= Mythological Monsters |location= New York |publisher= Scholastic, Inc |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-439-85479-5}}</ref> During 1960, tracks and noises heard near [[Mays Landing, New Jersey|Mays Landing]] were claimed to be from the Jersey Devil.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A16646295 |title=h2g2 – The Legend of the Jersey Devil |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2006-12-02 |access-date=2014-01-04}}</ref> During the same year the merchants around [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]] offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Jersey Devil, even offering to build a private zoo to house the creature if it was captured.<ref name=jerseyhistory>{{cite web |url= http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html |title= Legend of the New Jersey Devil |access-date= 2010-02-01 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140902163244/http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html |archive-date= 2014-09-02 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

===Wave of sightings in 1909===
During the week of January 16–23, 1909, newspapers published hundreds of claimed encounters with the Jersey Devil from all over South Jersey and the [[Delaware Valley|Philadelphia area]]. Among these alleged encounters were claims the creature "attacked" a [[trolley car]] in [[Haddon Heights, New Jersey|Haddon Heights]] and a social club in [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]].<ref>Moran, Mark and Sceurman, Mark (2004). ''Weird N.J.: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.'' Barnes & Noble. pp. 104–105.</ref> Police in Camden and [[Bristol, Pennsylvania]] supposedly fired on the creature to no effect.<ref>Moran and Sceurman (2004). p. 105.</ref> Other reports initially concerned unidentified footprints in the [[snow]], but soon sightings of creatures resembling the Jersey Devil were being reported throughout South Jersey and as far away as [[Delaware]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html |title=The New Jersey Historical Society |publisher=Jerseyhistory.org |date=2000-10-26 |access-date=2014-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902163244/http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html |archive-date=2014-09-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and western [[Maryland]].<ref>Fair, Susan (2013), ''Mysteries and Lore of Western Maryland''. Charleston, South Carolina: [[The History Press]], pp. 16–23, "The [[Snallygaster]]."</ref> The widespread newspaper coverage created fear throughout the [[Delaware Valley]] prompting a number of [[schools]] to close and workers to stay home. [[Vigilante]] groups and groups of [[hunters]] roamed the pines and countrysides in search of the devil.<ref name=bart/> During this period, it is rumored that the [[Philadelphia Zoo]] posted a $10,000 reward for the creature. The offer prompted a variety of hoaxes, including a [[kangaroo]] equipped with artificial claws and bat wings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefixsite.com/jerseydevil/jdlegend.html |title=The Jersey Devil Legend |publisher=Thefixsite.com |access-date=2014-01-04}}</ref>

==Description and explanation==
Skeptics believe the Jersey Devil to be nothing more than a creative manifestation upon the imaginations of the early English settlers in South Jersey, with plausible natural explanations including: [[bogeyman]] stories created and told by bored Pine Barren residents as a form of children's entertainment; the byproduct of the historical local disdain for the Leeds family; the misidentification of known animals; and rumors based on common negative perceptions of the local rural population of the Pine Barren (known as "[[Piney (Pine Barrens resident)|pineys]]").<ref name="CSI/SI">{{cite web|last1=Regal|first1=Brian|title=The Jersey Devil: The Real Story|url=https://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_jersey_devil_the_real_story|website=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|date=November 2013|publisher=Skeptical Inquirer Volume 37.6 (November/December 2013)|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref>

The frightening reputation of the Pine Barrens may indeed have contributed to the Jersey Devil legend. Historically, the Pine Barrens was considered inhospitable land. [[Gang]]s of [[highwaymen]], such as the politically disdained [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] [[brigands]], known as the [[Pine Robbers]], were known to rob and attack travelers passing through the Barrens. During the 18th century and the 19th century, residents of the isolated Pine Barrens were deemed the dregs or [[Outcast (person)|outcast]]s of society: [[Yokel|poor farmers]], [[fugitive]]s, [[brigand]]s, [[Lenape|Native American]]s, [[poaching|poachers]], [[moonshine]]rs, [[Fugitive slave|runaway slaves]], and [[Desertion|deserting soldiers]]. So-called pineys have sometimes fostered certain frightening stories about themselves and the Pine Barrens to discourage outsiders or intruders from entering the Barrens. Pineys were further demonized and vilified after two [[eugenics]] studies were published during the early 20th century, which depicted pineys as [[congenital]] [[idiot]]s and criminals, as seen in the research performed on "[[The Kallikak Family]]" by [[Henry H. Goddard]], which is now considered biased,  inaccurate, unscientific, and, most likely, falsified.<ref>[http://www.forteanzoology.com/faq/detail.asp?iFaq=701&iType=85 The Monster in Jersey's Pines] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501043100/http://www.forteanzoology.com/faq/detail.asp?iFaq=701&iType=85 |date=2006-05-01 }}, accessed October 24, 2006.</ref>

Due in part to their isolated and undeveloped nature, the Pine Barrens have themselves fostered various folk legends.<ref name="feewebb"/> Apart from the Jersey Devil, many other [[Legends and tales of the New Jersey Pine Barrens|legends are associated with the Pine Barrens]]; supernatural creatures and ghosts said to haunt the pine forests include the ghost of the [[pirate]] [[Captain Kidd]], who supposedly buried treasure in the Pine Barrens and is sometimes allegedly seen in the company of the Jersey Devil; the ghost of the Black Doctor, the benevolent spirit of an [[African-American]] doctor who, after being forbidden from practicing medicine due to his race, entered the Pine Barrens to practice medicine in the isolated communities of the Barrens and is said to still come to the aid of lost or injured travelers; the ghost of the Black Dog, which, unlike many [[Black dog (folklore)|black dog legends]], is usually portrayed as harmless; the ghost of the Golden-Haired Girl, the spirit of a girl who is said to be staring out into the sea, dressed in white, mourning the loss of her lover at sea; and the White [[Stag]], a ghostly white deer said to rescue travelers in the Barrens from danger.<ref name="feewebb">{{cite book|last1=Fee|first1=Christopher R.|last2=Webb|first2=Jeffery B.|title=American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1610695688|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXnEDAAAQBAJ&q=pine+barrens+legends&pg=PA782}}</ref><ref>McMahon, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bMTBRUDpGxYC&pg=PA42 ''Pine Barrens Legends & Lore''], p. 42. B B& A Publishers, 1987. {{ISBN|978-0912608198}}. Accessed September 24, 2015.</ref><ref>Homer, larona C.; and Bock, William Sauts. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lKNUOeyX748C&q=%22black+dog%22+%22pine+barrens%22 ''Blackbeard the pirate and other stories of the Pine Barrens''], pp. 90–92. Middle Atlantic Press, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0912608105}}. Accessed September 24, 2015.</ref><ref>Brown, Edward. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ue1YmckCMC4C&pg=PA82 ''Just Around the Corner, in New Jersey''], pp. 82, ff. B B& A Publishers, 1984. {{ISBN|978-0912608174}}. Accessed September 24, 2015.</ref> There are also folk tales concerning the [[Blue Hole (New Jersey)|Blue Hole]], an unusually clear blue and rounded body of water located in the Pine Barrens between [[Monroe Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey|Monroe Township, Gloucester County]] and [[Winslow Township, Camden County, New Jersey|Winslow Township, Camden County]] and often associated with the Jersey Devil.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Polhamus|first1=Andy|title='Blue Hole' hike in Monroe Township shares history, dispels myths of South Jersey landmark|url=http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2014/12/blue_hole_hike_in_monroe_township_shares_history_dispels_myths_of_south_jersey_landmark.html|access-date=9 January 2017|work=NJ.com|date=January 25, 2015}}</ref>

Jeff Brunner of the Humane Society of New Jersey thinks that "[[Vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]]" [[sandhill crane]]s  are partially the basis of the Jersey Devil stories, adding, "There are no photographs, no bones, no hard evidence whatsoever, and worst of all, no explanation of its origins that doesn't require belief in the supernatural."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/102397/cover.jerseydevil.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009043855/http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/102397/cover.jerseydevil.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-10-09 |title=The Devil Went Down To Jersey |publisher=Archives.citypaper.net |access-date=2014-01-04 }}</ref> Sandhill cranes are not indigenous or well-known to South Jersey, are approximately the same size as the alleged Jersey Devil, and produce distinctive loud vocalizations; as unfamiliar animals with a distinctively loud, trumpeting call, wayward or vagrant migrating Sandhill cranes that ended up in South Jersey would thus potentially startle or frighten Pine Barren residents at night or under other circumstances in which the animal’s true appearance was unclear.

Outdoorsman and author [[Tom Brown Jr.]] spent several seasons living in the wilderness of the Pine Barrens. He recounts occasions when terrified hikers mistook him for the Jersey Devil, after he covered his whole body with mud to repel mosquitoes.<ref name="Jr.1995">{{cite book|author=Tom Brown Jr.|title=The Way of the Scout|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2I8AAAAIAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated|isbn=978-0-425-14779-5|page=78}}</ref>

Medical sociologist Robert E. Bartholomew and author Peter Hassall cite the infamous 1909 series of sightings of the Jersey Devil (and the subsequent public panic) as a classic example of [[mass hysteria]] begun by a regional [[urban legend]].<ref name="bart">{{cite book|last1=Bartholomew|first1=Robert E.|title=A Colorful History of Popular Delusions|date=2015|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=978-1633881235|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BITeBgAAQBAJ&q=%22jersey+devil%22+1909+%22mass+hysteria%22&pg=PT15|access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref>

One New Jersey group called the "Devil Hunters" refer to themselves as "official researchers of the Jersey Devil", and devote time to collecting reports, visiting historic sites, and going on nocturnal hunts in the Pine Barrens in order to "find proof that the Jersey Devil does in fact exist."<ref name="Barry">{{cite news|last=Barry|first=Dan|title=THIS LAND; In the Wilds of New Jersey, a Legend Inspires a Hunt|work=The New York Times|page=14|date=8 September 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/us/08land.html}}</ref>

Writing in [[Jan Harold Brunvand]]'s ''American Folklore: An Encyclopedia'', [[Rutgers]] Professor Angus Kress Gillespie called the Jersey Devil "an obscure regional legend" for most of its existence, and said that "after more than 250 years in oral circulation, the legend of the 'Jersey Devil' has many variations ...". Gillespie cites the Devil's image used on T-shirts, buttons, and postcards, and cocktails named after the Devil, as indications that "the recent history of the Jersey Devil is more in the realm of popular culture than folklore".<ref>{{cite book|last=Brunvand|first=Jan Harold|title=American folklore|date=1998|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8153-3350-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0N_sedAATAC&q=1909+jersey+devil+Brunvand&pg=PA408}}</ref>

Writer Dan Evon noticed some similarities between the Jersey Devil and an existing [[megabat]] species found in Africa, ''[[Hammer-headed bat|Hypsignathus monstrosus]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Evon|first=Dan|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hammerhead-bat/|title=Is the Hammerhead Bat a Real Animal?|website=Snopes|date=July 30, 2018|access-date=January 13, 2025}}</ref>

===Hoaxes===
[[Gordon Stein]] in ''Encyclopedia of Hoaxes'' (1993) noted that the alleged footprints of the Jersey Devil during 1909 resembled a [[Horse hoof|horse's hoof]]. According to Stein, a man later admitted he had faked some of these footprints.<ref>[[Gordon Stein|Stein, Gordon]]. (1993). ''Encyclopedia of Hoaxes''. Gale Group. pp. 253–254. {{ISBN|0-8103-8414-0}}</ref>

Geoff Tibballs in ''The World's Greatest Hoaxes'' (2006) has claimed that Norman Jeffries was involved in hoaxing the Jersey Devil:

{{Blockquote|Norman Jeffries, publicist for [[Philadelphia]]'s Arch Street Museum and renowned hoaxer, was well aware of the stories about the Jersey Devil. So when the museum proprietor, T. F. Hopkins, admitted that it was in danger of closure unless Jeffries came up with something to boost attendances, the publicist decided that a captive Jersey Devil would be the ideal crowd-puller.<ref name="Tibballs 2006">Tibballs, Geoff. (2006). ''The World's Greatest Hoaxes''. Barnes & Noble. p. 198. {{ISBN|978-0760782224}}</ref>}}

He also planted nonfictional newspaper stories about new sightings of the Devil.<ref name="Tibballs 2006"/> During 1909, Jeffries with his friend Jacob Hope, an animal trainer, purchased a [[kangaroo]] from a [[circus]] and glued artificial claws and bat wings onto it. They declared to the public they had captured the Devil and it was displayed at the [[museum]]. Twenty years later, Jeffries admitted to the hoax.<ref>White, Edward; White, Thomas. (2011). ''Forgotten Tales of Philadelphia''. The History Press. pp. 27–28. {{ISBN|978-1609492700}}</ref><ref>Capo, Fran. (2012). ''It Happened in New Jersey''. Globe Pequot Press. p. 18. {{ISBN|978-0762764785}}</ref>

==Cultural relevance==
[[File:Jersey devil mini.jpg|thumb|The board game ''Fearsome Wilderness'' depicting the Jersey Devil]]
In ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend'', folklorist [[Richard Dorson]] outlines six criteria for establishing distinction among legendary creatures of American folklore. While the Jersey Devil was not expressly cited by Dorson, it nevertheless qualifies for this same level of relevance.{{original research inline|date=February 2022}} Dorson specifies that the qualifier must: exist in oral tradition, inspire belief and conviction, become personalized and institutionalized, be fanciful or mythical, and contain a "comical side," which endears it to the American public.<ref name="dorson">{{cite book|last=Dorson |first=Richard |title=Man and Beast in American Comic Legend |location=Bloomington, IL |publisher=Indiana Univ. Press |year=1982 |pages=12–14}}</ref>

[[Oral tradition]] of the Jersey Devil well predates printed newspaper accounts, and belief in its existence by many continues. The latter is made evident not only by commentators who elaborate on this possibility but also by investigative programs such as ''Mother Leeds' 13th Child,''<ref name="newjereypb">{{cite AV media |title=Mother Leeds' 13th Child |first=Jack (narrator) |last=Wiseman  |url=https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/24155/ |medium=television special |publisher=[[New Jersey Network|New Jersey Public Broadcasting]] |date=1974}}</ref> ''In Search of Monsters'',<ref name="travelchannel">{{Cite episode |title=The Jersey Devil |url=https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/in-search-of-monsters/episodes/the-jersey-devil |access-date=28 October 2020 |series=In Search of Monsters |first=Gabe (narrator) |last=Kunda |network=Travel Channel |date= 24 April 2019 |season=1 |number=4}}</ref> [[Lore (podcast)|Lore]]<ref name="lore">{{cite podcast |url=https://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes/9 |title=A Devil on the Roof |website=LorePodcast.com |publisher=Aaron Mahnke |host= Aaron Mahnke |date= February 8, 2019 |access-date=29 October 2020}}</ref> and ''[[Monsters and Mysteries in America]]''.<ref name="destinationamerica">{{Cite episode |title=Flying Creatures  |url=https://www.destinationamerica.com/tv-shows/monsters-mysteries-in-america/videos/jersey-devil |access-date=28 October 2020 |series=Monsters and Mysteries in America |first=Roger (narrator) |last=Rose |network=Destination America |date=14 February 2014 |season=2 |number=8}}</ref>

As a fixture of organizations, it is the namesake for two professional [[ice hockey]] teams. The first, the [[Jersey Devils]] of the [[Eastern Hockey League]], played from 1964 until the league folded in 1973. The second, the [[New Jersey Devils]] of the [[National Hockey League]], have played since 1982. The current team was formerly known as the [[Colorado Rockies (NHL)|Colorado Rockies]], and their name was chosen by a poll shortly after the team relocated to New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lawrie |last=Mifflin |author2=Katz, Michael |title=SCOUTING; 'Jersey Devils' Wins Name Poll |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40E17F8395F0C738FDDAF0894DA484D81&n=Top%2fNews%2fSports%2fHockey%2fNational%20Hockey%20League%2fNew%20Jersey%20Devils
|newspaper=The New York Times |date= 1982-06-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jersey Devils – hockey uniforms|url=http://www.nhluniforms.com/Devils/Devils.html|publisher=sportsK|access-date=3 February 2012}}</ref> This same trend towards cultural incorporation is further exemplified by the Jersey Devil's appropriation in toy lines, such as its inclusion as a vinyl figure in Cryptozoic Entertainment ''Cryptkins'' blind box,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cryptozoic.com/cryptkins™-vinyl-figures|title=Cryptkins Vinyl Figures|website=Cryptozoic.com|publisher=Cryptozoic Entertainment|access-date=August 3, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/toys/3483094/new-vinyl-toy-line-cryptkins-will-feature-blind-box-monsters-myth/|title=New Vinyl Toy Line 'Cryptkins' Will Feature Blind Box Monsters of Myth|date=February 13, 2018|author=John Squires|website=Bloody Disgusting|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> as well as its application as a motif by [[Six Flags Great Adventure]] for their [[Jersey Devil Coaster]] developed by [[Rocky Mountain Construction]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/travel/six-flags-new-jersey-devil-ride|title=Six Flags' Jersey Devil ride will be 'world's tallest, fastest, longest' single rail coaster|last=Puhak|first=Janine|date=2019-08-31|website=Fox News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/jersey-devil-six-flags-roller-coaster/index.html|title = Jersey Devil, world's tallest single-rail coaster, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey|website = [[CNN]]| date=14 June 2021 }}</ref>

Moreover, the Jersey Devil's fanciful or mythical nature is explored in the numerous works of fantasy it makes an appearance in, including: ''[[The X-Files]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Lowry|first=Brian|year=1995|title=The Truth Is Out There: The Official Guide to the X Files|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|page=110|isbn=978-0002557023}}</ref> ''[[Jersey Devil (video game)]]'',<ref name="behaviourinteractive">{{cite video game |title=Jersey Devil |developer=Behaviour Interactive |date=1997 |platform=PlayStation and Windows}}</ref> ''[[The Wolf Among Us]]'',<ref name="telltalegames">{{cite video game |title=The Wolf Among Us |developer=Telltale Games |date=2013 |platform=Windows |scene=Episode 4}}</ref> ''[[13th Child]]'',<ref name="paintedzebra">{{cite AV media | people=Ashley, Thomas and Stockage, Steven(directors) | date=October 25, 2002 | title=13th Child | medium=Motion picture | publisher=Painted Zebra Productions}}</ref> ''[[TMNT (film)|TMNT]]'',<ref name="imagi">{{cite AV media | people=Munroe, Kevin (directors) | date=March 17, 2007 | title=TMNT | medium=Motion picture | publisher=Imagi Animation Studios}}</ref> ''[[The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest]]'',<ref name="cartoonnetwork">{{Cite episode |title=The Spectre of the Pine Barrens |url=https://www.warnerbros.com/tv/jonny-quest-real-adventures-season-1-vol-2 |access-date=29 October 2020 |series=The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest |first1=Matthew (writer) |last1=Malach  |first2=J.D. (voice) |last2=Roth |network=Cartoon Network |date=September 17, 1996 |season=1 |number=17}}</ref> ''[[The Barrens (film)|The Barrens]]'',<ref name="genrecompany">{{cite AV media | people= Bousman,  Darren Lynn (director) | date=September 28, 2012 | title=The Barrens | medium=Motion picture | publisher=The Genre Company}}</ref> ''[[Carny (2009 film)|Carny]]'',<ref name="rhi">{{cite AV media | people= Wilson, Sheldon (director) and Phillips, Lou Diamond (actor) | date=April 25, 2009 | title=Carny | medium=Motion picture | publisher= RHI Entertainment}}</ref> ''[[Poptropica]]'', ''[[A Night With The Jersey Devil]]'',<ref name="springsteen">{{YouTube|id=l6leNRGhOqA}}</ref> ''[[The Last Broadcast (film)|The Last Broadcast]]'', ''[[Legend Quest (2017 TV series)|Legend Quest]]'',<ref name="netflix">{{Cite episode |title=Jersey Devil |url=https://www.netflix.com/title/80081863 |access-date=29 October 2020 |series=Legend Quest |last1=Aurelio |first1=Marco (director) |first2=Ibarra (Director) |last2=Rodríguez |network=Netflix |date=February 24, 2017 |season=1 |number=2}}</ref> ''[[What We Do in the Shadows (TV series)|What We Do in the Shadows]]'',<ref name="wwdits">{{Cite episode |title=Pine Barrens |url=https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/what-we-do-in-the-shadows  |network=FX|date=August 17, 2022 |season=4 |number=7 |access-date=August 17, 2022 |last1=Newacheck |first1=Kyle (director)|series=What We Do in the Shadows }}</ref> ''[[Gravity Falls]], [[Fallout 76]],''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-26 |title=Fallout 76 Atlantic City - America's Playground arrives on Xbox and Windows PC |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/fallout-76-atlantic-city-america-171015225.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-SG}}</ref> ''[[Inscryption]],'' ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]] and [[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]''; many of which, such as ''TMNT'' and ''Jersey Devil'' (video game), not only reflect the Jersey Devil's mythical character but exemplify its comical nature as well.

==See also==
<!--do not include any terms that already appear in the main text-->
* [[Belled buzzard]]
* [[Pope Lick Monster]]
* [[Dover Demon]]
* [[Fearsome critters]]
* [[Goatman (urban legend)]]
* [[Mothman]]
* [[Sasquatch]]
* [[Snallygaster]]
* [[Nain Rouge]]

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="mcmahon1980">{{cite book |last=McMahon |first=William H. |author-link=<!--William H. McMahon--> |chapter=The Ole Jersey Devil |title=Pine Barrens Legends, Lore, and Lies |location=Moorestown, NJ |publisher=Middle Atlantic Press |date=1980|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K67YAAAAMAAJ&q=%22jersey+devil%22 |pages=36–38 |isbn=<!--0912608129, -->9780912608129}}</ref>
}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Beck |first=Henry Charlton |author-link=Henry Charlton Beck |title=Jersey Genesis: The Story of the Mullica River |location=New Brunswick |publisher=Rutgers University Press |date=1983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5o4X4JVDaTkC&pg=PA249 |isbn=<!--0813510155, -->9780813510156}}
{{refend}}

==Relevant literature==
* Regal, Brian and Frank J. Esposito (2018). ''The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created a Monster.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. {{ISBN|978-1421424897}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131204044250/http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/history/devil/ Pinelands Preservation Alliance – Jersey Devil Hunt & Pinelands Folklore]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110727124432/http://www.njdigitalhighway.org/jersey_devil_ever.php ''What is the Jersey Devil'' New Jersey Digital Highway]
* {{Skeptoid | id=4282 | number= 282| title= The Jersey Devis| date= November 1, 2011| quote= | access-date=}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzn7xF6JCs Jean Shepherd - Jersey Devil 1977/03/22]

{{American tall tales}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Cryptids]]
[[Category:Fearsome critters]]
[[Category:Mythological hybrids]]
[[Category:New Jersey folklore]]
[[Category:Paranormal hoaxes]]
[[Category:Pine Barrens (New Jersey)]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:North American demons]]