I was talking to a neighbor of mine (John) that I speak with seldomly. He wanted a copy of my album, 'Leeds Devil Blues'. He came to me the next day after getting the album and surprised me with some interesting information.
It turns out he is a cousin in the Leeds family and he actually grew up in Leeds point and the absecon area. He relyed to me how the Jersey Devil story developed as it was told to him by his relatives. The story is similar to other theories as to the origins of the folklore but it is particulary interesting to hear it from the Leeds family perspective. I might mess up the geneology a little but bear with me:
Around 1840 Leeds Point was a very small, and close knit community with everyone knowing everyone elses business. Mother Leeds (John's great, great grandmother or something like that, I think he said her name was Elizabeth) was widowed. Despite this fact, she became pregnant. The other wives of the town realized that, given the isolation of the community, one of their husbands must have been unfaithful. No one fessed up. Mother Leeds became an outcast within the community and was not given any medical attention by the local midwives. Pretty much left to her own for the duration of the pregnacy. The pregnancy was condemed as dammed and sinful.
In poor health and probably not particularly happy about her situation and her destroyed reputation, the baby was stillborn and discarded to the basement or attic. (you might draw your own assumptions as to what might have actually taken place) Apparently, no midwives were present at the birth and no one ever saw the baby. Rumours circulated as to whether the baby was infact deceased or living somewhere within the house, out of sight of the community that condemed it. The inncident lived in infamy for sometime, only spoken of in hushed tones.
Years later, John's grandfather, or great grandfather (a grandson of Mother Leeds from a child born before the out of wedlock birth) became concerned about his children wandering off in the woods surrounding Leeds point. He capitalized on the tragic and mysterious inncident by telling his kids that the baby did in fact live, was dammed by his own mother (this time because he was # 13 and his mother was a witch) and was born a devil with devilish attributes and roamed the woods with an intense hate for all the Leeds point citizens. This version of the story was passed around between the children of Leeds point and eventually spread to all of the pinebarrens.
Well, that is the story as it was told to me by John. I think it is interesting that many of popular theories to the origin of the story link closely to this one, but with some slight variations. I have always noticed that the oldest Jersey Devil stories are the most grusome. It is common in those stories for the devil to be a canibal, prefering small children and even his own family in some versions. His character seems to have softened over the years. John confirmed that the ruins in Leeds point are, in fact, the house where this took place.
Anyway, take it for what it is worth.
Jeff
It turns out he is a cousin in the Leeds family and he actually grew up in Leeds point and the absecon area. He relyed to me how the Jersey Devil story developed as it was told to him by his relatives. The story is similar to other theories as to the origins of the folklore but it is particulary interesting to hear it from the Leeds family perspective. I might mess up the geneology a little but bear with me:
Around 1840 Leeds Point was a very small, and close knit community with everyone knowing everyone elses business. Mother Leeds (John's great, great grandmother or something like that, I think he said her name was Elizabeth) was widowed. Despite this fact, she became pregnant. The other wives of the town realized that, given the isolation of the community, one of their husbands must have been unfaithful. No one fessed up. Mother Leeds became an outcast within the community and was not given any medical attention by the local midwives. Pretty much left to her own for the duration of the pregnacy. The pregnancy was condemed as dammed and sinful.
In poor health and probably not particularly happy about her situation and her destroyed reputation, the baby was stillborn and discarded to the basement or attic. (you might draw your own assumptions as to what might have actually taken place) Apparently, no midwives were present at the birth and no one ever saw the baby. Rumours circulated as to whether the baby was infact deceased or living somewhere within the house, out of sight of the community that condemed it. The inncident lived in infamy for sometime, only spoken of in hushed tones.
Years later, John's grandfather, or great grandfather (a grandson of Mother Leeds from a child born before the out of wedlock birth) became concerned about his children wandering off in the woods surrounding Leeds point. He capitalized on the tragic and mysterious inncident by telling his kids that the baby did in fact live, was dammed by his own mother (this time because he was # 13 and his mother was a witch) and was born a devil with devilish attributes and roamed the woods with an intense hate for all the Leeds point citizens. This version of the story was passed around between the children of Leeds point and eventually spread to all of the pinebarrens.
Well, that is the story as it was told to me by John. I think it is interesting that many of popular theories to the origin of the story link closely to this one, but with some slight variations. I have always noticed that the oldest Jersey Devil stories are the most grusome. It is common in those stories for the devil to be a canibal, prefering small children and even his own family in some versions. His character seems to have softened over the years. John confirmed that the ruins in Leeds point are, in fact, the house where this took place.
Anyway, take it for what it is worth.
Jeff
