letter 1

I have heard lot's of story's about the Jersey Devil. And even seen a show about it on tv once. If you would like to really find out if the Jersey devil actualy exsists Email me to make arangmants

reply

what exactly do you have in mind?

letter 2

Well I assume that you are familiar with the area where this Devil was spotted.

2. I would have to know the exact distance from the

wooded area to the nearest neighborhood. 

3. I would have to know if this area is patrolled by

local police.

4. I would have to know what time of the year he was

mostly seen, and is likely to be seen. day or night.

5. Do People walk regularly through these woods? 

How many trails are there? 

reply

G.A. wrote

> Well I assume that you are familiar with the area

> where this Devil was spotted.

well..the jersey devil has been spotted all over the

state of nj.

http://home.adelphia.net/~leuter/map.html

he was last spotted in wharton state forrest in 1993.

"

One is John Irwin, a summer park ranger in the Wharton

State Forest of New Jersey. Irwin was patrolling one

night in December 1993 when, he claimed, "He noticed a

large, dark figure emerge from the woods. It stood

like a human, over six foot tall, and it had black fur

that looked wet and matted." The Forest Service report

of the incident went on to state, "John sat in his car

only a few feet away from the monster. His initial

shock soon turned to fear when the creature turned its

deerlike head and stared through the windshield. But

instead of gazing into the bright yellow glow of a

deer's eyes, John found himself the subject of a deep

glare from two piercing red eyes"

> 

> 1 You would have to show me the entire wooded area

> where this devil was seen and could only be seen.

are you in nj? 

its a big freakin area.

here are some maps..

https://www.angelfire.com/nj/becjosh/bluemap.html

this is to the area of the blue hole in a wildlife

preserve.

> 

> 2. I would have to know the exact distance from the

> wooded area to the nearest neighborhood.

i have no idea. its pretty remote.

> 3. I would have to know if this area is patrolled by

> local police.

> 

hmm...

> 4. I would have to know what time of the year he was

> mostly seen, and is likely to be seen. day or night.

in the fall, i believe.

> 

> 5. Do People walk regularly through these woods? 

> How many trails are there? 

there are trails throughout the woods. i have no idea

of the extent.

> 

> 6. Leave the rest to my team.    

good luck in your search. take some good pictures and

report back to me.

regards,

DC

Letter 3

reply

GA,

If you capture or kill it, you will have a fine story

for the local news.

Let me know how you fare.In the meantime, I will post these letters on my website, if you have no objection.


 I will, of course,only use your initials so that you will remain anonymous.

sincerely,

DC

Letter 4

Yes Please only use my initials, I would really like

to stay anonymous.

Thank you.

GA

P.S. 

This will take a while to do, So please keep the same

E-mail address. When it is all over, I will let you

know the out come.

================================ Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 13:34:38 -0500 (EST)
From: tgs
Subject: Re: blue hole/ jersey devil
Hi
Well for starters - the trail map puts the Blue Hole in the wrong place. I have attached as portion of a USGS map which I got off the web which correctly places the Blue Hole next to the junction of the Cecil Fire road and the Great Egg Harbor River at Inskips. Your map places it on the Squankum Branch considerably upstream of the correct location.
The Inquirer article is interesting - especially when compared to a similar interview written up in the Henry Beck Book (More Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey). Beck interviewed the locals in the early 1930's or late 1920's. The book was published in 1937. I could probably scan the relevant pages if you would like to see the chapter on the Blue Hole. There is also a picture of the man he interviewed at the time who was obviously not young in 1930!
I suppose that every one has an opinion about the origin of the Blue Hole. Mine is different and I am not sure I ever heard this version from other sources. In is not very magical. First one wonders where the sand that came out of the hole went? It just didn't disappear and it is certainly not laying around in a pile- neither is any clay. I suggest it was dug out to make the dam for the mill pond. Next time you go and you are standing on the road looking over the Hole, turn around and you will see the start of the berm/dam which long ago blocked the river to make the mill pond. This dam extends from the Hole all the way over to the river. I wonder if one made some measures of the amount of sand in the dam how well it would correspond to the volume of Blue Hole? If the mill dam makers used a horse drawn drag line with a "pull back" mechanism they could scoop out sand and as they did so more sand woukd collapse into the trench which could easily end up being a close to round hole. The sand for the dam came from somewhere. It is not likly that they carried it from very far away and I know of no other immediatly adjacent holes from which it might have come. The remains of the wooden part of the dam were still in the bottom of the river in the 1950's.
The history of the bridges is also intereesting. The Beck article refers to a "New" bridge when he visited in the early 1930's or late 1920's. This bridge was sill in place in the late 1930's. I remember vaguely being there and there was a bridge. Then it went out - I am guessing with the 1938 Hurricane. However a new bridge was built maybe just after the war with steel I beams and wood planking. The creosoted reamins of the pilings from this 1940's birdge still remain. This bridge was stolen one piece at a time. I have a picture of it from 1952 which shows the start of its being stolen. By 1954 the last steel beam was gone. Since I used to cross that way - one time I arrived and there was no bridge so I had to walk all the way around - out to the pike and then back to Cecil. A long walk. It was too cold and the water too deep to just walk across in the middle of the winter.
I certainly and obviously concur that the Blue Hole has a bottom and I cetainly agree that when they dug it they hit some sort of aquifer under sufficient pressure to form a spring. Last time I was there there was clearly an outfow on the side toward the river. However such springs would or could cause the bottom to feel like quick sand - since quick sand is called such and behaves as such because of the upwelling of water which essentially keeps the sand grains in suspension. ALso there is the matter of time- maybe the hole was much deeper in the middle 150 years ago or when it was first made and since that time the bottom has leveled out as sand pits are wont to do. We had a boat on it and probed the bottom - I am remembering 10 feet or so, but that was a long time back im memory.
As far as the Jersey Devil is concerned - when one is walking alone along the Cecil fire road miles from anywhere on a cold dreary mid Jan day as a kid and the wind is in the pines and the cedars - it was unnerving.
PS - By putting stuff on the web, you never know what will fall out- I was just surfing for " Blue Hole" and ran across your site. Also, The Weymouth township web site has a few more color pictures of the Blue Hole and the river at the site of the old Inskips bridge.
The Blue Hole and Inskips is clearly one of my favorite places.
TGS

From: JerseyGirl
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 15:40:56 EST
Subject: Re: jersey devil

here is the real story including some extra stuff bout my family and how we are related to it.
Jersey Devil There is folklore about a devil that lives in the swamps of Southern New Jersey. Legend has it that 275 years ago Mrs. Leeds already had twelve children, when she found out she was going to have another child, she cursed the baby by saying that if the baby was not healthy, she wished it to be a devil, and her wish came true. People believe that Mother Leeds was a witch. Her husband was blinded at their wedding, and he drowned in the bay after the thirteenth child was born. The Jersey Devil was a child that was born with horns upon its head and a tail. As the creature grew, it became more and more obvious that it was no normal human being. It had the wings of a bat, large eyes, skinny body, short legs and claw like fingers and toes. The child, shortly after it was born, flew up the chimney and into the swamps of the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey. The Jersey Devil has been sighted throughout the centuries, especially when our country has been involved in wars and on All Hollows Eve. Some people say that the devil child is mean, but most say that he is kind. He has killed animals such as chickens, and left them at the doors of the poor. The story of the Jersey Devil is often shared when my father's family gathers for reunions or holidays. My great grandmother's maiden name was Helen Leeds. She is a distant relative to Mother Leeds. About ten years ago during a family reunion, many of the Leeds family members gathered at my grandparent's home. The Atlantic City Press sent a reporter and a photographer to interview us about our family history and our connection to the Jersey Devil. Today most people refer to the Jersey Devil as a joke. They probably will never experience an encounter with the devil child as my ancestors did 275 years ago. i hope this helps explain the real story of the NJ devil thanx bubye

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