Jersey Devil
A creature of New Jersey folklore whose supposed hoofprints in the snow set off a scare across three states in the winter of 1909.
Meaning
In January 1909 the Evening Journal of Wilmington, Delaware, reported that stories about the "Jersey Devil", also called the "Jobberwock", were causing a furore in three states; the paper itself thought them as far from the truth as the Jobberwock was from Wilmington. The stories had raised attendance at church revival meetings, it said, and supposed tracks of the creature were seen in the town that morning.
Origin and history
The sightings went on into the spring. On 31 March the same paper printed a report from Seaford, Delaware, where five young men said they had seen a creature about two feet tall, with large hoofed feet and a head like a dog's, which fled into the Nanticoke River. They had seen a play called "The Jersey Devil" at the town's opera house the evening before.
That December a carcass found in the woods near Kinkora was put on show as proof, a paper said, "that the scare was never due to highballs" (The Topeka State Journal, 15 December 1909).
See also
Kraken, Sea serpent, Loch Ness Monster, Champ (Lake Champlain monster), Bigfoot (Sasquatch), Yeti (Abominable Snowman).
Sources
- Evening Journal (Wilmington, Del.), 23 January 1909, Evening Journal, 23 January 1909, page 1, Library of Congress, Chronicling America, page 1; page 1 (continued)
- Evening Journal (Wilmington, Del.), 31 March 1909, Evening Journal, 31 March 1909, page 3, Library of Congress, Chronicling America, page 3
- The Topeka State Journal (Topeka, Kan.), 15 December 1909, The Topeka State Journal, 15 December 1909, page 7, Library of Congress, Chronicling America, page 7
Last reviewed September 28, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research