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' the' dev! of leeds!^Ancient Traaition Recalled, by a Chance Sewspaper I’nra seraph.Doyxestown, Pa.. Oct. 9.—“Here is the Leeds devil turned up again, sure!” exclaimed .an old resident of Burlington county, N. J.. looking up in great astonishment from a local paper he was reading. The following paragraph prompted the exclamation:Something new in the bird line was seen by F. B. Phelps of Mulberry. S. C. It had the head of the owl, with tremendous black eyes. Its face looked like a monkey’s with white cheeks and a bhick streak over each eye, the rest of the head inclined to gray, with black dots near the end of ; ach feather. The body was covered with a beautiful plumage Whenever he went near it it would give a most, unearthly yell that frightened the dogs. It whipped out 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 Evasham, 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 Evasham 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 m Burlington or any of the adjoining counties that does not kuow of the Leeds devil, and it was the bugaboo to frighten children with when I was a hoy. I have been fright ened out of many a piece of boyish mischief myself by being reminded of the dreaded creature, and 1 believe it comes in handy to this day for the same purpose in some parts of Burlington county. But it hasn’t been seen or in those parts for at least fifty years, and it was long ago thought to have met death in some unknown manner. And to think that the frightful thing is still living! This’ll make a sensation over in Burlington, I caD tell you, and people’ll begin to lay awake nights again, expecting to hear the unearthly yell once more that made the blood of past generations run cold. Where did the Leeds devil come from? I can only tell you the story as it has been handed down for neary a century in Burlington county. You may not believe it. but you will have to walk a good ways in that region before you find any one who doubts it.“Just after the Revolutionary war a young man named Leeds, who lived in Evasham and was well known in all that part of the country, married a respectable but harum-scarum girl, who was the life of all the corn huskings, paring bees, dances and rustic merrymakings generally of that day She had a temper of her own, as the story goes, and after marriage refused to settle down in quiet domesticity, but insisted on joining in all the gay doings of the region, as she had done as a gill, in spite of her husband’s protests.Whrai lt;-- ...... A i-----mother she became aosolutely wicked in her complaints and regrets over having married, and led her husband a terrible life. The night before she became a mother she was particularly violent. The granddaughter of the woman who was Mrs. Leed’s nurse is still living in Burlington county, and she says that what I am going to tell you lias been handed down in the family straight and without a change or addition. This woman’s grandmother’s story was that that night Mrs. Leeds finally raised her hand above her head and almost, shrieked:“I hope it will be a devil!”“The next night the nurse appeared at her own house, pale and in great terror.‘“Mrs. Leeds is a mother!’ she exclaimed, ‘but her offspring was a hideous deformity, and flew up out of the chimney, shrieking and screaming as it went.’“This strange story created a great sensation among the old-time residents of Evasham. It was not believed, of course, but the suspicion became general that Mrs. Leeds’ child had been made way with, and that the extravagant story was told by the nurse to divert suspicion. A few days afterward, however, a man who had been hunting in the Evasham woods reported having seen a hideous creature which had frightened him away bv its terrible shrieks. His description of it tallied with the one the Leeds nurse had given. The strange creature appeared to others from time to time, and the description of it was exactly like this one of the queer thing that has been discovered at Mulberry, S. C. The nurse’s story was believed then, and the ‘Leeds devil’ became the terror of the region. It was hunted, as I said, for many years, but it seemed to possess a charmed life. Silver bullets, which were said to be potent against witches and bewitched things, were fired at it time and time again, but thely had no effect on it. The last time it was seen or heard was over fifty years ago. The story don’t seem to tell what, became of Mr. and Mrs. Leeds, but every child over in Evasham can tell you.ail about the Leeds devil. 1’U take this paper ■with me and read this paragraph to my neighbors. It will please them, I know. ,Bean’s Compound Oil as a Safcenara ?Every family should keep a bottle of Bean's compound oil in the house, .to ‘ be used in case of accidents, such as sprains; bruises, scalds, etc. It cures 1 pain or infiamation from whatever ! cause, cures rheumatism and neuralgia. ] For the permanent cure of a weak or lame back, this remedy has no equal. Sold by- Shelley Fobes.
Newspaper Details
Elkhart Sentinel
Elkhart, Indiana, US
Sat, Oct 15, 1887
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Joshua F.
USA 30 Apr 2025
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