Historic monster reports in Delaware

1. 1869
2. The New York Herald place not recorded · Nov. 30, 1869 · Page 8

   The Scottish Bride meets the serpent and its young

   Reported on arrival at Delaware Bay (sighting at sea) approx. · Nov. 23, 1869

   Captain Allen of the bark Scottish Bride, arriving from Bordeaux, said he had passed the great sea serpent at sea, and that a smaller serpent swam with it. The New York Sun ran his description and it was copied from Minnesota to Nevada.

   “The Sea Serpent still lives, and has an heir”

   Probably a hoax or tall tale The Sun's account was written with a wink.

   Also printed in 10 other papers

   • The Portland Daily Press, place not recorded, Dec. 1, 1869, p. 2
   • The Charleston Daily News., Charleston, S.C., Dec. 6, 1869, p. 1
   • The Charleston Daily News., Charleston, S.C., Dec. 6, 1869, p. 1
   • Gold Hill Daily News., Gold Hill, N.T., Dec. 10, 1869, p. 2
   • Public Ledger., Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 11, 1869, p. 1
   • The Weekly Standard., Raleigh, N.C., Dec. 15, 1869, p. 1
   • Mower County Transcript, place not recorded, Dec. 16, 1869, p. 4
   • Wyandot County Republican., Upper Sandusky, Ohio, Dec. 17, 1869, p. 1
   • Vicksburg Weekly Herald, Vicksburg, Miss., Dec. 25, 1869, p. 1
   • The Weekly Clarion., Jackson, Miss., Dec. 30, 1869, p. 2
3. 1901
4. The Wilmington Daily Republican place not recorded · Dec. 4, 1901 · Page 4

   An escaped 'gorilla' on the Eastern Shore

   Near Seaford and Bethel, Delaware, and along the Choptank River, Maryland approx. · Dec. 1901

   Papers said a gorilla had escaped from a circus at Seaford in September. A cyclist near Bethel Camp Ground said it knocked him off his bicycle and punched him before he fired two shots and fled, and a man on the Choptank said he saw a strange animal go into a marsh thicket.

   Also printed in 3 other papers

   • Evening Star, place not recorded, Dec. 4, 1901, p. 12
   • The Sun, place not recorded, Dec. 5, 1901, p. 1
   • The Topeka State Journal, place not recorded, Dec. 7, 1901, p. 12
5. 1909
6. Smyrna Times place not recorded · Jan. 27, 1909 · Page 1

   The devil shot in a Smyrna stable yard

   Smyrna, Delaware · Jan. 23, 1909

   After Jersey Devil tracks were found in the snow in two Mount Vernon Street yards, a stable driver in Smyrna was persuaded the creature was in the transportation company's yard and shot it. The Smyrna Times reported it as a joke played on him.

   Probably a hoax or tall tale A practical joke, as the paper itself said.

7. Milford Chronicle place not recorded · Jan. 29, 1909 · Page 8

   Milton remembers a one-footed devil

   Milton, Sussex County, Delaware · Jan. 29, 1909

   A Milton correspondent said the New Jersey visitor was surely the same devil that came to Sussex County near the Drawbridge about 34 years earlier. That one had a single shod foot and left tracks in the snow around a farmer's haystacks.

   Also printed in 1 other paper

   • Evening Journal, place not recorded, Feb. 1, 1909, p. 7
8. Evening Journal place not recorded · March 31, 1909 · Page 3

   Arbutus hunters meet a hoofed thing

   Woods three miles west of Seaford, Delaware approx. · March 28, 1909

   Five young Seaford men out picking arbutus in the woods west of town said a queer, dog-like animal about two feet tall, with large hoofs, came out of a brush pile. Papers called it the Jersey Devil.

Other states

• California 30
• Connecticut 11
• Illinois 10
• Indiana 6
• Kansas 8
• Kentucky 7
• Maine 5
• Massachusetts 18
• Minnesota 5
• Missouri 6
• Nebraska 9
• Nevada 5
• New Jersey 19
• New York 18
• Ohio 7
• Pennsylvania 7
• Washington 7
• West Virginia 7
• Wisconsin 7

All historic encounters

Newspaper pages: Library of Congress, Chronicling America (US newspapers published before 1927 are in the public domain). Text search: American Stories (Dell, Bryan, Carlson and others, CC BY 4.0). Summaries are our own. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).