Encounter Atlas

Historic encounters / New Jersey

Historic monster reports in New Jersey

13 old newspaper reports of strange things in New Jersey. Jersey Devil, 1909 (7); Sea serpents and lake monsters (3); Wild men (2); Mystery airships, 1896-97 (1). Each links to the original page.

  1. 1869
  2. The Charleston Daily News. Charleston, S.C. · July 31, 1869 · Page 1

    A porgy fisherman's serpent in Newark Bay

    Newark Bay at Saltersville (Bayonne), New Jersey approx. · July 1869

    The Newark Courier vouched for James Andrews, a sober porgy fisherman from Saltersville on Newark Bay, who said he had seen the sea serpent. His neighbours generally believed him.

    “not at all given to grog”
    Also printed in 4 other papers
  3. 1891
  4. Baxter Springs News. Baxter Springs, Kan. · Jan. 24, 1891 · Page 2

    A wild man who lives on grass

    Mountain View, Passaic County, New Jersey approx. · Jan. 1891

    The mountain hamlet of Mountain View in Passaic County was alarmed by a wild man in the woods who was said to live on grass. Hunting parties searched the woods in every direction.

  5. 1896
  6. New-York Tribune. New York · April 29, 1896 · Page 16

    The wild man of the great swamp

    Great swamp near Vineland and Waterford, New Jersey approx. · April 28, 1896

    Farmers on the edge of a great swamp in South Jersey reported a tall wild man with a mass of hair and beard, wearing moccasins and carrying a club, who taunted searchers with cries. Residents of Waterford caught him a few days later; he escaped, was cornered again and locked up. He turned out to be a mentally ill man who had been living in the woods.

    “He leads his pursuers a fast chase”
    Also printed in 2 other papers
  7. The Wichita Daily Eagle. Wichita, Kan. · May 5, 1896 · Page 6

    Fishermen kill a horned sea monster

    Off the New Jersey coast approx. · May 4, 1896

    Captain Shannon and his crew fought a strange fish for two hours off the New Jersey coast and killed it: about 15 feet long and 500 pounds, with a horn on its nose, two rows of teeth and silvery armour-like scales. No fisherman there could say what it was.

    “the like of which none of the fishermen had ever seen”
    Also printed in 2 other papers
  8. 1897
  9. The Evening Times April 20, 1897 · Page 4

    A huge cylinder flashing red fire

    Camden, New Jersey · April 19, 1897

    Shortly before 5 o'clock, a crowd at Fourth and Market streets in Camden watched something in the western sky that looked like a huge cylinder flashing red fire, and many believed it was the airship.

  10. 1909
  11. The Washington Herald Jan. 21, 1909 · Page 3

    Hoof prints in the snow across South Jersey

    Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties, New Jersey approx. · Jan. 19, 1909

    A Philadelphia dispatch reported clear two-legged, hoof-like tracks in the crust of the snow, which had turned scores of towns in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties into places where women and children were afraid to go out after dark. The writer said he had meant to make fun of the Leeds Devil but found the fear too real.

    “the footprints of a two-legged beast or bird, shod with steel”
  12. The Star and Newark Advertiser. Newark, N.J. · Jan. 21, 1909 · Page 1

    A red neck through the dining-room window

    Vineland, New Jersey · Jan. 20, 1909

    A Vineland correspondent wrote that Moses Carter was reading in his dining room when the creature smashed the window and pushed in a long, bright red neck, with eyes like arc lamps and a three-pronged tongue. The story was played for thrills.

    “It had eyes the size of arc lamps”

    Probably a hoax or tall tale Told with obvious exaggeration; treat it as a tall tale.

  13. New-York Tribune. New York · Jan. 22, 1909 · Page 4

    Tracks at Groveville, Trenton and Mount Holly

    Trenton and Mount Holly, New Jersey · Jan. 21, 1909

    Harry Clymer of Groveville found hoof prints in his back yard, and Clarence Williams saw similar tracks in Trenton's City Park. Both said they looked like a small horse's, but in pairs with gaps that suggested great leaps. At Mount Holly an elderly citizen, William Cronk, said the Leeds Devil had landed in his back yard.

  14. Evening Star. Washington, D.C. · Jan. 24, 1909 · Page 9

    Now called the flying hoof

    Burlington, New Jersey · Jan. 23, 1909

    From Burlington came word that the creature, now nicknamed the flying hoof and given horse's legs and enormous wings, was still being reported by sober citizens. A New Yorker claimed it had escaped from his shop, and the National Museum's bat expert said he had seen worse things between midnight and sunrise.

  15. The Mitchell Capital Mitchell, Dakota · Feb. 4, 1909 · Page 1

    Paterson police chase a devil-bat

    West Paterson, New Jersey · Jan. 31, 1909

    Early one morning a Paterson police sergeant wired headquarters that the devil-bat had been found. The reserves were rushed to West Paterson, where officers and a dozen citizens hunted through the woods behind a sanitarium after hair-raising shrieks were heard near an old mill. A streetcar motorman described the thing.

    “We have found the devil-bat”
    Also printed in 2 other papers
  16. The Washington Herald May 6, 1909 · Page 1

    Captain Doughty captures the devil

    Atlantic City, New Jersey · May 5, 1909

    Captain George Doughty was said to have overpowered the Jersey Devil just outside Atlantic City after it attacked him. It turned out to be a huge bird of unknown species, with claws like a vulture's, feathers like an albatross's and a parrot's beak, and it was put on exhibition.

    Also printed in 1 other paper
  17. New-York Tribune July 10, 1909 · Page 4

    A horned terror in Greenwood Lake

    Greenwood Lake, New Jersey and New York approx. · July 9, 1909

    Three Montclair men back from Greenwood Lake said a queer amphibious creature with a horn and a sponge-like tail speared a bass, soaked them and tried to climb into their boat. One showed a slashed wrist as proof.

    Also printed in 2 other papers
  18. Evening Star. Washington, D.C. · Oct. 20, 1909 · Page 21

    The Jersey Devil found dead

    Burlington, New Jersey · Oct. 18, 1909

    In October, a Burlington story said the carcass of the Jersey Devil had been found fresh in the woods. Reprints in at least a dozen papers described it as a blend of sea serpent, kangaroo, bobcat and "Jersey lightning" (applejack).

    Probably a hoax or tall tale Written as a joke; one paper said it was a small kangaroo.

    Also printed in 11 other papers

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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).