Mother Leed's 13th child, the Jersey Devil
Many folktales and oral traditions spread from the South Jersey Pine Barrens, with a local resident named "Mother Leeds" at the heart of events. Already having twelve children, the mother had been pushed to the brink in all earthly senses. discovering she was once again pregnant, damned the child in a frustrated rage, declaring the offspring would be the devil's. 1735: Her labor began on a foul blustering night; howling gales and spitting rain rattled the state. Friends and family gathered in spite of the tempestuous weather. The child was born normally for the faintest of moments. Reality began to twist and contort as the group witnessed the child warp into a putrid mass of flesh and bone, erupting into a towering cloven creature. A mix of its hellish whaling screams and forked lashing tail, assaulted everything in that accursed room. quickly erupting from the chimney, swooping down into the storm-swept barrens.
