October 31, 2024 • 11 mins
The Jersey Devil’s brother Jacob Leeds is blessed with being the seventh son of the seventh son, but cursed to use his gifts to balance out his the devil’s monstrosity when it attacks their family.
Written by Izzie Cava
Narrated by Izzie Cava
Composed by Simon Jones
Logo Design by Dana Gee
Instagram: @epilogue_audio
TikTok: @epilogue_audio
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Epilogue, where I tell you folk tales and legends that fabricate my own counterpart
(00:10):
from that root yarn
I am that woodland god, here to lead you to paradise that drive you mad, but you can
call me Izzy Cava.
Many of you have probably heard the tale of the Jersey Devil, that freakish beast that
still haunts the pine barons of southern New Jersey.
(00:32):
Legend has it that a Quaker woman called Mother Leeds lived in those woods and bore
twelve children to a man named Japteth Leeds.
In 1753, Mother Leeds became pregnant with a thirteenth child.
But why the child was afflicted with monstrosity, none could say for certain.
Some said Mother Leeds was a witch, and the child's father was the devil himself.
(00:57):
Others said that the birth was so difficult she invoked the devil, cursing the child forever.
Others still believed that a clergyman who was unsuccessful in converting Mother Leeds
from her Quaker faith cursed the child.
Or maybe that thirteenth child was the recipient of a Leeds family curse from a long forgotten
malifactor.
(01:18):
Whatever the reason, it is said that the child was born on a stormy night, surrounded
by its family and a host of midwives and holy men.
Again the legend phrase, for either the child was born sweet as could be, then minimorphisized,
or it was never human at all.
It had always had a horse's face on a dog's head, crowned with great horns, and bat wings
(01:43):
on its animal back with cloven hooves for feet.
But it's certain that from the moment it was born, it was a violent creature, a loveless
creature.
It turned and attacked its mother, its first moment of life bringing about her death.
Then it massacred the onlookers, maiming them in an almost baukic fury, before flying up
(02:06):
out of the chimney and into the dark.
Sightings of this creature are still reported from New Jersey's denizens when they wander
too long in the pine barrens.
Luckily it has done little more than destroy crops and raid chicken coops in its long lifetime.
But it can never atone for its first act, nor can we, with any amount of certainty, explain
(02:30):
why it was born that way.
And now for a rebalogue.
But first I must introduce you to the concept of the Seventh Sun.
It's an ancient archetype that exists across history and cultures, but its basic tenant
is that the seventh sun of someone who is in turn, the seventh sun, will be possessed
(02:51):
of certain magical abilities, namely the gift of healing.
In Ireland it was said that the saliva of the Seventh Sun contains the healing magics,
but the English say that all the Seventh Sun need do is touch someone in pain and they
would be restored to health again.
In Scotland it is also believed that the Seventh Daughter of the Seventh Daughter was gifted
(03:12):
with prophetic visions, but that's really the only talk of daughters in these tales.
There is however talk of vampires, as Romanian folklore posits that the Seventh Sun is destined
to become a vampire in his lifetime.
In some Latin American countries, the Seventh Sun is cursed to be a werewolf, called a luizon
or lobisomem.
(03:33):
Unless as a newborn the child is baptized in seven different churches and the eldest son
made the baby's godfather.
In Italy the Seventh Sun was called a ciorello, who had the ability to enchant snakes and
was immune to their venom.
Seventh of course, is also a number charged with religious significance.
There are seven deadly sins, seven heavens, seven virtues, seven days to make the world,
(03:58):
and a numerology it is said to symbolize completion or perfection, which brings us to Jacob Leeds.
I've already told you that mother Leeds had thirteen children with Japteth Leeds, but
I haven't told you that the Leeds family were prominent figures at the time because
their family were early settlers of that area, which later became known as Leeds Point in
(04:18):
present day Atlantic County.
It also warns telling that in 1687, the Jersey Devil's ancestor, Daniel Leeds, a devout
Quaker in his own right, published a pamphlet called the American Almanac.
His fellow Quakers condemned the pamphlet for having symbols and language too pagan for
their liking.
In spite of their request that Daniel Leeds collect and destroy his almanacs, he continued
(04:42):
publishing them, cementing his status as a pariah.
Religious and political discourse trickled down through the generations of the Leeds
family.
Mother Leeds tried to protect her brood from history's cruel memory.
She was a strong and tough woman.
Given that her husband is not often mentioned in this monster's story, it would seem that
(05:06):
mother Leeds cared for the children all on her own.
During long hours in the woods made her children tough like their mother, but not her seventh
child, a boy named Jacob.
She did not know this, her Japdeth never said, but he himself was his father's seventh
son.
Whether it was magic or just his nature, Jacob was a better caretaker than he ever was a
(05:29):
hunter or a carpenter.
Tending to the crops and the ailments of his siblings was far more pleasing to him than
any sport he could play with his fellows.
When Jacob was just a boy, no more than seven years old, it is said that he found a robin
with a broken wing on the edge of the garden.
Mother Leeds watched as her boy reached down for the poor, twitching animal and laid a gentle
(05:51):
hand on its wing.
By some unseen magic, its wing was mended and it flew off, returning each summer afterwards
to visit the boy who had saved it, fearing the worst from their neighbors, who all knew
of the strange legacy they inherited from Daniel Leeds.
Mother Leeds commanded that Jacob never show anyone his gifts, lest they take them to be
(06:13):
tricks from the devil and punish him for what cannot be helped.
Though his healing arts remained a secret, his gentle nature did not, and as a young
man he caught the attention of many of the girls in nearby Port Republic.
But Jacob's attention was caught by the beautiful Abigail Taylor, their sweet romance of summer
(06:34):
love and teenage optimism was cut short by Mother Leeds' announcement that she was expecting
again, a thirteenth sibling to join the Leeds family.
Jacob did as he is always done, and assisted the midwives in preparing for the delivery
of this child.
This pregnancy was riddled with complications, and his mother's health was in jeopardy throughout.
(06:55):
Only Jacob's secret gifts saved her life, that is, until the devil was born.
Jacob saw it all, the massacre of his mother, the slaughtering of the midwives, even the
deaths of some of his siblings.
Jacob was not without his own injuries, receiving a bite so violent it almost tore him in half.
(07:16):
But his body had always been able to heal itself almost instantly.
When the devil had gone, fled into the night forever more, Jacob grasped his mother's
hand, and used all his might and magic to bring her back.
And even he couldn't heal those who were among the dead.
Thankfully some of his siblings could be saved, and with the light touch of his hand on their
(07:39):
bloody foreheads, they were healed.
But what happened at the Leeds' house could not be explained by their neighbors, so Mother
Leeds' greatest fear was made manifest, and despite of everything, they were pariahs after
all.
Most of Jacob's other siblings retreated deeper into the woods, or moved far away from the
devil's birthplace.
(08:01):
Jacob left home and went to study law in Connecticut.
When he returned, he married Abigail Taylor and built her a house not too far from his
family's empty home, so that his beloved Robins could still visit him and his children summer
after summer.
He was a successful solicitor, Abigail a loving mother, and all the ugliness of the past faded
(08:23):
away as Jacob restored his family's good name.
Even whispers reached the devil's ears, and it heard what became of its brother, the brother
that it had torn into with its teeth.
How could Jacob have lived?
Those Leeds who had retreated into the woods had already been sought and slaughtered, and
(08:43):
now the devil's brother was right on his doorstep.
But Jacob didn't know the devil had him in his sights.
He never thought about that monster anymore.
He was excitedly prepared for his fourth child with Abigail, making their home ready to welcome
new life, just as he had done with his mother all those years ago.
(09:04):
But it was at the height of his joy that the devil found him, climbing in through their
chimney and taking everything from Jacob, his house, his children, and his beautiful
Abigail.
For the second time in his life, Jacob held the hand of one he so loved and prayed for
his gift to bring her back, but he couldn't retrieve Abigail from where she had gone.
(09:27):
Heartbroken, Jacob sought his devil.
Ever-gentle, vengeance was not what he was after, only closure.
He never aged a day after his family was taken from him.
His body just kept healing itself in perpetuity, trying to save him from his grief, and only
succeeding in freeing him from the ravages of time and all the ages that have since passed.
(09:52):
He followed rumors of the devil all through the pine barons, the murmurings of farmers
about their crops being decimated, and their cattle being attacked by some sort of wolf
man that tore their livestock apart and flew off into the night.
One such complaint led him deep into the woods, where Jacob found a half-dead man babbling
about a horse-faced monster with horns and cloven hooves.
(10:16):
With a touch, Jacob healed the man, no longer frightened that his gift might be met with
malice from the fearful.
The grateful man promised Jacob he could have anything his heart desired, and he would
purchase it for Jacob with his vast fortune.
But all Jacob wanted was to know the direction the devil's bat-wings had taken him.
(10:38):
And so he went, on and on, following the last of his siblings all through those woods.
He did not age, he did not die, he only followed, seeking the closure he never got.
Perhaps that is why the devil's only crime after the first is raiding chicken-coops,
(10:59):
because Jacob is always right behind him, the seventh son of the seventh son, healing
those hurt by the devil in the lonely pine barrens.
That's the end of today's tale.
I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed telling it.
Please remember to like, share, and tell all your friends.
(11:21):
Join me next time for more fabricated folktales on epilogue.
Welcome to Epilogue, where I tell you folk tales and legends that fabricate my own counterpart
(00:10):
from that root yarn
I am that woodland god, here to lead you to paradise that drive you mad, but you can
call me Izzy Cava.
Many of you have probably heard the tale of the Jersey Devil, that freakish beast that
still haunts the pine barons of southern New Jersey.
(00:32):
Legend has it that a Quaker woman called Mother Leeds lived in those woods and bore
twelve children to a man named Japteth Leeds.
In 1753, Mother Leeds became pregnant with a thirteenth child.
But why the child was afflicted with monstrosity, none could say for certain.
Some said Mother Leeds was a witch, and the child's father was the devil himself.
(00:57):
Others said that the birth was so difficult she invoked the devil, cursing the child forever.
Others still believed that a clergyman who was unsuccessful in converting Mother Leeds
from her Quaker faith cursed the child.
Or maybe that thirteenth child was the recipient of a Leeds family curse from a long forgotten
malifactor.
(01:18):
Whatever the reason, it is said that the child was born on a stormy night, surrounded
by its family and a host of midwives and holy men.
Again the legend phrase, for either the child was born sweet as could be, then minimorphisized,
or it was never human at all.
It had always had a horse's face on a dog's head, crowned with great horns, and bat wings
(01:43):
on its animal back with cloven hooves for feet.
But it's certain that from the moment it was born, it was a violent creature, a loveless
creature.
It turned and attacked its mother, its first moment of life bringing about her death.
Then it massacred the onlookers, maiming them in an almost baukic fury, before flying up
(02:06):
out of the chimney and into the dark.
Sightings of this creature are still reported from New Jersey's denizens when they wander
too long in the pine barrens.
Luckily it has done little more than destroy crops and raid chicken coops in its long lifetime.
But it can never atone for its first act, nor can we, with any amount of certainty, explain
(02:30):
why it was born that way.
And now for a rebalogue.
But first I must introduce you to the concept of the Seventh Sun.
It's an ancient archetype that exists across history and cultures, but its basic tenant
is that the seventh sun of someone who is in turn, the seventh sun, will be possessed
(02:51):
of certain magical abilities, namely the gift of healing.
In Ireland it was said that the saliva of the Seventh Sun contains the healing magics,
but the English say that all the Seventh Sun need do is touch someone in pain and they
would be restored to health again.
In Scotland it is also believed that the Seventh Daughter of the Seventh Daughter was gifted
(03:12):
with prophetic visions, but that's really the only talk of daughters in these tales.
There is however talk of vampires, as Romanian folklore posits that the Seventh Sun is destined
to become a vampire in his lifetime.
In some Latin American countries, the Seventh Sun is cursed to be a werewolf, called a luizon
or lobisomem.
(03:33):
Unless as a newborn the child is baptized in seven different churches and the eldest son
made the baby's godfather.
In Italy the Seventh Sun was called a ciorello, who had the ability to enchant snakes and
was immune to their venom.
Seventh of course, is also a number charged with religious significance.
There are seven deadly sins, seven heavens, seven virtues, seven days to make the world,
(03:58):
and a numerology it is said to symbolize completion or perfection, which brings us to Jacob Leeds.
I've already told you that mother Leeds had thirteen children with Japteth Leeds, but
I haven't told you that the Leeds family were prominent figures at the time because
their family were early settlers of that area, which later became known as Leeds Point in
(04:18):
present day Atlantic County.
It also warns telling that in 1687, the Jersey Devil's ancestor, Daniel Leeds, a devout
Quaker in his own right, published a pamphlet called the American Almanac.
His fellow Quakers condemned the pamphlet for having symbols and language too pagan for
their liking.
In spite of their request that Daniel Leeds collect and destroy his almanacs, he continued
(04:42):
publishing them, cementing his status as a pariah.
Religious and political discourse trickled down through the generations of the Leeds
family.
Mother Leeds tried to protect her brood from history's cruel memory.
She was a strong and tough woman.
Given that her husband is not often mentioned in this monster's story, it would seem that
(05:06):
mother Leeds cared for the children all on her own.
During long hours in the woods made her children tough like their mother, but not her seventh
child, a boy named Jacob.
She did not know this, her Japdeth never said, but he himself was his father's seventh
son.
Whether it was magic or just his nature, Jacob was a better caretaker than he ever was a
(05:29):
hunter or a carpenter.
Tending to the crops and the ailments of his siblings was far more pleasing to him than
any sport he could play with his fellows.
When Jacob was just a boy, no more than seven years old, it is said that he found a robin
with a broken wing on the edge of the garden.
Mother Leeds watched as her boy reached down for the poor, twitching animal and laid a gentle
(05:51):
hand on its wing.
By some unseen magic, its wing was mended and it flew off, returning each summer afterwards
to visit the boy who had saved it, fearing the worst from their neighbors, who all knew
of the strange legacy they inherited from Daniel Leeds.
Mother Leeds commanded that Jacob never show anyone his gifts, lest they take them to be
(06:13):
tricks from the devil and punish him for what cannot be helped.
Though his healing arts remained a secret, his gentle nature did not, and as a young
man he caught the attention of many of the girls in nearby Port Republic.
But Jacob's attention was caught by the beautiful Abigail Taylor, their sweet romance of summer
(06:34):
love and teenage optimism was cut short by Mother Leeds' announcement that she was expecting
again, a thirteenth sibling to join the Leeds family.
Jacob did as he is always done, and assisted the midwives in preparing for the delivery
of this child.
This pregnancy was riddled with complications, and his mother's health was in jeopardy throughout.
(06:55):
Only Jacob's secret gifts saved her life, that is, until the devil was born.
Jacob saw it all, the massacre of his mother, the slaughtering of the midwives, even the
deaths of some of his siblings.
Jacob was not without his own injuries, receiving a bite so violent it almost tore him in half.
(07:16):
But his body had always been able to heal itself almost instantly.
When the devil had gone, fled into the night forever more, Jacob grasped his mother's
hand, and used all his might and magic to bring her back.
And even he couldn't heal those who were among the dead.
Thankfully some of his siblings could be saved, and with the light touch of his hand on their
(07:39):
bloody foreheads, they were healed.
But what happened at the Leeds' house could not be explained by their neighbors, so Mother
Leeds' greatest fear was made manifest, and despite of everything, they were pariahs after
all.
Most of Jacob's other siblings retreated deeper into the woods, or moved far away from the
devil's birthplace.
(08:01):
Jacob left home and went to study law in Connecticut.
When he returned, he married Abigail Taylor and built her a house not too far from his
family's empty home, so that his beloved Robins could still visit him and his children summer
after summer.
He was a successful solicitor, Abigail a loving mother, and all the ugliness of the past faded
(08:23):
away as Jacob restored his family's good name.
Even whispers reached the devil's ears, and it heard what became of its brother, the brother
that it had torn into with its teeth.
How could Jacob have lived?
Those Leeds who had retreated into the woods had already been sought and slaughtered, and
(08:43):
now the devil's brother was right on his doorstep.
But Jacob didn't know the devil had him in his sights.
He never thought about that monster anymore.
He was excitedly prepared for his fourth child with Abigail, making their home ready to welcome
new life, just as he had done with his mother all those years ago.
(09:04):
But it was at the height of his joy that the devil found him, climbing in through their
chimney and taking everything from Jacob, his house, his children, and his beautiful
Abigail.
For the second time in his life, Jacob held the hand of one he so loved and prayed for
his gift to bring her back, but he couldn't retrieve Abigail from where she had gone.
(09:27):
Heartbroken, Jacob sought his devil.
Ever-gentle, vengeance was not what he was after, only closure.
He never aged a day after his family was taken from him.
His body just kept healing itself in perpetuity, trying to save him from his grief, and only
succeeding in freeing him from the ravages of time and all the ages that have since passed.
(09:52):
He followed rumors of the devil all through the pine barons, the murmurings of farmers
about their crops being decimated, and their cattle being attacked by some sort of wolf
man that tore their livestock apart and flew off into the night.
One such complaint led him deep into the woods, where Jacob found a half-dead man babbling
about a horse-faced monster with horns and cloven hooves.
(10:16):
With a touch, Jacob healed the man, no longer frightened that his gift might be met with
malice from the fearful.
The grateful man promised Jacob he could have anything his heart desired, and he would
purchase it for Jacob with his vast fortune.
But all Jacob wanted was to know the direction the devil's bat-wings had taken him.
(10:38):
And so he went, on and on, following the last of his siblings all through those woods.
He did not age, he did not die, he only followed, seeking the closure he never got.
Perhaps that is why the devil's only crime after the first is raiding chicken-coops,
(10:59):
because Jacob is always right behind him, the seventh son of the seventh son, healing
those hurt by the devil in the lonely pine barrens.
That's the end of today's tale.
I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed telling it.
Please remember to like, share, and tell all your friends.
(11:21):
Join me next time for more fabricated folktales on epilogue.
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