The Leather Man - Notebook Vol. 2018-4
By Bob Fetonti BMSHS Trustee
“Up the road he would come at a slow, steady pace, sometimes mumbling incoherently to himself, always accompanied by the rhythmic motion of his staff and the distinctive sound of heavy leather moving and rubbing together.”(1)
Old Leather Man photo by F. W. Moore
This famous and mysterious figure has a little known connection with our village. On Sunday March 24, 1889 the Leather Man was found dead at one of his regular overnight stops in a rock shelter on the former Dell Farm in Briarcliff Manor not far from the intersection of the Old Chappaqua Road and the Taconic Parkway. For approximately 33 years, from around 1856 to 1889, this curious figure, dressed in a 60 pound handmade, patchwork leather suit and hat, was a common sight on the roads and in the towns of central Westchester and eastern Connecticut. He rarely spoke and answered most questions with grunts and gestures. Briarcliff resident, Walter L. Whitson, testified at the inquest into his death “I have known the Leather Man since I was a small boy. I often tried to get him into conversation, but he would never reply.” (2)
Over time he adopted a roughly 365 mile circular route shown on the map below. In Westchester his route ran through the towns of White Plains, Armonk, Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Pound Ridge, Mount Kisco, Millwood and North Salem. His route was so consistent that newspapers published his itinerary and people claimed you could set your clock by his appearance. Traveling roughly 10 miles a day, summer and winter, a complete circuit took him 34 to 36 days. His only concession to the weather was woolen underwear. It is interesting to mention that the blizzard of 1888 which killed hundreds and paralyzed transportation in New York City for two weeks only altered his schedule by four days.
He had regular stops at farms and houses along his route where he would accept gifts of food. “He would knock at the back door, place his hand to his mouth and mumble something.”(3) “He took the food that was given him without comment other than to leave that which he did not want”(4) wrote Elizabeth Fisher of Middletown CT. Coffee and tobacco were especially appreciated, but other items like clothing or money were usually refused. Offers of shelter, even in the coldest weather, were also generally not accepted. He preferred sleeping in the various caves and rock shelters where he stored bedding materials, firewood and occasionally kept a garden. Everything he owned he carried in a leather sack on his back.
During the era surrounding the Civil War, many vagrants wandered the countryside and many communities enacted special anti-tramp laws. Interestingly, a number of these local laws specifically exempted the Leather Man. Although some of the early news stories indicate people viewed him with distrust, he soon became something of a celebrity. His visits were eagerly anticipated. Housewives were known to cook special meals. He was often invited into homes to eat; and photographs of the Leather Man were included in the family albums. Children were warned to leave his shelters alone and not to annoy him because he might not return.
Newspapers reported his comings and goings. Many of the articles dealt with the “Mystery of the Leather Man”. Who was he and why had he adopted this particular lifestyle? Theories abounded. His name was Jules Bourglay, Jean Bourgeaurau, Zachiarias Boveliat, Randolph or Rudolph Masse. He was French, African American, Native American, Portuguese, or Canadian. People said his lifestyle was the result of a failed business deal and/or a lost love; he was following the route his deceased wife and her lover had traveled around the area; or he was a fugitive wandering to avoid the law. The most widely accepted theory was that his name was Jules Bourglay of Lyons, France and his solitary lifestyle and leather clothing were a penance for a failed venture into the leather industry, which also cost him the love of his life. This story, which appeared in the Waterbury Daily American on August 16, 1884, was later retracted, but it is still widely accepted. Briarcliff farmer, George Dell, one of the few people who claimed to have spoken to him, stated at the inquest, “I thought he was Frenchman. I asked him a few words in French and he answered promptly in French.”(5) Over the years several attempts have been made to verify his identity. In 1938 Allison Albee of the Westchester County Historical Society sent letters to the American Consulate and French officials in Lyon and Marseilles to see if they could locate records of a Jules Bourglay, Bourglet, Bougeay or Bougeaurau. None was found. More recently, researchers, Sarah and Roy Foote, again contacted authorities in France concerning Jules and received the same negative result.
In May 1888 people noticed a large tumor on his lip, which was making it difficult for him to eat. He was “arrested” in Connecticut by the Humane Society and taken to the Hartford Hospital to be treated. He refused treatment and was allowed to leave.
The inquest into his death in May 1889 determined the cancer in his jaw was the cause of death. He was given a funeral and placed in an unmarked grave at Sparta Cemetery in Ossining. He no longer walked his solitary circuit of Westchester and Connecticut but interest in the Leather Man continued. During the 1930s Mrs. Edward Leikert, the daughter of George Dell, marked the location of the grave based on her memories of the funeral. In 1953 a headstone inscribed with the name Jules Bourglay was erected on the same spot. According to Ray Foote, that name was used because it is the one most people knew him by.
In 2011, 120 years after his death, the Ossining Historical Society was granted permission to exhume the Leather Man and move his grave away from the roadway of Route 9. They also wanted to do a forensic analysis of the remains to see if science could shed any light on his identity. A team of 20 historians, archeologists and other researchers spent two days examining the gravesite. There was no body. They were only able to recover a few fragments of a coffin and some rusty nails. The consensus was the acidity of the soil had destroyed his remains. The nails and surrounding soil were reinterred at a gravesite in the center of the cemetery with a new marker simply inscribed “The Leather Man”. Don DeLuca, who was among the many people against exhuming the body, was satisfied stating he felt the Leather Man had a right to keep his anonymity. According to Allison Albee, former member of the Westchester County Historical Society, “Never in history has so much been written about whom so little is known.”(6) Who he was and why he choose his eccentric lifestyle are questions that still remain today. As you can see from the items left on the marker in the photo above, the story of this unknown wanderer is still alive.
More information on the Leather Man can be found in the archives of the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, the local history section of the library, and on Wikipedia using the search term “Leather Man”.
Update: On May 18, 2023, staff of the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society set out in search of the cave/rock shelter where The Leatherman died. Although information is sketchy at best, the cave was reputed to have been beside an old road on the former Dell Farm. Could this possibly be it? See below some pictures of what we found.
Additional Update (July 25, 2024) After further research it seems likely that although this was almost certainly one of The Leatherman’s caves, it was probably not the one in which he died. The actual cave where he died seems to have been nearby, but the location (other than that it was on the O’Dell Farm) does not seem to be known with any precision.
FOOTNOTES
1. The Leather Man Part I, Allison Albee, The Westchester Historian (Vol 13:29-33, No 2) Westchester County Historical Society, April 1937, p. 33.
2. The Old Leather Man Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend, Dan De Luca, Wesleyan Press, 2008, p. 112.
3. The Leather Man Part I, Allison Albee, The Westchester Historian (Vol 13:29-33, No 2) Westchester Historical Society, April 1937, p. 33.
4. The Leather Man Part I, Allison Albee, The Westchester Historian (Vol 13:29-33, No 2) Westchester Historical Society, April 1937, p. 33.
5. The Old Leather Man Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend, Dan De Luca, Wesleyan Press, 2008, p. 111.
6. The Eccentric Circle – The Leather Man, Allison Albee, The Westchester Historian, (Vol 32:58-60, No3) Westchester Historical Society, Summer 1956, p. 58
SOURCES
The Eccentric Circle – The Leather Man, Allison Albee, The Westchester Historian, (Vol 32, No3) Westchester Historical Society, Summer 1956
The Old Leather Man Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend, Dan De Luca, Wesleyan Press, 2008
The Leather Man Part I, II, III, Allison Albee, The Westchester Historian (Vol 13, No 2) Westchester Historical Society, 1937
Letters Received, The Westchester Historian (Vol 34, No 2) Westchester Historical Society, April – June 1958
On the Trail of the Leather Man, Michael Risinit, Journal News, March 27, 2007
Looking for Answers from a Wanderer at Rest, Peter Applebome, New York Times, March 3, 2011
Even after the Grave is Opened, Wander Stays a Mystery, Peter Applebome, New York Times, May 26, 2011
Old Leather Man/A Connecticut Legend, Edie Clark, Yankee Magazine, July 29, 2011