L&L - The Leeds Devil Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Legends and Lore - South Jersey is an area rich
with history that contains legendary characters and amazing
stories. This series of caches is designed for you to learn some of
the legends and stories of the area that we have grown to love.
Some of the stories are true, some are just stories. Some are
creepy, some funny, all are interesting. We hope you take the time
to read the story that goes with each cache. Enjoy!
The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates!
The posted coordinates are the exact location of where the Shroud
House, a birthing house of the time, once stood. It (the posted
coords, NOT the cache) is in the Edwin Forsythe National Refuge and
is not private property, but there is not a whole lot to see
there
Parking for the final location is on Leeds Point Rd. You WILL see a
Green Acres Sign!
There are many versions of the Leeds Devil's origin, so I will give
you my favorite.
In Leeds Point, NJ there was a Quaker woman named Mrs. Leeds. On
many occasions, a local clergyman tried to convert her from her
faith. She was a miserable woman unhappy with her marriage and the
children she was still caring for (and having) well into her middle
age and she often engaged the clergyman in less than polite name
calling. On one such occasion when she was pregnant with her latest
child (some say her 13th), the clergyman told her, "To be born of
you, this child should be a devil!"
Mrs. Leeds took this to be a curse and thinking she was protecting
herself from any harm, she decided to make a deal with the devil
before her child was born.
Thinking to herself that she could escape both the curse and all
the unpleasantness of her life, she offered her next born child to
the devil in exchange for an escape from her marriage and the
return of her youth. The devil readily agreed but when the
deformed, already cursed child was born and he realized that he had
been duped, he threw the child out of the window and caused Mrs.
Leeds' heart to stop. The demon child still roams the pines to this
day.
Most myths, folktales and stories have some basis of fact and it
could very well be that Mrs. Leeds gave birth to a child with a
severe deformity of some sort. Given how superstitious were back in
those days, Mrs. Leeds could have hidden herself and her child away
from the world, taking care of him until her death, when the child
would be forced to fend for himself.
Or maybe not.
To find this cache, you will have to follow the path of the Leeds
Devil on his first flight. When the devil threw the child out of
the window, he flew! A distance of 8998.746 feet at a bearing of
230.650 degrees. Where he landed is where you will find the
cache.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)