“Occasionally, legend and reality unite in the form of some remarkable soul who, through peculiarity or chance, assume a role resembling the mythical characters we read about in childhood’s fairy tales. The Old Leatherman was one of these.”
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| The Leatherman’s new resting place |
What does it take to make a legend? In the case of the Old Leatherman, it seems that the proper formula is serving of peculiarity, a dash of politeness and a heaping helping of mystery.
After all, that material moniker is the only name we have for him. Somewhere in the telling and retelling of the story the name “Jules Bourglay” got attached to the strange wandering figure, but Dan W. Deluca, author of “The Old Leatherman” and premier researcher on the subject thinks that he was never truly identified. His first name might have been Isaac or Zachariah, but as for where he came from or what his birth name might have been, we have no idea.
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| His original headstone used the name Jules Bourglay with the description: |
Jules Borglay
OF LYONS, FRANCE
“THE LEATHER MAN”
who regularly walked a 365-mile route
through Westchester and Connecticut from
the Connecticut River to the Hudson
Living in caves in the years
1858-1889
But what do we know about him? We know what he wore, a suit of leather from his head to toe, made of old boot tops stitched together with more leather lacing and accompanied by a hat and large bag, also made out of leather. It was this outfit, worn and creaking as he walked, that gave him the only name we know.
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| Check out those boots… |
We also know that for at least the last six years of his life, from 1883 to 1889, he followed the same 365 mile circuit in Connecticut and New York, repeating it every 34 days on a schedule so precise that people joked that they could set their watches by him. As one example of his exactness, on June 23rd, 1886 the New Haven Daily Palladium noted that “The Leatherman passed westward Tuesday, an hour and one half later than usual time.”
Not only was it noted that he was late by an hour, but that information was unusual enough that it made the newspaper.
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| His route |
Walking at least ten miles a day left little time for him to work or try to earn a living yet according to DeLuca he never begged for food or money. People throughout his route provided for him of their own free will, leaving a little extra out when he was expected to come by. It was partially this politeness that seems to have made him such a beloved figure.
It also helped that he never said much, communicating via gestures and grunts whenever he could. There is some question about whether he even understood much English, although he would talk a little to people who addressed him in French.
Despite being partially supported by handouts in his later years the Old Leatherman knew how to survive in the wilds. Everywhere along his route he had shelters set up, created out of caves and lean-tos, shelters in which he could survive even the worst blizzards that New England could throw at him. He also seems to have trapped, hunted, fished, and grown what food he could along his travels.
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| One of his cave shelters |
Eventually he passed away from mouth cancer in 1889 and was buried in Sparta Cemetery in Ossining, New York. But even after his death he remained such an endearing figure that his small paupers grave, now along a major highway, was dug up- partially to move the grave to a place where people could visit without worrying about the highway, partially because the grave would eventually need to be moved anyway to allow for the widening of said highway, but mostly because researchers were very eager to find out anything they could from his remains.
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| Deluca with one of the Leatherman’s hand-carved pipes |
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| To this day the “Leatherman’s Loop” race commemorates part of his route |
