Who Was The Leatherman?

The legend of a kind, quiet and homeless stranger in the 1800s

By Mason Vitiello

Photography by Justin Negard and Mason Vitiello

In the midst of the American Civil War, an urban legend appeared in and around Westchester County. Between approximately 1856 and 1889, a mysterious man of few words roamed our area seeking a perplexing assortment of resources (leather, food, tobacco, etc.) as he journeyed from town to town. Because he never (or rarely – it’s up for debate) spoke, people only knew him for what he wore – a patchworked leather suit, and for his trusty companion – a leather bag. Hence the name, “The Leatherman.”

While many homeless people existed during that time, most were feared for their violence and thievery. So the behavior of this gentle man fascinated the townsfolk throughout his 365-mile loop of Connecticut and New York. Since the inception of The Leatherman legend, people have told the story in a myriad of ways, including in newspaper articles of the day, via town gossip and even through songs, with some (like Pearl Jam’s “Leatherman”) written decades after his death. As the oral history of The Leatherman was created, twisted and contorted, the truth of The Leatherman became, unfortunately, a tale full of speculation.

The Leatherman was a “large, imposing man, but very gentle” explains Karen Cooper, the vice president of the Pound Ridge Historical Society’s board of trustees. She says he wore an outfit that’s believed to be self-made and composed entirely of leather patches. It was reported to weigh over 60 pounds and had a potent smell of “organics” and leather.

Legend also has it that his shoes resembled the French sabot style (similar to traditional Swedish clogs) with soles made from a hollowed-out piece of wood, coupled with a thick strap of leather over the arch of the foot. Imagine walking 10 miles a day, every day, in wooden-soled shoes!

LIFE ON THE ROAD

Historians say one of the most interesting things about The Leatherman was his punctuality. Housewives were known to “set their clocks by him” because of his predictable arrival and departure.

According to the book, “The Old Leather Man: Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend” by Dan DeLuca and Dione Longley, The Leatherman’s regular route guaranteed he would be in a new town every day – each walk was approximately 10-15 miles, and it took him about one month to complete the 365-mile loop.

No matter how often he was invited, The Leatherman refused to enter people’s homes or businesses. In fact, it’s been said that one of the only times The Leatherman was convinced into an establishment was during the blizzard of 1888 – he was reportedly forced into a hospital where he slept for the night (and took a bath, we hope!) before continuing his travels by foot.

During The Leatherman’s journey throughout Connecticut, Westchester and Putnam counties, he slept in caves, entering towns only to approach certain homes for food and supplies. Oddly enough, for someone who slept almost exclusively in caves, he frequently sought the finer things.

According to The Leatherman’s Loop (an organization that hosts an annual 10k trail race through Ward Pound Ridge Reservation), The Leatherman had a “craving for tobacco and a remarkable appetite” – he could eat one to two loaves of bread at a time! What he didn’t finish, he tucked in his bag for later.

Village residents anticipated his arrival and eagerly baked bread or offered him fresh tobacco. It became an honor to have The Leatherman visit your home, and some schools rewarded top students by allowing them to go outside on “Leatherman Day” to hand him food as he walked by.

Although he asked for, and received, food and supplies from villagers, Cooper says he rarely spoke. “He spoke no English,” she explains. “Some people believed he was deaf and/or mute, or that he only spoke French.” But since he didn’t respond to their questions, this was all speculation. Rarely did he break his silence, but when he did, it was mostly unintelligible.

HIS LATER LIFE

According to The Leatherman’s Loop, during the mid to late 1880s, The Leatherman’s late-stage lip cancer, most likely because of his smoking and chewing tobacco habits, was notable to everyone he saw, and it appeared to be painful. It’s believed that it became very difficult for The Leatherman to eat, which likely contributed to his cause of death, along with a string of particularly harsh winters.

DEATH OF A LEGEND

The Leatherman passed away in early 1889 and was found in his Briarcliff cave wearing his iconic outfit. His leather bag contained a small ax, an additional ax head, a French prayer book, a wooden cane, leatherworking tools and several scraps of leather to repair his clothes.

According to the Leave the Leatherman Alone organization, a family member of George Dell (who owned the property where he was found) buried The Leatherman in Briarcliff Manor’s Sparta cemetery, marked only by a metal pipe. The reason for the metal pipe is unclear. However, at some point, his grave marker either shifted or was misplaced. During the 1950’s, local historical societies placed a headstone at his gravesite, inaccurately identifying him as Jules Bourgley (see Myths about The Leatherman sidebar).

In 2011, the Connecticut Natural History Museum exhumed The Leatherman for DNA and anatomical testing, but found nothing of note. However, they did recover scraps of wood, potentially from his coffin, and a few nails, all of which were transferred to a pine coffin and relocated to a separate plot in the cemetery. When they returned his remains, they changed his headstone to simply read “The Leatherman.”

MYTHS ABOUT THE LEATHERMAN

The Leatherman’s mysterious and perplexing behavior resulted in extraordinary tales of mysterious origin.

One of the most common myths about The Leatherman is that he was fleeing from the law because he, for one reason or another, burned down a leather factory in his “home country” of France. This story was first published in Connecticut’s The Waterbury Daily American, but it was quickly retracted. However, the story had already begun to spread and was quickly swept into the zeitgeist of the mid to late 1800’s.

The most popular version of the story is told about a French citizen, Jules Bourglay, who worked in a French leather factory. His life was promising – he was dating the owner’s daughter and was preparing to marry her when, one day, he accidentally tipped a lamp over and the factory burned down.

Another version of this story says he made major oversights in his record keeping, essentially bankrupting the company. There’s also a version that says the father wasn’t a factory owner, simply an investor. And there’s one version that leaves out the romance entirely.

Unfortunately, all versions of this story are false, and, as mentioned above, The Waterbury American retracted their story shortly after it was published.

HE’S STILL ALIVE… WELL, KINDA

The Pound Ridge Historical Society Museum features a permanent exhibition of The Leatherman with a life-like statue of the man himself. The model, built by Cooper, sits in a chair with his cane and bag, wearing a full leather suit that Cooper distressed herself, beginning with her hands and then placing it on a gravel driveway and running it over with her car! But after several attempts and not enough “weathering” to mimic a suit worn daily for several decades, Cooper went a different route, painting the suit to create a distressed look.

She built the skeleton from PVC piping, and the suit is made of old handbags and other leather scraps. We’re guessing it’s much nicer (and probably smells better) than The Leatherman’s attire!

This article was published in the July / August 2022 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester (Katonah Connect).