A King’s Encounter With the Spooky Jersey Devil (Part 2)
Unfortunately for the former monarch, Point Breeze was destroyed by a fire in 1820. So Joseph Bonaparte converted its sizable stables, which had survived the blaze, into a new mansion. There, he hosted and entertained many of the day’s leading intellectuals and politicians, including the Marquis de Lafayette, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. Another visitor to Point Breeze, albeit a less welcome one, was the Jersey Devil – a spooky mythical cross between a kangaroo, bat, and goat, that reportedly inhabits New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
Joseph claimed to have been out hunting in the woods near his estate, when he came across some weird tracks. When he followed them, he came face to face with the Jersey Devil. As the former king put it, the duo looked at each other for about a minute. Neither moved for what seemed like an eternity, then the spooky creature finally gave a hiss and flew away. Joseph Bonaparte’s stay in the US was eventually cut short by ill health, and he returned to Europe. He died in Florence, Italy, and was buried in the Les Invalides in Paris.
