The Old Leather Man: Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend [Hardcover]

In 1883, wearing a sixty-pound suit sewn from leather boot-tops, a wanderer known only as the Leather Man began to walk a 365 mile loop between the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers that he would complete every 34 days, for almost six years. His circuit took him through at least 41 towns in southwestern Connecticut and southeastern New York, sleeping in caves, accepting food from townspeople, and speaking only in grunts and gestures along the way. What remains of the mysterious Leather Man today are the news clippings and photographs taken by the first-hand witnesses of this captivating individual. The Old Leather Man gathers the best of the early newspaper accounts of the Leather Man, and includes maps of his route, historic photographs of his shelters, the houses he was known to stop at along his way, and of the Leather Man himself. This history tracks the footsteps of the Leather Man and unravels the myths surrounding the man who made Connecticut’s caves his home.Fascinating documentation of a mysterious figurePreface
Mother Goose’s “One Misty, Moisty Morning,” 1785
Part I: 1869–1883
Part II: 1884–1885
Part III: 1886–1888
Part IV: 1889
Appendix A: Artifacts and Portraits
Appendix B: Towns through Which the Leather Man Walked at One Time
Appendix C: Selected Old Leather Man Sites Accessible to the Public
Annotated Bibliography
Additional Resources
Index
Editor’s Note