Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20924 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 232 pages

Review
"Through the words of the reporters, we gain insight into a 19th century view of a world now lost. The world loves a good mystery, and this book delves into a tantalizing one." - Gerald Sawyer, professor of anthropology, Central Connecticut State University"

Review
"The Old Leather Man was an enigma in the later 1800s and remains so today. Dan Deluca has compiled his decades of research into a most comprehensive account, with photographs and maps of this mysterious, punctual, and unique character's travels through New York and Connecticut." (Nicholas Bellantoni, Connecticut State Archaeologist )

About the Author
DAN DELUCA is a genealogist, a Meriden, Connecticut historian, and a retired high school teacher. He has been researching the Leather Man for twenty years and is the leading expert on the subject. DIONE LONGLEY is the former executive director of the Middlesex County Historical Society in Middletown, Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

The Fascinating tale of The Leather Man Unveiled
I grew up roaming the same woods that the Leather Man shuffled through one hundred years earlier. As a young man we would visit his caves, read and tell tales of his adventures, whether embellished by us or not, his story was always fascinating. "The Old Leather Man: Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend" is an incredible assemblage of newspaper, personal and photographic first hand documentations of this mysterious historical figure. Dan W. DeLuca's obvious years of research and passion for the subject is plainly evident in the thoroughness and completeness that he brings to this biographic accounting of an enigmatic, almost mythical person dead some 130 years. DeLuca puts to rest Victorian embellishments to this lonely man's legend and attempts in the end to construct a more truthful picture of who the Leather Man really was. Great reading for anyone interested in New England history, a closer bond with the dark forested hills and tales of silent wanderers therein who's real identity we will probably never know.

The Old Leather Man
Very informative and enjoyable. Brings local history alive for us. Service was excellent as usual.