dailyunsolvedmysteries:Who was ‘The Leatherman’?Watching a man clad entirely in stitched-together

dailyunsolvedmysteries: Who was ‘The Leatherman’?Watching a man clad entirely in stitched-together leather emerge from the forest sounds like it might be pretty terrifying. Still, for people who lived between the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers between the late 1850s and late 1880s, he was a welcome sight for kids and adults. He was their pal, in his way. He was the Leatherman.A gentle, if odd, individual, he was known to leave shiny pennies in exchange for kids’ tarnished ones along school fences and seemed to tolerate their stares. Miss M. Louise Bouton, born in 1889, recalled the Leatherman “came around once a year … always to the east side of the house. He would knock on the drainpipe. Mother would give him coffee and some sandwiches. He would say, ‘Thank you so much, lady,’ but never look at you. He was dressed all in brown leather. No one was afraid of him.” A Greenwich, CT, resident, Russel Reynolds, 79, had a grandmother, Mary, who used to see him, and described him: “He came every few months to the kitchen door and stood there, never speaking. We would see him coming on foot a quarter of a mile down the road. Mother would fix a plate and a cup of coffee and hand it to him. He would place it on the cistern, then, after eating, knock on the door, hand the plate in, nod his head and walk on. Sometimes he would wrap part of the food in paper and put it in his pocket.”He wore an entire suit made out of boot leather that weighed about 60 pounds, He followed a 356-mile circuit through Westchester and Putnam Counties in New York, sleeping in caves in the woods, wearing the leather suit in all seasons. It got to the point that people would prepare extra food in anticipation of his coming. He was always happy to eat, but not so much to talk. He wandered the area for about 30 years in total, and in the last six or seven years of his life, in the 1880s, this route had become so regular that he would show up every 34 days precisely. Only the Great Blizzard of 1888, which killed 400 people, delayed him, and even then, only a few days. And he would have been carrying about 100 pounds of gear between his suit and his bag. Most mysteriously, the Leatherman barely spoke at all, communicating through grunts and pointing, and avoided eye contact. When he did speak, it was in French, or English with a heavy French accent, leading people to believe he was from France or Quebec. He first started being noticed in the area in 1857 or 1858, but prior to that, it was anyone’s guess where he came from or why he was doing what he was doing. It’s not really clear how old he was, either, as he was so weather-beaten that he was about as leathery as his suit. But questions went nowhere, and prying too much would scare him off, which only deepened people’s curiosity. But still, no one knows who he was or why he chose to live his life roaming the woods and living on handouts, braving freezing winters and sweltering summers.Although he was certainly eccentric, it was clear he was intelligent. Besides making and repairing his leather suit by hand, he also had a collection of handmade tools that helped him survive in the elements. He’d even made his own shoes. He clearly knew how to survive in the outdoors, even through the bitter winters, and had a good memory for friendly houses and shops. Curious types would follow him to his caves and see how he would set up firewood before leaving, so on his return a month later, he could simply light it. In 1888, the Leatherman was taken in by the Connecticut Humane Society, who feared for his safety. He was arrested and hospitalized, likely a very unpleasant experience for him. While he was there, he was given a diagnosis of an “emotional affliction,” but even in the 19th century, that wasn’t enough reason to hold him, so they let him continue on his way. But it wouldn’t be much more of a way. Due to his smoking, Leatherman developed mouth and throat cancer, and in March of 1889, his body was found in one of his many caves in Mount Pleasant, New York. It was also discovered that in addition to homemade clothing and tools, he carried a Catholic prayer book written in French, confirming that this was likely his first language. He was buried in Ossining, New York, under a reused stone with a metal plaque. -- source link

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