Customer Reviews

The Old Leather Man: Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend (Garnet Books)

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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.

AFTER PURCHASING AND READING "THE OLD LEATHER MAN" BY DAN W. DELUCA, GENEALOGIST FROM MERIDEN,CT. I OFFER THE FOLLOWING REVIEW. AS A FORMER MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER, I FOUND THE RESEARCH OF MR DELUCA ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT HIS NEARLY TWENTY YEARS OF RESEARCH OF THE OLD LEATHER MAN ( 1839 - 1889 ) GIVES CREDENCE TO MR DELUCA AS BEING THE " TOP GUN " OF THE FAMOUS VAGABOND. THE PHOTOGRAPHS, ARTICLES, DOCUMENTS AND IMAGES ARE OUTSTANDING! AS A FORMER 30 YEAR PLUS TEACHER OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, COLONIAL AND AMERICAN HISTORY AND FORMER BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER, I FEEL THAT THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERY SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT AND SOUTH EASTERN NEW YORK. THE LESSONS OF INDEPENDENCE, FORTITUDE, PERSEVERANCE, AND ADVENTURE ARE UNIVERSAL VALUES THAT WILL SERVE OUR STUDENTS THEIR ENTIRE LIVES. I MOST HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE PURCHASE AND FULL DISSEMINATION OF THIS WONDERFUL MYSTERY STORY. THIS LEGAND MUST BE KEPT ALIVE FOR THE PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS. MR. DELUCA IS TO BE DULY COMMENDED FOR HIS STEADFAST PERSEVERANCE IN DOING ALL OF HIS PAINSTAKING RESEARCH. I COULD NOT DO WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED! THE OLD LEATHER MANS GRAVE AT THE SPARTA CEMETERY, RT. 9 IN OSSINING, NEW YORK SHOULD BE DULY AND RESPECTFULLY HONORED WITH HISTORICAL ACCURACY.

LEONARD D PRYGODA
TEACHER
MEMBER, BERLIN BOARD OF EDUCATION
BOARD OF DIRECTOR, CABE,HARTFORD,CT

As a kid I had heard about the "leather man's caves". I've always been a fan of hiking and the outdoors, and for a long time I thought the leather man was just something that adults made up to play around with kids - so I was totally psyched to find this book. It's an amazing collection of information about one of history's most unique individuals. If you're into this type of thing at all, check this book out!

The only bummer is that there's no complete map detailing the leather man's route.

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

I spent the later of my childhood in Berlin, CT. I heard of this man when I was around 10. A friends father took us to his cave on Four Rod Rd behind their property and introduced me to the history of him. I have also been to the shelters at Ragged Mt that this book confirms. A great book filled with great archival news clippings. A lot of pictures that aren't scanned online, at least from what I have seen. I learned more than i can keep about this man compared to the simple story I once heard.

The Leatherman was a tramp who walked a regular route in Connecticut and New York between the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers in the late 1880s. What made the Leatherman different from other tramps is that he wore a handmade suit of leather and he followed a regular 365-mile route for a six-year period. What makes the Leatherman mysterious is that little is known about him as a person, including where he was born, what was his name, and why he walked this route. His New York death certificate, which DeLuca shows in the book, estimates him to be 50 years of age, and says his name was "Known by the Leatherman."
DeLuca reprints four different newspaper accounts by four different authors assigning four different names to the Leatherman, each claiming they got the Leatherman to tell his story. Considering that most people reported the Leatherman said almost nothing, and would get entirely quiet or move away if people asked him personal questions, and the fact that these stories contradict each other, it is safe to say that no one knows his real name, place of origin, or why he chose to live this way. Regrettably, one name has stuck in the public consciousness as his "true" name, even though the writer later admitted in newspaper accounts that the story was a complete fabrication. That name was placed on a headstone by the Leatherman's grave in May 1953, and remained there until DeLuca got it changed in May 2011 to "The Leatherman." I am not writing the false name because doing so would only perpetuate its use in the public mind.
This book represents a culmination of decades of research by DeLuca in which he presents transcriptions of articles from mostly defunct newspapers that he obtained by reading microfilm in libraries and historical societies. In one account, the Leatherman was asked how old he was and wrote the figures "15342", which would be the European way of writing March 15, 1842. If this was truly his birth date, which is a reasonable supposition in my opinion as it matches his age in photos, that would make him 47 when he died in 1889. In the two-page preface, DeLuca explains that he did not try to write a history of the Leatherman, but only to chronicle his life through select newspaper articles, documents, and photographs. I do wish he had written a more extensive preface in which he tied together elements of the Leatherman's life.
I saw DeLuca give two presentations in 2011 about the Leatherman and his book. In those presentations, he explained that he wanted to publish a book on the Leatherman, based on his available research, because others had compiled information on the Leatherman, and then died before they wrote a book or could get it published. He said he is working on a second book about the Leatherman. In his talk, he mentioned the May 2011 relocation of the grave within Sparta Cemetery in Ossining, NY, along with the change in headstones from the incorrect name to one that simply says "The Leatherman." The book represents more than just the chronicle of one man's life, as it contains a series of old photographs and maps from the era. For someone who spent his life as a tramp, his activities were certainly well chronicled, as evidenced by numerous newspaper accounts.
There are assorted "Leatherman's Caves" in Connecticut, which by Connecticut standards is not an underground tunnel, but a cluster of rocks with an overhang. The best cave, and the best-known cave is on the Mattatuck Trail in Thomaston, near the junction with the Jericho Trail. Two things I would hope will appear in the second book: a comprehensive list of the caves and where they are located, along with a detailed map of the route the Leatherman followed. The 1984 public television documentary about the Leatherman called "The Road Between Heaven and Hell" is readily available online. The documentary is generally factual, but does mention the most popular false name as being possibly the real name, and shows the now former headstone with that name on it.

This volume is merely a compilation of scores of newspaper articles, some clearly fanciful, from the era, describing the Leatherman. There is no original research whatsoever! The volume does have value for the few good photographs available of this mysterious wanderer, but the compilation makes no attempt to separate the implausible (e.g., jewel-encrusted caves) from the documented (a very hearty appetite). The Leatherman's remains were recently disinterred, in a disgraceful show of morbid curiosity and all to no effect, but this book may have helped keep alive his memory and mystery as well as providing him a more proper tombstone.

Impossible to find all this information in one place anywhere else!...After reading the book you realize the time and effort it must have taken to amass the wealth of information contained in the pages of this book. It's great that someone took the time to review and thoroughly understand the information gathered by others as well as digging up new findings and putting all those pieces together. Data from newspaper articles, photos, comments, places...all here; This is an excellent book for the avid collector, or a great introduction to this legendary man for those new to The Old Leather Man's history. Certain maps or not this is a 5 star book! Plenty to read, see, and learn.

Very interesting and fun to read. Reflects the past of a certain region of the country. Take accounts from others and forms them into a linear time line tracking this mans comings and goings.

Great collection of information on Old Leather Man... agreed it should have a detailed map of the route, outling camps, etc.