Who Was The LeatherMan? #shorts

The mysterious life of The LeatherMan #shorts

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[abe]

Had a complete suit of leather
Got free food
Always on time
Known and beloved by multiple towns
Never had a bad conversation
What an absolute legend

[josegarza]

This man was someone's son at some point in time.

[jmattones]

I grew up in that area and we had done a lot of research about him throughout my youth. He grunted because he didn't speak any English, not because he had lost his tongue. He was a Frenchman who was in the leather trades. It was reported by one of the families who would regularly let him take a bath then eat with them in their home that his fiancé died shortly after coming to the U.S., so he lost his will to continue being a productive member of society so he just roamed the area. Many residents along his regular route would leave old boots and other leather scraps out for him, along with some food and fresh water.
We would look for his actual grave site with my youth group and my boy scout troop. There were several reported sites over the years. We also would hike many of the trails and visit the caves he slept in.

[alisonancell]

It's great to hear how kind people were to him.

[astrmnk]

“A wizard is never late, Master Baggins, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.”

[davidewersphotography]

The Leatherman's grave is in the Sparta Cemetery, on Route 9 in Ossining, New York. The following inscription was carved on his original tombstone:[citation needed]

FINAL RESTING PLACE OF
Jules Bourglay
OF LYONS, FRANCE
"THE LEATHER MAN"
who regularly walked a 365-mile route
through Westchester and Connecticut from
the Connecticut River to the Hudson
living in caves in the years
1858–1889

the new tombstone only says the Leatherman

[nashfedalizo]

Every single person that gave this man food May your soul eternally rest in heaven

[aboutmount]

His Father was French and mother was Ottawan Native American.

Spoke French, outcast of Canada with no translator.

[dfly]

The leather man is an absolute Connecticut legend

[nightmarethunderfist]

Imagine treating the homeless with this level of kindness nowadays

[kentdouglass]

Just another soul passing thru. Equal to any other.

[mitchconner]

Just a drifter that never caused anyone any problems. Seemed like a good man from the story.

[michaelmckinnon]

The Leatherman was a man who spoke in grunts and mutters because he had an issue with his tongue, one of the stories was that he lost it somehow

[robertdean]

"On a misty moisty morning,
When cloudy was the weather.
I chanced to meet an old man,
dressed entirely in leather."
From a little book I had as a kid. Several short stories from the Deep River Connecticut area. The mystery of the Leatherman was one of them...

[TS-mqfj]

He never died, he went on to start a multi tool company in Portland, Oregon.

[ghillieguy]

I love these stories from history where some guy that is both odd and harmless gets adopted by entire regions just because people felt like it.

[patricksherwin]

My father told me that his father said people used to mark the front of people's houses that used to give food to poorer people.

[eucliduschaumeau]

Schoolchildren used to bake for him on his expected day of arrival and teachers gave them the day off to present him with food.

[OtisMcNuttIII]

Connecticut resident here. He would often travel thru my Hometown. We have a street named after him. Leatherman Road.

[twinmelvis]

Love this story!! I grew up in Northeast Westchester. when I was young I'd go the Pound Ridge reservation on school trips and learned about this man. I remember that they said that he chewed tobacco so much that it ate a hole in his cheek so that he needed to hold a piece of leather on his face to eat or drink. True? No idea, but the story stayed with me for 40+years! I'm so glad to see this.