A Familiar Stranger
For over three decades, a man dressed head-to-toe in hand-stitched leather walked a 365-mile loop through Connecticut and New York. Known only as “The Leatherman,” he arrived in each town every 34 days, slept in rock shelters, and accepted food in silence.
Clues Without a Name
Fluent in French but speaking broken English, he was rumored to be from France. He avoided meat on Fridays and carried a French prayer book, suggesting Catholic ties. Though often frostbitten, he never lost a finger and survived brutal winters in caves he heated by fire.
His Mysterious End
In 1888, he was arrested and deemed sane but emotionally afflicted. He died of mouth cancer the next year, found in a cave near Ossining. His grave was marked “Jules Bourglay of Lyons, France,” but that identity was later retracted. No confirmed name was ever found.
An Empty Grave
In 2011, his grave was moved away from Route 9. No human remains were recovered—only coffin nails and soil. His new headstone, placed deeper inside Sparta Cemetery, simply reads: “The Leatherman.” His true origins remain unknown.
For more than 30 years in the 1800s, a man dressed entirely in handmade leather walked a 365-mile loop through New York and Connecticut.
Townspeople called him the Leatherman. He slept in caves, rarely spoke, and showed up in each town like clockwork every 34 days…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/irQc7dvYhd
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) April 30, 2025