The Jersey Devil’s First Victim

Marie Clapper was around seventeen years old when she was allegedly abducted by the Jersey Devil. Her pink hair-ribbon was found next to a pentagram design, which was burned into the ground. Since this happened back in 1841, not much physical evidence on Clapper’s history or personality exist. According to some former neighbors, Marie Clapper’s parents were very normal-looking. In fact her mother was a stone-cold fox. They were pleasant and cordial. The family kept to themselves. All except for Marie.

It was rumored that along with a healthy budding sexual appetite, Clapper was also somewhat of a fire-starter. Many of the men she seduced were married. These married men would become so enamored with Clapper that most of the time, their relationship was just blown up. Clapper would get the men to leave their wives, then leave them in her dust, a true femme fatal. It is no surprise this kind of behavior would attract some dark forces.

So while official statements on her disappearance say abduction, locals claim she has become an emissary for the Jersey Devil. Decades later, women resembling Clapper have appeared, including the infamous Maria Roosevelt and the “Marie Clapper Followers” (Featured Post).