New Jersey is home to a host of strange stories, some of which are supernatural and others which are just plain historic. A story that falls into the latter category is the tale of the Jersey Jumper, Sam Patch. America’s first Daredevil lived quite the life, as short as it may have been.
Sam was born in 1807, the 5th of 6 children. He was raised in Rhode Island and worked spinning cotton from a young age. One of his favorite hobbies was jumping off the cotton mill’s dam.
Internet Archive Book Images/Wikipedia
In his late teens, Sam moved to New Jersey. By his early 20s, he was working at a mill in Paterson. His reputation began to grow as he jumped from the top of the Great Falls - a whopping 70 feet tall. His jumps were highly publicized.
lib.udel.edu/Wikipedia
Sam performed his Great Falls jump several more times and went on to jump from bridges, factory walls, and ship masts. In August of 1928, Sam Patch jumped from a height over 100 feet in Hoboken.
NYPL/Wikipedia
Sam’s most famous jump was 125 feet from the top of Niagara Falls. There was bad weather on the day of the jump, so crowds were smaller than expected. Sam scheduled a second jump from the same location which drew a crowd of 10,000.
Internet Archive Book Images/Wikipedia
Sam then went on to jump the 94-foot High Falls of the Genesee River. His first jump was a success but didn’t net him the profits he hoped, so he scheduled a second. This jump was higher, from atop a platform. He did not survive.
Rochester Public Library/Wikipedia
He was just 22 years old at the time. Some say he fell from the platform, but others say he jumped. Either way, his body was found frozen several months later and buried nearby. There was a board placed over his grave that read here lies Sam Patch – such is fame. His legacy did not end with his death, however. His story was written about in several plays and President Andrew Jackson even named his horse Sam Patch in Patch’s honor.
Internet Archive Book Images/Wikipedia
lib.udel.edu/Wikipedia
NYPL/Wikipedia
Rochester Public Library/Wikipedia
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