Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-01-17
Odd Men
Wh0LikeBeinQ
Lonesome

HUST few weeks ago searching parties found the body
the latest American hermit Lester Bailey, 72-year
- the desoate oak Swamp section of the
Bear Northumberland Interstate Park in New York
And Just l62 years ago residents of nearby Mount
Holly New Jersey. found the cramped body of French
speaking Phyle all recorded American
hcrms IN the hvefoot-long cave he had inhabited for
- years
There is something in the nature of man which often
drives him to embrace solitude with the enthusiasm
that most of the human seeks cnmpanionshp From
tho days when hunted mammoths there have been
individuals who can't stand being crowded
old Lester Bailey wasn't those hcrn6s who flee
from the presence of other human beings He Just liked
being by himself although the summer months he en-
oycd sitting the doorstep of his farmhouse and yarn
ing about his hunting and fishing prowcds to visiting
city folk
Nevertheless for years he has been the las, resident
Baieytown Baleytovn Valley, village founded by
his forefathers long before the American Revolution
Park authorities who understood the old mans love for
his home had permitted him to live in his Bailey
town home until he died.
old Man Bailey while the most recent is by no
the most picturesque American hermts There have
plenty them and there probably will be lot more
Perhaps the interesting and mysterious of them all
Just years after the ancestors of old Man
Bailey had founded their home IN the Hudson Valley
one day in the late summer of 100 the good people
around the tiny hamlet O Mount Holly Burlington
County New Jersey became aware that strange lnd-
vdua roaming through their fields, occasionally
coming the doors OF their log cabin farmhouses and
asking for food He could speak no English The folk
good hosptabe and fed the outcast
wondered lack OF English speech and even more
the dirty and bcdraggcd white French uniform ne wore
IN North America had just embarked on desperate war
TO determine which one them TO be supreme in
the northern half Of tho western hemisphere Had
stranger French uniform appeared in the border
country Of western Pennsylvania there is little doubt he
been roughly the the frontiers
incredibly distant from the people of Burlington
County
Thcy followed the stranger to discover how and where
ne lived and TO the woods owned by Joseph Burr
along the Burlington Pike. There they found that the
stranger had dug himself tiny under the trunk of
a great tree which had been uprooted by wndstorm
The Just large enough for "A man to lie in
Yet from l756 until his death I'm ESQ Francis Adam
Joseph rhyle a Swiss soldier the French lived
that without fire or heat at any time Ultimately,
after everyone Tho region had accept him
of the natural phenomena his dead body discovered
his lair
The first man TO have Ineligible speech with the
stranger was Colonel Charles Read of Mount Holly Justice
the Supreme Court of the province Meeting Phylc
the road he questioned The waudcrer, first English
and then. more successfully i'm French
The Swiss told his story wiki tears TIc had been
born. he said the Canton of 1M1erue Switzerland
and getting into trouble in his native town because of
hsw7nton ways fled 70 France However IN The tempta-
toas of 18Th century Paris tho young Swiss again fcll
difficulties winch be solved hy ,nstug I'm The French
army Ia years hc found himself I'M Canada serving
ll army Montcalu.
However Paylc told Colonel Read that ho did mo-, like
army life he decided desert ard throw himself upon
OF enemies BY remarkable series
events De- escaped capture way south
central Ncw Jersey. Read much affected hy mans
n.sfortunes and apparent repentance urged people
~ The neehborhood o. leave him in and treat hum
llndly
Amazing as it may seem 90 us today this IS exactly
what they did When Phyle appeared at The doors Of
ar0-ases the good wives cane ONT with food for him
When he needed old clothing furnished Repeated
,ff.- made 90 induce Thyle 20 leave the tiny
inhabited but these invariably cautteosv rtfuAcd
When Phyle learned English which be- added 90 The
German French Latin Spanish. and Italian Doe spoke
already he declared with tears that planned
tls rest of his life 81 repentance tor thc Of
scarlet youth >ths determination rltkfrr could
h.n The tiny under the ftor remained
home through tnc SHOWS Of winter and blazing
heat Of tho Now Jersey lis simple needs never
neglected and all that he asked was given HIM.