page_title: Leatherman (vagabond)
section_title: Grave
hierarchical_section_title: Leatherman (vagabond) / Grave
caption_attribution_description: Inside the Leatherman Cave in Watertown, CT.
context_page_description: The Leatherman was a particular vagabond, famous for his handmade leather suit of clothes, who traveled a circuit between the Connecticut River and the Hudson River, roughly from 1857 to 1889. Of unknown origin, he was thought to be French-Canadian, because of his fluency in the French language, his "broken English", and the French-language prayer book found on his person after his death. His identity remains unknown, and controversial. He walked a 365-mile route year after year. His repeating route took him to certain towns in western Connecticut and eastern New York, returning to each town every 34–36 days.
context_section_description: His grave is in the Sparta Cemetery, Route 9, Ossining, New York. The following inscription was carved on his original tombstone:
  His grave was moved further from Route 9. When the first grave was dug up, no traces were found of the Leatherman's remains, only some coffin nails, which were reburied in a new pine box, along with dirt from the old grave site.  Nicholas Bellantoni, a University of Connecticut archaeologist and the supervisor of the excavation, cited time, the effect of traffic over the shallow original gravesite, and possible removal of graveside material by a road-grading project for the complete destruction of hard and soft tissue in the grave.  The new tombstone, installed May 25, 2011, simply reads, "The Leatherman."
caption: Inside the Leatherman Cave in Watertown, Connecticut
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