![Jerome of Sandy Cove](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Jerome_of_Sandy_Cove.png)
Jerome (also spelled Jérôme) ( 1830s – April 15, 1912) is the name given to an unidentified man discovered on the beach of
Sandy Cove,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, on September 8, 1863.
He was found with both legs cut off to stumps, and when questioned by locals he said very little, suggesting he did not speak English. When asked for his name he mumbled something that resembled "Jerome", and so that was what he became known as.
Discovery
He was found by an 8-year-old boy named George Colin "Collie" Albright, and brought to the Albright home in the village of
Digby Neck
Digby Neck is a Canadian peninsula extending into the Bay of Fundy in Digby County, Nova Scotia.
Digby Neck is the western extension of the North Mountain range from the Annapolis Valley and is made of two thick lava flows. It is separated from ...
to be nursed back to health. Both of Jerome's legs had been
amputated
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...
just above the knees, with evidence that it had been done by a skilled surgeon. The stumps were only partially healed and still bandaged when he was found. He was also suffering from cold and exposure.
Many people eager to know more about him visited his sick bed, and through this it was discovered that he could not (or did not want to) understand French,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, or
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
. He apparently shunned the attention of these curious onlookers, growling like a dog at unwanted guests.
The man's hands were noted as being too soft for him to be a manual labourer, and he was described as being Mediterranean in appearance.
The Albrights struggled to support another mouth to feed, and Jerome was passed from house to house for a while until the mainly
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
community of Digby Neck decided from his appearance that he must be a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and sent him to the neighbouring French community of
Meteghan
Meteghan is an Acadian fishing community along the shores of Baie Sainte-Marie in Clare municipality, Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is 25 miles northeast of Yarmouth.
History
Founded in 1785 by Prudent Robichaud, Joseph LeBlanc, and other ...
. The government of Nova Scotia also voted a special stipend of two dollars a week to support Jerome. The community still trying to break his relative silence, Jerome was sent to stay with Jean Nicola, a Corsican deserter and speaker of several languages. Nicola could not get him to talk, but Jerome stayed in the Nicola home for seven more years, becoming a favourite of the ladies of the household - Jean's wife Julitte and his stepdaughter Madeleine.
After the death of Julitte Nicola, her husband returned to Europe and Jerome went to stay with Dedier and Zabeth Comeau in
Saint Alphonse de Clare
Saint Alphonse de Clare is an Acadian community in the Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Clare, Nova Scotia, District of Clare in Digby County, Nova Scotia, Digby County. Formerly Chéticamp-de-Clare, the name was changed b ...
, near Meteghan. The Comeaus used Jerome's relative fame to their advantage, charging admission fees to see the mystery man, living well on this and the government stipend. But Jerome did not seem to mind, and stayed there until his death on April 15, 1912.
Legacy and possible explanations
It has been suggested that Jerome was a sailor who may have attempted a mutiny, being punished by amputation. Another suggestion is that he could have been an heir to a fortune and was "gotten rid of" to make way for someone else seeking his inheritance.
It is possible that Jerome's difficulties with producing speech could be linked to a brain injury, most likely in
Broca's area
Broca's area, or the Broca area (, also , ), is a region in the frontal lobe of the dominant Cerebral hemisphere, hemisphere, usually the left, of the Human brain, brain with functions linked to speech production.
Language processing in the brai ...
, the part of the brain that regulates speech. Jerome would have been incapable of speaking in any sort of understandable language.
This may account for Jerome's ability to make animalistic noises, but not replicate human language.
Jerome has figured strongly in the popular imagination in Nova Scotia, and there have been several books written about the case. In 1994, director
Phil Comeau
Phil Comeau (born 1956), CM is a Canadian film and television director, born in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia. He lives in Moncton, New Brunswick and Montreal, Quebec.
Biography
Phil Comeau is a film and television director and scriptwriter, base ...
released a feature film about Jerome, titled ''
Jerome's Secret
''Jerome's Secret'' (french: Le Secret de Jérôme) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Phil Comeau and released in 1994. The first-ever Acadian feature film, it dramatizes the story of Jerome, a mysterious man who washed up on a beach at Bai ...
'' (''Le secret de Jérôme''). The film starred
Denis Lapalme
Denis Orval Lapalme (April 29, 1959 – November 1, 2021) was a Canadian amputee athlete and actor, most noted as a competitor and medalist at the Paralympic Games.Robert Lagacé"Denis Lapalme heureux d'avoir vécu dans le «secret» sur grand éc ...
, a former Canadian Paralympic athlete, as Jerome. It received 15 awards worldwide.
In 2008, local historian Fraser Mooney Jr. of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia published a book entitled ''Jerome: Solving the Mystery of Nova Scotia's Silent Castaway''. In this book, Mooney offers a solution to the man's mysterious origins. He reports that on the other side of the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...
, in
Chipman, New Brunswick
Chipman is an unincorporated community in Queens County, New Brunswick, Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023.
The community of Chipman is located on the banks of the Salmon River (New Brunswick), Salmon Ri ...
in 1859 (a few years before Jerome's appearance) a young foreigner was reported as having fallen through river ice. He developed
gangrene
Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
in both legs due to the accident and they had to be amputated by a local doctor. Here he became known as "Gamby", probably because on wakening he kept calling for ''gamba'', Italian for "leg". Gamby proved to be a burden for the people of Chipman, and it was rumoured that a passing schooner captain was paid to transport him away. The captain could possibly have just sailed to the opposite side of the bay to Nova Scotia, where he became Sandy Cove's problem.
Mooney's account has been controversial. Notably, the writer
Noah Richler
Noah Richler is a Canadians, Canadian author, journalist, and broadcaster who was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and London, England. He is the son of Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler.
Richler worked for many years as a radio documentary p ...
has called the book speculative and a fiction. There are official government documents about Gamby, and several contemporary witnesses stated that Gamby and Jerome were the same person.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerome of Sandy Cove
Unidentified people
Canadian amputees
1830s births
1912 deaths
Castaways
People from Digby County, Nova Scotia