Huntington's Mischievous Monkey

In the Autmn of 1915, a little monkey named Mary Jane wreaked havoc in the streets of Huntington, WV. 

In Early October, Mary Jane, who was owned by the Huntington Police Department, escaped her cage at headquarters and went on a month-long mischief-making romp throughout the city. At first, Mary Jane stayed fairly close by to the police department, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and scurrying overtop streets via telephone lines. No real effort was made to capture Mary Jane until the mischievous little monkey turned to a life of breaking and entering and petty theft. 

Mary Jane wasn’t content just to play cat-and-mouse with her former owners. She was heading towards a life of crime. She terrorized the local citizens when she started entering their houses. Once she had found entry into a home, she would go through the residents’ drawers, pull pictures off the walls, and even steal purses and other small items. Sometimes all it took was her to show up unannounced in some poor, unsuspecting woman’s boudoir.  

The crime spree would not last long. Chief Davis ordered Mary Jane be captured. Shortly after, she was found in the pantry of a local home by City Turnkey, Jack Cole. Mary Jane was busy smearing jam all over her face at the time of the apprehension and apparently returned to her ‘prison’ without further incident. 

I’ve yet to find any information on how Mary Jane became a permanent resident of the Huntington Police Department, but ironically, a similar situation was playing out about an hour away in Charleston. The Charleston Daily Mail ran an article on December 18th pleading for someone to come get Jim and give him a home. 

Jim was the pet monkey of Hubert Kelly, fireman with the central fire department in Charleston. He had bought the little monkey and had quickly come to the conclusion that it was too much to handle and was causing too much mischief. The animal was being held at the fire department after Jim’s admittance that his attempt of pet ownership was a failure. 

PSA Time: All pets, especially exotic ones with special needs, are a lifelong commitment. Please make sure you are able to provide for the needs of your specific animal before adopting—including safe and adequate housing, exercise, and mental stimulation. There have been a lot of ‘cryptid’ sightings over the years that can probably be explained by exotic animals that either escaped captivity or were dumped by their owners when it became too difficult to care for them. I hope Mary Jane and Jim lived out the rest of their lives in loving environments suited to their unique needs. They wouldn’t be the only monkeys to make the news, though. I’ll be sharing some similar stories in the near future, so keep an eye on Theresa’s Haunted History! 

12 November 1915 Charleston Daily Mail

13 November 1915 The West Virginian

18 December 1915 Charleston Daily Mail