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.

[4] An early article in the Burlington Free Press dating to April 7, 1870, refers to him as the "Leather-Clad Man".

One store kept a record of an order: "one loaf of bread, a can of sardines, one-pound of fancy crackers, a pie, two quarts of coffee, one gill of brandy and a bottle of beer".

[11] The Connecticut Humane Society had him arrested and hospitalized in 1888, which resulted in a diagnosis of "sane except for an emotional affliction", after which he was released, as he had money and desired freedom.

[4][9] His body was found on March 24, 1889, in his Saw Mill Woods cave on the farm of George Dell in the town of Mount Pleasant, New York,[11] near Ossining.

[6] The Leatherman's former tombstone read: "Final resting place of Jules Bourglay of Lyons, France, 'The Leather Man'…" He is identified with that name in many accounts.

[17][18] Nicholas Bellantoni, a University of Connecticut archaeologist and supervisor of the exhumation, cited time, the effect of traffic over the shallow original gravesite, and possible removal of graveside material by a road-grading project for destroying all hard and soft tissue in the grave.