These are personal accounts of panther sightings collected by the Rev. William John Ballou of Wallingford, Vermont, in 1934 along with some clippings and other panther material. At least one item was added by his son, William Seth Ballou.

William John Ballou was born in Wallingford, Vermont, on March 4, 1871, the son of William S. and Esther Andrews Ballou. He attended Amherst College and graduated from Brown University in 1897. He then obtained the B.D. degree from Hartford Theological Seminary in 1900. Ballou traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Near East before returning to Vermont where he served the Congregational churches in Ludlow and Chester. It was in Chester that he became interested in panthers. In addition to making this collection of panther stories from around Vermont he organized "The Irrepressible and Uncompromising Order of Pantherites," with himself as the Grand Puma.