“In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee,….” So begins Washington Irving’s immortal classic “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which has captivated readers for nearly 190 years and made Tarrytown, New York famous with the “drowsy, dreamy influence” of eternal autumn. As with its companion piece “Rip Van Winkle,” this fanciful tale presents settings and characters that are forever ingrained in America’s literary consciousness; a world that often appears to be more factual than whimsical. But nowhere in Irving’s rich imagination has a character seemed so real but in that of the lovable if priggish Ichabod Crane, who WAS REAL…at least his name was, which is currently on a gravestone in New Springville, Staten Island.
Even though the fictional Ichabod Crane was based on a schoolteacher by the name of Jesse Merwin, a friend of Washington Irving’s, the name was taken from a Colonel Ichabod Crane. Irving met Colonel Crane on two occasions and simply liked the sound of the name and dubbed his hapless hero accordingly. Many scholars dispute this because “Ichabod” and “Crane” were common names in the early 19th century; it could have been merely a coincidence.
It’s vaguely noted that the Colonel wasn’t very pleased with how his namesake was portrayed: a lanky, somewhat mercenary schoolmaster who is chased over hill and dale by a “headless horseman” one moonlit night. The fictional Ichabod Crane flees Sleepy Hollow and is never heard from again. Irving concludes his story by saying that an “old farmer” who had been “down to New York” (Manhattan) learned that Ichabod Crane had become successful; but this very same “farmer” is also known to “conjure” things up. Colonel Ichabod Crane is resting in peace in Staten Island and the schoolmaster Ichabod Crane is resting in the imagination. As for the Headless Horseman: he may be just resting somewhere in Sleepy Hollow.
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November 13th, 2007 - 1:10 pm
hey this is really cool but it does not give alot of information
November 13th, 2007 - 2:12 pm
Hi, ace. I was just having fun myself. However, a real Ichabod Crane DID EXIST.
November 26th, 2007 - 9:13 pm
ok thanks but i am doing a project and i needed the information. yes it was a great help!!!
January 15th, 2008 - 4:58 am
So he was real! I’ve never been able to look at a covered bridge without thinking of poor old Ichabod and the Headless Horseman. It really is an integral part of American thought. As a kid, I pondered the thought of a headless horseman. The concept – weird, impossible, and terrifying – was burned into my hard drive.
Thanks for the wonderful post!
March 7th, 2010 - 3:24 pm
Very well said! Quick question how i can subscribe to your blog as I would like to follow it. – smokeless cigarettes
March 7th, 2010 - 4:14 pm
Thanks for your interest. If you’re talking about email subscriptions, I don’t have that here. While I’ve always had quite a considerable number of readers (according to my Google Stats), I never had enough commenters to make it worthwhile. However, you can subscribe via my RSS Feed and I’d be very grateful if you would. Thanks again.
March 11th, 2010 - 6:22 am
Hi vey nice interesting blog im from birmingham i found this on google i found this blog very interesting good luck with it i will return to this blog soon
March 11th, 2010 - 6:21 pm
Thanks and welcome aboard.