Washington Irving was born in New York City in 1783, just 18 months after his namesake George Washington led America to independence with victory over the British at Yorktown.
The headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow haunts the American imagination each autumn. New York City native Washington Irving breathed life into the galloping ghost in 1819, when he penned 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' one of his tales of life among Dutch settlers along the Hudson River. It stands 203 years later as one of the most famous ghost stories in world history — remade in many versions and retold in scores of languages.
He had talent, movie-star good looks and a charm that endeared him to his audience,' writes author Brian Jay Jones in his 2008 biography, 'Washington Irving: An American Original.' 'He danced and drank with the glitterati.' Irving’s impact on American culture is felt today in surprising ways — far beyond his haunting tale of headless Hessian on horseback.
He was raised on William Street in Lower Manhattan, steps from where George Washington was inaugurated on Wall Street as the first United States president in 1789. A painting from decades later portrays the purported meeting of the two American icons sometime soon after the inauguration, with the middle-aged Father of His Country tapping the 6-year-old future Father of American Letters on the head. The new nation needed its own people to shape its image.
But his horror was still more increased, on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of the saddle.' The terrified schoolteacher boots his horse and races off in fear — 'but the spectre started full jump with him.' Crane is never seen nor heard from again by the people of Sleepy Hollow. Irving never reveals his fate, the mystery of his disappearance part of its enduring appeal.
Yet it's the ghoulish image of the headless Hessian horseman, forever galloping through the Hudson River countryside, that remains Irving's most memorable legacy and makes Sleepy Hollow synonymous with the great American ghost story. 'You can’t go to Hogwarts but you can go Sleepy Hollow and see all the landmarks of the American legend,' said Bradley. To read more stories in this unique 'Meet the American Who…' series from Fox News Digital, click here.
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