The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Facts behind the Fiction

By Raymond C. Wilson

In his classic ghost story that resurfaces every year on Halloween, Washington Irving cleverly weaves together factual locations -- the Old Dutch Church and churchyard, 'Major Andre's Tree,' some actual family names, including Van Tassel and Ichabod Crane -- and a little bit of Revolutionary War history with pure imagination and fantasy. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Facts behind the Fiction" attempts to separate the facts from the fantasy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raymond C. Wilson
• Release date: Apr 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005228538

Raymond C. Wilson

Raymond C. Wilson is a military historian, filmmaker, and amateur genealogist. During his military career as an enlisted soldier, warrant officer, and commissioned officer in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years, Wilson served in a number of interesting assignments both stateside and overseas. He had the honor of serving as Administrative Assistant to Brigadier General George S. Patton (son of famed WWII general) at the Armor School; Administrative Assistant to General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley at the Pentagon; and Military Assistant to the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon. In 1984, Wilson was nominated by the U.S. Army Adjutant General Branch to serve as a White House Fellow in Washington, D.C. While on active duty, Wilson authored numerous Army regulations as well as articles for professional journals including 1775 (Adjutant General Corps Regimental Association magazine), Program Manager (Journal of the Defense Systems Management College), and Army Trainer magazine. He also wrote, directed, and produced three training films for Army-wide distribution. He is an associate member of the Military Writers Society of America. Following his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1992, Wilson made a career change to the education field. He served as Vice President of Admissions and Development at Florida Air Academy; Vice President of Admissions and Community Relations at Oak Ridge Military Academy; Adjunct Professor of Corresponding Studies at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and Senior Academic Advisor at Eastern Florida State College. While working at Florida Air Academy, Wilson wrote articles for several popular publications including the Vincent Curtis Educational Register and the South Florida Parenting Magazine. At Oak Ridge Military Academy, Wilson co-wrote and co-directed two teen reality shows that appeared on national television (Nickelodeon & ABC Family Channel). As an Adjunct Professor at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Wilson taught effective communications and military history for eighteen years. At Eastern Florida State College, Wilson wrote, directed, and produced a documentary entitled "Wounded Warriors - Their Struggle for Independence" for the Chi Nu chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. Since retiring from Eastern Florida State College, Wilson has devoted countless hours working on book manuscripts.

Book preview

LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

FACTS BEHIND THE FICTION

Written by

RAYMOND C. WILSON

Author of:

The Hessians Are Coming

The Men Who Saved West Point

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

FACTS BEHIND THE FICTION

Published by Raymond C. Wilson at Smashwords

Copyright 2022 Raymond C. Wilson

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The Author: Washington Irving

The Story: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Characters: Facts vs. Fiction

Afterword

Appendix

Bibliography

About Raymond C. Wilson

Introduction

While researching the Conklin branch of my family tree, I discovered that several of my ancestors hailed from Sleepy Hollow, New York. That town may sound familiar to you because it was made famous by Washington Irving when he wrote his classic short story entitled The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1820.

The Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow

Autumn in Sleepy Hollow country is a time of traditions: time to visit the Old Dutch Church and the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in their fall foliage, and time to make a pilgrimage to Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, home to the author of what is arguably the most famous American ghost story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The ghost in question is, of course, the Headless Horseman, who thundered into the American imagination more than two centuries ago.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is full of local haunts and neighborhood ghosts, described to Ichabod Crane by Dutch wives or retired soldiers. Some of these ghosts are as nearly as new to town as Crane himself: Major Andre’s Revolutionary War capture and execution would have been well within the memory of the living residents of Irving’s Sleepy Hollow.

The Men Who Saved West Point

Personal note: In 2021, I wrote about Major Andre’s capture and hanging in my book entitled The Men Who Saved West Point. Isaac Van Wart