Ichabod Crane (colonel) The owner had offered it to Historic Richmond Town, on the condition they move it off its former site; it never transpired due to a lack of funding. Crane died in October 1857 while still on active duty, and is buried in Asbury Methodist Cemetery, in New Springville Staten Island, not far from his former home. His grave marker bears the inscription: He served his country faithfully 48 years and was much beloved and respected by all who knew him. The character of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is named Ichabod Crane. While Washington Irving did not expressly
Ichabod Crane War of 1812 whom he had met in 1814 in Sackets Harbor, New York. According to a notation by Irving and a certification written in long hand by Martin Van Buren, the 'pattern' (Van Buren's words) for the character of Ichabod Crane was based on the original Kinderhook schoolmaster named Jesse Merwin—born in Connecticut—whom Irving became friends with in Kinderhook, New York, in 1809. The two friends continued a pen-pal correspondence for thirty years. The Columbia County Historical Society (New York) owns the original Kinderhook Schoolhouse named after the Irving character based on Jesse Merwin, the town's first schoolteacher. The