Ichabod Crane (colonel) Ichabod Crane (colonel) Ichabod Bennet Crane (July 18, 1787 – October 5, 1857) was a career military officer for 48 years and the probable namesake of the protagonist in Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Crane was born in Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), New Jersey. He was the son of Gen. William Crane. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1809 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, assigned to the USS "United States", a 44-gun frigate commanded by Stephen Decatur. He served aboard the "United States" for two years. Crane resigned from the Marines in April 1812,
Ichabod Crane arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew.' According to Irving, Ichabod looks like a goofy, old scarecrow who has escaped the cornfield. Ichabod Crane is a school teacher with very little money, and as a result, the ladies of the town