Jesse Merwin (April 3, 1783 – November 8, 1852), called the "pattern" or "original" of

Ichabod Crane Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Crane is portrayed in the original work, and in most adaptations, as a tall, lanky individual. He is the local schoo ...

, was a rural schoolmaster in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, and a friend of

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

and

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

. He taught school at a single-room schoolhouse in Columbia County, New York.

Biography

Jesse Merwin, a 19th-century schoolmaster in

Kinderhook, New York Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,330 at the 2020 census,U.S. Census, 2020, 'Kinderhook town, Columbia County, New York' making it the most populous municipality in Columb ...

, was described in a well-known longhand script letter by President

as the "pattern" for author

's character of

in his story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". According to a notation by Irving and a certification written in longhand by Martin Van Buren—who was friends with both the author and the schoolteacher—the 'pattern' (Van Buren's words) for the character of Ichabod Crane was a Kinderhook schoolmaster named Jesse Merwin, whom Irving became friends with in

, in 1809. By 1809, Merwin was teaching at a District School in Kinderhook, where he boarded at the home of Judge William Peter Van Ness. At the Van Ness Mansion (which would later be bought by Martin Van Buren), he met another boarder, a twenty-six year old tutor and aspiring author named

. Irving and Merwin went fishing and hunting together during that period and became lifelong friends. Merwin and Irving 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 Kinderhook town school district ( Ichabod Crane Central School District) is also named for the Irving character. However, because a member of the Van Tassel family was a lieutenant alongside another man in Tarrytown, Samuel Youngs, according to an 1894 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "it asclaimed by many in that town (Tarrytown) that

Samuel Youngs Samuel Youngs (December 4, 1760 – September 12, 1839) was an American school teacher. He was a friend of Washington Irving and elements of his life may be included in the character Ichabod Crane in Irving's story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", ...

was the original from whom Irving drew his character of Ichabod Crane". Author Gary Denis asserts that while the character of Ichabod Crane is loosely based on Kinderhook Schoolmaster, Jesse Merwin, it ''may possibly... include elements'' from Samuel Youngs' life. Stanley Thomas Williams, Professor of English at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, an early Irving biographer best known for his interpretation of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

as well as his two-volume biography on Irving, also refers to

's certificate, stating in his two-volume work on Irving, "...Ichabod Crane, Irving drew from the schoolmaster whom he knew in 1809."

Personal life

Merwin married Jane Van Dyke, the daughter of a wealthy Kinderhook farmer in 1808, and together they had eight sons and three daughters. In 1834, Merwin named one of his sons Washington Irving Merwin after his friend the author. Merwin died in Kinderhook on November 8, 1852.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merwin, Jesse Schoolteachers from New York (state) 1780s births 1852 deaths People from colonial New York People from Kinderhook, New York People from Milford, Connecticut Educators from Connecticut Characters in short stories Literary characters introduced in 1820 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow New York (state) folklore American educators Upstate New York it:Ichabod Crane pl:Ichabod Crane