Biographical SummaryWashington Irving was born on April 3, 1783 in Manhattan, New York. He was the youngest of eleven children born to his parents, William and Sarah Irving. In the week he was born, Americans emerged victorious in the Revolutionary War, and his parents named him after war hero General George Washington. When Irving was six years old, he met his namesake and Washington blessed the child, which sparked a feeling of gratitude and concern for the president. This meeting would inspire Irving to write his five-volume biography of George Washington, completed in 1859. Washington Irving grew up in a wealthy merchant family and received a good education, although he was an indifferent student. In his early teens, he often skipped classes to attend plays. In his free time, Irving read tirelessly and explored the nearby Hudson River Valley. Both contributed to his ever-growing imagination. His adventures in the valley also exposed him to local myths and folktales, which are lucidly expounded in his short stories. In 1798, yellow fever broke out in Manhattan, and Irving's family sent him to live with James Paulding in Yorktown, away from the disease. There, he became familiar with the Dutch town of Sleepy Hollow and became fascinated by its ghost stories. Irving based perhaps his most famous work, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” on his experiences there. During his childhood, he also undertook adventures through the Hudson River Valley to Johnstown New York and the Catskill Mountains, which became the setting for another of his short stories, "Rip Van Winkle." At nineteen, Washington Irving began his literary career writing t...... middle of paper ......literature and society, some of which can still be seen today. Just as the Headless Horseman lives on as the ghost of the fallen soldier, Washington Irving's legacy lives on through the ideas he planted deep in American culture. Works Cited Canby, Henry S. “Washington Irving.” Criticism of world literature. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992. Print. Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. New York: William Morrow and Company Inc., 1990. Print Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories. New York: Airmont Publishing Co., 1964. Print. Wagenknecht, Edward. “Washington Irving.” Criticism of world literature. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992. Print. “Washington Irving.” Authors discovery UXL Junior. Detroit: U*X*L, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Internet. October 23. 2013.