Greenburgh Public Library Blog

Stories Behind The Stones: Greenburgh Librarian Reflects On Visit To The Old Dutch Cemetery

Not so long ago, I was on a lantern tour of the Old Dutch Cemetery.  It is quite something when the tour guide locks the gates to the cemetery and hands out lanterns.  I was thinking "what am I doing here at night when I can be home watching a movie and eating Ben and Jerry's?" 

The tour guide turned out to be a fantastic storyteller, and seemed to know facts and details about all the markers.  In general, I find cemeteries are intriguing places full of details and symbols of bygone eras and beloved ancestors.  The range and variety of sculpture, icons, and stories is vast and wide-ranging in the old Dutch cemetery, founded in 1685.  It is often confused with the adjacent but separate Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow was funded by Frederik Phillipse, was renovated after a fire in 1837, designated a national landmark in 1961, and is still active today. 

 A Famous Story Behind The Stones of the Old Dutch Cemetery 

Washington Irving died on December 1, 1859 and was buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.  It’s fitting that he’s buried a short walk away from the final resting places of the models for characters who live on in Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

Historians believe Katrina Van Tassel was based on the vivacious Eleanor (“Laney”) Van Tassel Brush, but Irving must have thought Eleanor’s aunt’s name was more befitting of a beautiful young girl, because he seems to have borrowed Catriena Ecker Van Tassel’s first name. Irving would have been quite familiar with the Van Tassel family—there are records of his sister boarding at the family tavern.  Brom Bones, AKA Abraham Martling, was a blacksmith, just like the mischievous character who tormented poor Ichabod. It’s thought the bumbling schoolmaster was modeled on the town’s actual schoolmaster, Samuel Youngs. 

One thing is for certain...I'm glad I didn't recall at the time of my tour that the beheaded Hessian soldier still roams the graveyard from time to time...

For a copy of Washington Irving's "A Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and related materials,  explore all the holdings in the Westchester Library System.  Check out what we have to offer with eBooks as well. 

Library Resources 

The centennial history of North Tarrytown / by Lucille and Theodore Hutchinson.
History of the Tarrytowns, Westchester County, New York, from ancient times to the present / by Jeff Canning and Wally Buxton 
The mill at Philipsburg Manor, Upper Mills and a brief history of milling / by Charles Howell and Allan Keller ; with a foreword by Rex Wailes.
The place names of historic Sleepy Hollow & Tarrytown : the place names, past and present, of the historic villages of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, New York by Henry Steiner.
Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow / The Historical Society, Inc., serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

Web sites 

http://visitsleepyhollow.com/historic-sites/old-dutch-church/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Dutch_Church_of_Sleepy_Hollow
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-old-dutch-church-of-sleepy-hollow-tarrytown-new-york
http://mentalfloss.com/article/53203/grave-sightings-legend-sleepy-hollow