George Washington Irving (1783 - 1859)

Born 3 Apr 1783 in New York City, New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 28 Nov 1859 at age 76 in Sleepy Hollow, Mount Pleasant, Westchester, New York, United States

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Biography

Washington Irving is Notable.

Washington Irving was a New Yorker.

George Washington Irving was born on 3 Apr 1783 in New York City, New York, United States, son of William Irving (1731 - 1807) and Sarah (Sanders) Irving (1738 - 1817).

His siblings were:

1. William Irving (1762 - <1764)
2. William Irving (1764 - 1766)
3. William Irving (1766 - 1821)
4. John Irving (1768 - 1770)
5. Sarah Ann (Irving) Dodge (1770 - 1808)
6. Peter Irving (1771 - 1838)
7. Catharine Rodgers Irving (~1774 - ~1849)
8. Ebenezer Sanders Irving (1776 - 1868)
9. John Treat Irving (1778 - 1838)
10. Sarah (Irving) Van Wart (1780 - 1848)
11. George Washington Irving (1783 - 1859)

There is a story that Washington Irving's fiancee died from an illness and he never married because she was his "one true love". He kept her portrait in his bedroom at Sunnyside. His home Sunnyside is now managed by the Westchester County as part of the Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. ^[1]

Additional ancestral information, from the Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans:

• Descendant of: William de Irwyn, secretary and armor-bearer to Robert the Bruce.
• Father: William Irving of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland, who was the son of Magnus Irving, of Shapinsay, & Catharine Williamson.
• Mother: Sarah Sanders of Falmouth, England, who was the daughter of John Sanders, of Falmouth, & Anne Kent of Cornwall, England (Anne was the daughter of an English curate).

During the latter part of England’s war with France, William Irving worked aboard a British armed packet ship plying between Falmouth, England, and New York City. In Falmouth he met Sarah Sanders; they were married on May 18, 1761. They moved from Falmouth, England, to New York City in July 1763, where William Irving became a merchant. When the British army occupied New York City, the family took refuge in Rahway, N.J., for two years, then returned to New York City. Washington Irving was born in New York City, April 3, 1783, the youngest of eleven children. He was named by his family in honor of General George Washington.

• Fiancée: Matilda Hoffman, who died of a sudden illness in 1809 before their wedding.

Additional Note: There is no reference that I've seen in any Irving biographies to Irving or Sanders uncles/aunts/cousins who immigrated from the British Isles to North America.

Irving's health was delicate as a child and his education somewhat desultory, but his father had a fine library. He was an omnivorous reader. In 1799 he entered a law office, but a threatening of consumption led to his going, in 1804, on a European tour in search of health. On his return in 1806 he was admitted to the Bar. He did not become a practicing lawyer, but joined his brothers in business as a silent partner, while he devoted himself to literature.

His works include Salmagundi, an amusing miscellany (1807), and in 1809 A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker (a nom de plume), a burlesque upon the old Dutch settlers, which has become a classic in America.

From 1815 to 1832, he lived in Europe, from which he did not return for 17 years. He produced The Sketch–Book (1819), which was successful on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1822, he went to Paris, where he began Bracebridge Hall, followed in 1824 by Tales of a Traveller.

Books by Washington Irving

• Salmagundi; or, The Whim-Whams and Opinions of Lancelot Langstaff, Esq. (1807-8, essays)
• A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty... by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809, nonfiction, satire)
• Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1820, short stories)
• Bracebridge Hall; or, The Humorists. A Medley by Geoffrey Crayon (1822, sketches)
• Tales of a Traveller. By Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1824, sketches, two volumes)
• Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. By the Author of the Sketch Book (1824, sketches)
• History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828, biography)
• A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada (1829, nonfiction)
• Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus (1831)
• The Alhambra (1832, sketches, two volumes)
• Crayon Miscellany (1835, travelogue, three volumes)
• Legends of the Conquest of Spain (1835)
• Abbotsford, and Newstead Abbey (1835)
• Astoria, or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains (1836, nonfiction)
• The Advantures of Capt. Bonneville U.S.A. (1837)
• Oliver Goldsmith: A Biography (1849, biography)
• Book of the Hudson (1849, sketches)
• Life of Mahomet and His Successors (1850, biography, two volumes)
• Wolfert's Roost: and Other Papers, Now collected (1855, sketches)
• Life of George Washington (1855-9, biography, five volumes)

Sources

1. ↑ Washington Irving's Sunnyside: Arts, Artists, & the Hudson River School, Irvington, New York: Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area

See Also:

• The Life of Washington Irving (1935) by Stanley T. Williams
• The Works of Washington Irving on Project Gutenberg
• Find A Grave: Memorial #531
• Wikipedia: Washington Irving
• FamilySearch Person: LHG8-NN4
• 1-cent Irving single (1940), Smithsonian National Postal Museum