Do You Know "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?" Quiz

Answer: Hudson

The Hudson River was discovered by an Englishman, Henry Hudson, who was exploring for the Dutch.

The Savannah River flows through Augusta, Georgia, before emptying into the Atlantic at the city of Savannah.

The Mohawk River Valley, also in New York, saw its share of conflict during the French and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary War.

The Delaware river rises in the state of New York.

Answer: schoolmaster

Ichabod's name means "The glory has departed from Israel." (see 1 Samuel 4:21,22)

Answer: Abraham Van Brunt

Diedrich Knickerbocker was another of Irving's creations, the purported author of "Knickerbocker's History of New York."

Hans Brinker was the youthful protagonist of Mary Mapes Dodge's "Hans Brinker, or, The Silver Skates."

Peter Stuyvesant was the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam (now New York).

Answer: The Sleepy Hollow Boys

The Fairview Diamonds was a gang in my childhood neighborhood--the worst they were ever known for was tipping over trash cans and soaping windows on Mischief Night (celebrated on October 30 in that time and place). Ahh, for the old days when 'gangs' were so innocent!

The Gang of Four were part of Mao Zedong's inner circle, accused of corruption and tried by the Chinese government following Mao's death.

The Ghostly Trio appeared in the cartoons and comic books featuring Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Answer: Katrina Van Tassel

Judith Gardiner was a literary creation of Irving; she appears in "Rip Van Winkle" as Rip's grown, married daughter.

Ziva David is a character in the TV series NCIS. She acts as a liaison with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

Trudy Van Alstyne is a character in Walter D. Edmonds' juvenile work, "The Matchlock Gun." He said it was based on a true incident in the Helderberg Hills (in New York) that occurred in the French and Indian War, so presumably Trudy was a real person.

Answer: Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather was also involved with the Salem Witch Trials.

Benjamin Franklin wrote widely, beginning in adolescence with a series of satirical articles that he signed "Silence Dogood" and slipped beneath the door of his brother's (to whom he was apprenticed) printing shop at night.

William Byrd was a planter in Virginia who is best known for his "Diary" and "History of the Dividing Line Between Virginia and North Carolina."

John Smith is likely best-known for his story of being saved from death by Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indians.

Answer: teaching singing

Many schoolmasters picked up some extra cash by teaching Latin and Greek to young men who were planning to attend such institutions as Harvard, Yale, and William & Mary.

Answer: Brom Bones

Mr. Van Tassel was a wealthy farmer and the pretty Katrina his only child, so it's small wonder that a lot of men were interested in her.

Hans Van Ripper lent his horse to Ichabod so the schoolteacher could ride to the party.

Ichabod was far more likely to have simply culled a story from Cotton Mather's book than to be familiar with local lore.

Answer: a Hessian trooper

I know that Washington was in New York City for a time, but I don't think his wartime travels in the Revolution took him up the Hudson River.

Every war has its spies, so if Irving hadn't been quite specific about the ghost's identity, this might have been a good alternative explanation.

An early settler? Always possible, but not really that probable--he'd have likely been too busy cultivating land and caring for his livestock to be riding around and losing his head.

Answer: he'd been spirited away by the Headless Horseman

While the ideas that Ichabod's suit had been turned down by Katrina and/or that he'd gone back home are plausible, one might think that he would have at least taken his meager belongings with him.

Some years following Ichabod's disappearance, according to Irving, a rumor reached Sleepy Hollow that their erstwhile schoolmaster was judge of a petty court in New York City.