7 Famous People Buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is a sprawling, historic oasis located in the town of Sleepy Hollow, New York. The cemetery may be best known as the final resting place of Washington Irving, author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Published in 1820, the story recounts the hapless schoolteacher Ichabod Crane’s encounter with the Headless Horseman, and it helped put the town of Sleepy Hollow on the map.

In addition to its connection to Irving's famous story, the cemetery is also renowned for its beauty. Spanning 90 acres, the cemetery contains tens of thousands of elegantly designed tombstones, sepulchers, and statues that honor the dead and provide peace and solace for the living. Since its founding in 1849, it has been the final resting place for many an influential figure—though some are remembered more favorably than others. Here are some of the most notable people laid to rest there.

1. Washington Irving
2. Andrew Carnegie
3. Angelica Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton Holly, and James Alexander Hamilton
4. Walter P. Chrysler
5. William Rockefeller
6. Elizabeth Arden
7. Leona Helmsley

Washington Irving

Fittingly, the creator of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Washington Irving grew up in New York City and lived in the Hudson Valley, and was greatly inspired by local Dutch folklore from the region. He died in 1859 at his home in Tarrytown, New York.

His tombstone can be found near the Old Dutch Church, which is the oldest extant church in New York State. Irving mentioned the church in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” making his burial nearby appropriately poetic for one of the most influential 19th-century American writers.

Andrew Carnegie

A Scottish immigrant who helped to create the American steel industry, Andrew Carnegie died in Massachusetts in 1919. Known for his extensive philanthropic efforts, he often spoke about his belief that the wealthy have a moral obligation to use their money to help improve the world. He founded many public libraries and numerous major institutions and trusts, and once wrote, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” Still, his legacy was tainted during his lifetime due to his private opposition to unions, which contradicted his public support for workers’ rights. 

Carnegie was buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery on the Arcadia Hebron plot at the corner of Summit Avenue and Dingle Road. His grave is marked by a simple Celtic cross near a grove of quiet trees, and stands as a sobering reminder that even the wealthiest and most influential among us turn to dust in the end.

Angelica Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton Holly, and James Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza had eight children, three of whom were buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. One was Angelica Hamilton, the Hamiltons’ second child. Unfortunately, Angelica suffered a breakdown after her older brother Philip was killed in a duel, and remained severely disabled until her death in 1857.

The second Hamilton child to be buried in the cemetery was Eliza Hamilton Holly, the Hamiltons’ seventh child. She married a merchant and was widowed after 17 years of marriage. Following her mother’s death, she focused on continuing her efforts to preserve her father’s legacy. She died in 1859, just four years after her mother.

The third of Alexander Hamilton’s children to be buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was James Alexander Hamilton, the Hamiltons’ fourth child. James had five children, fought in the War of 1812, briefly served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State, and later served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He died in 1878. All three siblings are buried together in a family plot in Section 27, also known as the Woodland Hill section of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Walter P. Chrysler

During his lifetime, automotive industry executive Walter P. Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corporation and financed the construction of New York’s famous Chrysler Building. After his death, Chrysler’s body was interred in an elegant mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Built in the classical revival style, the mausoleum can be found on Sylvan Road near the western edge of the cemetery.

William Rockefeller

Not so far from Chrysler’s mausoleum is Sleepy Hollow Cemetery’s largest mausoleum of all: an imposing white building that houses the remains of none other than William Rockefeller, a Standard Oil executive who later became heavily involved in the copper industry. While William kept a lower profile than his brother, John D. Rockefeller, he still amassed quite the fortune by the time of his death. He initially commissioned the mausoleum for his wife, Almira Geraldine Goodsell, who died in 1920. William died two years later and was interred alongside his wife within the mausoleum’s pillar-lined walls.

Elizabeth Arden

Born Florence Nightingale Graham, the woman best known for founding the cosmetics empire Elizabeth Arden opened her first salon in 1910. She went on to found salons across the world under the name Elizabeth Arden, and was partly responsible for turning makeup from something associated with prostitution and the lower classes into something seen as a necessary part of a ladylike image. Her tombstone is emblazoned with her birth name, Graham, rather than the pseudonym she adopted for her business ventures.

Leona Helmsley

Leona Helmsley was the wife of the wealthy real estate mogul Harry Helmsley, and became notorious for her arrogant public persona. Known as the “Queen of Mean,” she famously spent 19 months in prison for tax evasion. During the trial, a housekeeper testified that she had said, “We don’t pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes,” a quote that has become inextricable from her legacy. She is buried alongside her husband in an imposing Roman-style mausoleum similar to the Chryslers’.