William Wildgust

born 1819

The son of Alfred Waldo Wilgus and Lavinia Wheelock, William Wildgust was born on 31st. January 1819 in Troy, New York State. When he was still an infant his family moved to Albany, New York State and then, when he was about nine years old they moved again to Buffalo, New York State.  Young William showed an early talent for painting and studied under his uncle, Nathaniel Wilgus. When William was fifteen years old his parents sent him to New York City to study with Samuel F.B. Morse.

At only sixteen years of age he received critical acclaim for his painting Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, which depicted the schoolteacher hero in Washington Irving’s book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The painting, his most famous work, was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York City and in 1840 William was made an Honorary Member of the Academy.

William remained living in New York, on and off, until about 1847 but he suffered from delicate health and spent much of his time further south. His winters were regularly spent in Savannah, South Carolina, Mobile, Alabama and Cuba.