Twas The Night Before Christmas Began in Troy Perhaps the most famous holiday poem ever is “Twas The Night Before Christmas” or as the author Clement Moore penned it, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Many do not realize that there is a local connection to this poem. Original publication of poem in Troy Sentinel, Dec. 23, 1823. Clement C. Moore, (1779-1863) was the son of Benjamin Moore, the president of Columbia College (have seen him associated with King’s College as well) and second Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York. Because of his financially secure background, he had donated 60 some acres of land in 1819 to establish the General Theological Seminary, where he taught several courses and authored the Compendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language (the first ever). He was professor of Oriental and Greek Literature and Divinity and Biblical Learning at the Seminary. Other historians have written that on Christmas Eve, 1822, his wife was roasting turkeys to feed the poor of the local parish but discovered that she was short one turkey. Like any good wife, she asked Moore to go get one. While riding “downtown” to Jefferson Market (now the Bowery section), Moore composed the poem while riding in his sleigh. He returned with the turkey and a poem and after dinner Moore read the poem to his family and his kids loved it. Moore was a respected educator and writer and so would not admit to penning such a frivolous poem. Moore’s father, the bishop, previously had christened the new St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Third Street in Troy that was headed by the Reverend David Butler. Butler, who was born in Harwinton, Connecticut on July 19, 1762 had served in the Connecticut Line of the American Army during the latter months of the Revolution. In 1792 he was ordained Deacon by the Right Rev Samuel Seabury in Trinity Church, New Haven, Connecticut, and also ordained him as a on Priest on June 19, 1793, at Middletown, Connecticut. He served as rector of several Connecticut churches in Litchfield, Reading, Danbury, and Ridgefield and in 1805 was instituted as rector of the parishes of Troy and Lansingburg staying with the Troy parish of St. Paul’s Church until his death on July 11, 1842. Butler and Moore knew each other and visited each other’s families. On one occasion, Butler’s daughter Harriet visited the New York City Moore family and heard Rev. Moore recite the poem to his kids. She asked for a copy of it and gave it to Orville L. Holley, editor of the Troy Sentinel on River Street. On December 23, 1823, the poem was published for the first time but anonymously. We do not know if that was done because Harriet asked or if the editor made that choice. Often during that time, poems were published with the author’s initials only, however, it has been written that Moore, upon learning of the publication was not happy about its publication considering ownership would be too frivolous for such a pious man of the cloth. It wasn’t until 1829 that Moore’s name was hinted in the Troy Sentinel stating it belonged “by birth and residence to the City of New york, and that he is a gentleman of more merit as a scholar and writer than many of more noisy pretentions.” The following year, Myron King, a wood engraver in Troy illustrated the poem with Santa Claus with sleigh and reindeer riding over housetops for the 1830 edition of the Sentinel. In 1837, The New York Book of Poetry was published and included the poem without Moore’s name but on December 25, 1838 in issue of the Troy Budget newspaper, Moore was cited as the author for the first time. He would not admit to it until 1844 at age 65 (he was 43 when he wrote it) when he published a book of his own poetry.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 02:15:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015