James Pierpont (musician)

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James Lord Pierpont (25 April 1822 - 5 August 1893) is an American songwriter and composer, best known for writing and composing Jingle Bells.

[edit] Early life

James Pierpont was born in 1822, while his father served as the Unitarian pastor of the Hollis Street Church in Boston. His father, the Rev. John Pierpont (1785-1866), was a strong abolitionist and noted poet. His mother was Mary Sheldon Lord, the daughter of Lynde Lord, Jr. (1762-1813), and Mary Lyman. Together, they had six children.

In 1832, at the age of 10, James was sent to a boarding school in New Hampshire. Four years later, in 1836, James ran away to sea.

In 1845, he returned to the East Coast, where his father was the minister at a Unitarian congregation in Troy, New York. In 1846, James married Millicent Cowee. They had two children, Mary and John. Mary was later a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In 1849, Rev. Pierpont accepted a position in Medford, Massachusetts. That same year, James left his wife and children with his father in Massachusetts to open a business in San Francisco during the gold rush of 1849. It is reported that he also worked as a photographer. After the business failed when his goods burned in a fire, Pierpont returned to Medford.

[edit] Music career

In 1853, James’ brother, the Rev. John Pierpont, Jr. (1819-1879), accepted a post with the Savannah, Georgia, Unitarian congregation. James followed, taking a post as the organist and music director of the church. To support himself, he also gave organ and singing lessons. (The organ is presently in the possession of Florida State University.) His wife and children remained in Massachusetts with his father, Rev. John Pierpont.

That same year, James had his first songs published in Boston, among them "Kitty Crowe" and "The Colored Coquette". Nothing further is known about either of these songs. Several other songs, however, are known and have been recorded by Jamie Keena, a noted balladeer and authority on 19th century music, including "Ring the Bell", "Fanny", "Quitman Town March" and "Wait, Lady, Wait". Pierpont is said to have composed a number of ballads, polkas and minstrel songs.

His best-known song, "Jingle Bells", was copyrighted in 1857.

From Savannah, Pierpont moved to Valdosta, Georgia where he taught music, and then to Quitman, Georgia, where he was organist in the First Presbyterian Church. [1] After his first wife's death, he married Eliza Jane Purse, daughter of Savannah mayor Thomas Purse.

Pierpont sympathized with the South during the American Civil War, signing up as a volunteer with the 5th Georgia Cavalry.[2] He was the uncle of financier J. P. Morgan.

James Pierpont is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. He was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1970.