Francis Pharcellus Church

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Francis P. Church

Francis Pharcellus Church (born February 22, 1839 in Rochester , New York , † April 11, 1906 in New York City , New York) was an American publisher and editor . As a journalist , he answered the delicate question is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the reader was so convincing that the answer is still reprinted worldwide today.

Life

Francis P. Church was the son of a Baptist clergyman. His father Pharcellus was also a journalist and founded The New York Chronicle .

Francis graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City in 1859 . During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Times .

With his brother William Conant Church he then founded The Army and Navy Journal in 1863 and the monthly magazine The Galaxy in 1866 . As The Atlantic Monthly took over the magazine, Church editor and leading anonymous Leitartikelverfasser in the newspaper his brother, who was New York Sun . It was here in 1897 that he wrote his most famous editorial on the question Is there a Santa Claus? which resulted in the clear answer "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

Church was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow . He was a member of the Century Association and had no children.

Editorial

Francis P. Church, a sardonic person, had his personal motto: Endeavor to clear your mind of cant ("Strive to keep your mind free from hypocrisy"). When controversial, especially theological, topics had to be dealt with on the editorial page, he usually took on this task.

The answer, first published in the September 21, 1897 issue, to a letter from then eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon asking if there was a Santa Claus soon became legendary and then printed on page 1 of the New York Sun every Christmas time until the newspaper ceased to appear in 1950. Leaves around the world continued the tradition thereafter.

It was only after his death that the Sun broke its principle of editorial anonymity in editorials and revealed that Church had written this editorial.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.barricksinsurance.com
  2. ↑ http://www.columbia.edu/~js322/misc/virginia2.html
  3. ↑ http://www.bartleby.com/73/1660.html
personal data
SURNAME Church, Francis Pharcellus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American journalist
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Rochester (New York)
DATE OF DEATH April 11, 1906
Place of death New York City