James Lord Pierpont
James Lord Pierpont ( April 25, 1822 - August 5, 1893 ) was an American songwriter and composer , best known for his composition Jingle Bells .
family
His father, John Pierpont, was a pastor at Hollis Street Church in Boston and a noted poet. His mother's name was Mary Sheldon Lord. The parents had six children together.
Pierpont's first wife was Millicent Cowee. With her he had two children, Mary Pierpont Barnum and John. She died of tuberculosis in 1856 . His second wife was Eliza Jane Purse, with whom he had more children. Pierpont was also an uncle of the banker JP Morgan .
Life
At the age of ten he was sent to boarding school in New Hampshire. In a letter to his mother from there he wrote about the horse-drawn sleigh race in the snow, which the lyrics of the song Jingle Bells are about. After boarding school, he spent a few years on a ship. In 1845 he returned to the east coast, where his father worked. There he married Millicent Cowee, with whom he later got Mary and John. Mary was later a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) . In 1849 he left his wife and children to start a company in San Francisco during the gold rush . He is said to have also worked as a photographer at the time.
In 1853 his brother John Pierpont Jr. accepted a position in the parish of Savannah, Georgia . James followed him and became director and organist of the Church's music. There he gave organ and singing lessons. In the same year he published first songs such as Kitty Crowe , The Colored Coquette , Ring the Bell, Fanny , Quitman Town March and Wait, Lady, Wait .
When his wife died, he married Eliza a little later in 1857. Soon after, they had their first child, Lillie. His two children from his first marriage continued to live in Massachusetts with James' father. In August 1857 he published his song One Horse Open Sleigh , now known as Jingle Bells .
When the Church in Savannah closed in 1859, his brother John Pierpont, Jr. moved back north in 1860. James stayed in Savannah with his wife and child and joined the Fifth Georgia Cavalry at the beginning of the Civil War . During this time he wrote songs such as Our Battle Flag , Strike for the South and We Conquer or Die for his unit .
After the war, he moved with his family to Valdosta, Georgia, where he taught music and made many friends.
In 1869 he moved to Quitman, Georgia , where he became organist in the Presbyterian Church . Here he gave private piano lessons and taught at the Quitman Academy until his retirement.
In 1880 his son Dr. Juriah Pierpont MD owned the copyrights of Jingle Bells , but never made a lot of money from it. He went to great lengths to ensure that his father's name would remain associated with the song after the copyright expired.
Pierpont died in Winter Haven, Florida in 1893. At his request, he was buried next to his brother-in-law Thomas in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pierpont, James Lord |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American songwriter and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 25, 1822 |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 5, 1893 |