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Who Really Wrote 'St. Nicholas' Poem?

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By MICHAEL HILL, The Associated Press

Published: December 9, 2007

TROY, N.Y. - Printed partway down page 3 of the Troy Sentinel on Dec. 23, 1823, it was easy to miss.

Between beekeeping tips and a wedding announcement was a seasonal poem. Submitted anonymously, the poem charmed editors who published it anyway. It started like this:

"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house ..."

The rest is Christmas history.

"Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" spread beyond this bustling Hudson River city as papers elsewhere reprinted it.

The poem helped cement the popular image of Santa as a "right jolly old elf" with a twinkle in his eye and eight reindeer - no Rudolph yet.

Quoted by children, co-opted by advertisers, celebrated in songs and shows, it is one of the most famous American poems.

And 184 years later, there are still dissenting views about who wrote it.
Clement Clarke Moore claimed credit 21 years after the poem appeared in the Troy paper. He was a wealthy Bible scholar, the sort of man the phrase "pillar of society" was meant to describe - pious, accomplished, esteemed family - and the claim was universally accepted.

Or almost so.

Soon after Moore's name became linked to the poem, counterclaims were made that a Revolutionary War veteran from the Hudson Valley named Henry Livingston was the true author. Livingston's relatives claimed he read the poem aloud to his family years before the Troy publication. Livingston's champions maintain Moore - that God-fearing pillar of rectitude - lied.

"This comes up every year," said Kathryn Sheehan of the Rensselaer County Historical Society as she pulled the old St. Nicholas file.

Moore taught at Columbia College and lived with his family in New York City on a big estate in Manhattan called Chelsea, which gave its name to the neighborhood. If not for the Christmas poem, his literary claim to fame likely would have been a two-volume Hebrew dictionary.

According to his descendants, Moore's muse struck while out sleigh riding to fetch a turkey on Christmas Eve in 1822 - maybe the moonlight on the snow gave the "lustre of midday to objects below."

Moore later explained the poem was a trifle, written for the pleasure of his family. After years of rumors, he accepted authorship in 1844 upon publication of a book of poems.

Livingston is a more obscure historical figure. A gentleman farmer who lived midway between New York City and Troy in Poughkeepsie, he had many interests. One was writing light verse in anapest - two short syllables followed by a long stressed one. The famous example, of course, is: 'Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas.

Livingston's proponents think he composed the poem before 1808 for his family. The big problem with their case is the lack of evidence that Livingston ever claimed credit before his death in 1828.

"I don't think Henry ever needed to be acknowledged," said Mary Van Deusen, a descendant of Livingston. "The more you read his work, the more you realize the man was so contented in himself."

Livingston's supporters make some intriguing arguments, but to their chagrin, historians are like NFL referees looking at a video replay of a disputed call: It's hard to overturn a ruling without definitive evidence.

Van Deusen said she has done what she could, which includes posting material on her Web site so people can make their own decisions.

She insists she doesn't want to diminish Moore, whom she likens to Salieri - a conniving and mediocre composer who covets Mozart's genius - in "Amadeus."

"And in the end what must have it been like to live like that, and know what you're famous for is not what you did," she said.

And famous Moore remains. As people walk past the building that housed the Troy Sentinel ages ago, they pass a stamped metal plaque that celebrates the poem's publication and states: "Written in 1822 by Dr. Clement Clarke Moore."

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