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Henry Livingston Jr.
Henry Livingston Jr. (October 13, 1748 – February 29, 1828) was an American poet, and has been proposed as being the uncredited author of the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, more popularly known (after its first line) as The Night Before Christmas. Credit for the poem was taken in 1837 by Clement Clarke Moore, a Bible scholar in New York City, nine years after Livingston's death. It was not until a further twenty years had passed that the Livingston family knew of Moore's claim, and it was not until 1900 that they went public with their own claim. Since then, the question has been repeatedly raised and argued by experts on both sides.
Livingston was born on October 13, 1748, in Poughkeepsie, New York, to Dr. Henry Gilbert Livingston Sr. (1714–1799) and Susannah Storm Conklin (1724–1793). His siblings included Gilbert Livingston, Reverend John Henry Livingston, Cornelia Livingston Van Kleeck, Catherine Elizabeth Livingston Mifflin, Joanna Livingston Schenck, Susan Livingston Duyckinck, Alida Livingston Woolsey, Robert Henry Livingston, Beekman Livingston, Catherine H. Livingston and Helena Livingston Platt.
His maternal grandparents were Capt. John Conklin and Annetje (née Storm) Conklin. His paternal grandparents were Lt. Col. Hubertus "Gilbert" Livingston (b. 1690), himself the son of Robert Livingston the Elder, 1st Lord of Livingston Manor, and Cornelia (née Beekman) Livingston, a granddaughter of Wilhelmus Beekman, Mayor of New York, and niece of Gerardus Beekman.
Following his marriage to Sarah Welles in 1774, Livingston engaged in farming.
During the Revolutionary War, Livingston held a commission as Major under Richard Montgomery on the 1775 expedition to Canada. He was commissioned on August 2, and kept a journal of his entire experience, beginning August 25 until arriving home on December 22.
Henry Livingston Jr. is often confused with another Henry Livingston, whose service during the Revolution overlapped with Henry Livingston Jr's for a short while in 1775. The other Henry's full title was Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston (1750-1831), and while Henry Livingston Jr. was serving as Major in the 3rd Regiment in the campaign against the British in Quebec, Henry Beekman Livingston was serving as Captain in the 4th Regiment, and was involved in the very same battle. All the available evidence, from personal letters, etc., indicates Henry Livingston Jr. retired from service as Major in December of 1775.
Over the next ten years, Livingston began writing poetry and making drawings for his friends and family, some of which ended up in the pages of New York Magazine and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Although he signed his drawings, his poetry was usually anonymous or signed simply "R".
The famous Christmas poem first appeared in the Troy Sentinel on December 23, 1823. Many sources indicate that the poem was sent to the newspaper by a friend of Clement Clarke Moore, and the person giving the poem to the newspaper, without Moore's knowledge, certainly believed the poem had been written by Moore. However, several of Livingston's children remembered their father reading that very same poem to them fifteen years earlier.
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Henry Livingston Jr.
Henry Livingston Jr. (October 13, 1748 – February 29, 1828) was an American poet, and has been proposed as being the uncredited author of the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, more popularly known (after its first line) as The Night Before Christmas. Credit for the poem was taken in 1837 by Clement Clarke Moore, a Bible scholar in New York City, nine years after Livingston's death. It was not until a further twenty years had passed that the Livingston family knew of Moore's claim, and it was not until 1900 that they went public with their own claim. Since then, the question has been repeatedly raised and argued by experts on both sides.
Livingston was born on October 13, 1748, in Poughkeepsie, New York, to Dr. Henry Gilbert Livingston Sr. (1714–1799) and Susannah Storm Conklin (1724–1793). His siblings included Gilbert Livingston, Reverend John Henry Livingston, Cornelia Livingston Van Kleeck, Catherine Elizabeth Livingston Mifflin, Joanna Livingston Schenck, Susan Livingston Duyckinck, Alida Livingston Woolsey, Robert Henry Livingston, Beekman Livingston, Catherine H. Livingston and Helena Livingston Platt.
His maternal grandparents were Capt. John Conklin and Annetje (née Storm) Conklin. His paternal grandparents were Lt. Col. Hubertus "Gilbert" Livingston (b. 1690), himself the son of Robert Livingston the Elder, 1st Lord of Livingston Manor, and Cornelia (née Beekman) Livingston, a granddaughter of Wilhelmus Beekman, Mayor of New York, and niece of Gerardus Beekman.
Following his marriage to Sarah Welles in 1774, Livingston engaged in farming.
During the Revolutionary War, Livingston held a commission as Major under Richard Montgomery on the 1775 expedition to Canada. He was commissioned on August 2, and kept a journal of his entire experience, beginning August 25 until arriving home on December 22.
Henry Livingston Jr. is often confused with another Henry Livingston, whose service during the Revolution overlapped with Henry Livingston Jr's for a short while in 1775. The other Henry's full title was Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston (1750-1831), and while Henry Livingston Jr. was serving as Major in the 3rd Regiment in the campaign against the British in Quebec, Henry Beekman Livingston was serving as Captain in the 4th Regiment, and was involved in the very same battle. All the available evidence, from personal letters, etc., indicates Henry Livingston Jr. retired from service as Major in December of 1775.
Over the next ten years, Livingston began writing poetry and making drawings for his friends and family, some of which ended up in the pages of New York Magazine and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Although he signed his drawings, his poetry was usually anonymous or signed simply "R".
The famous Christmas poem first appeared in the Troy Sentinel on December 23, 1823. Many sources indicate that the poem was sent to the newspaper by a friend of Clement Clarke Moore, and the person giving the poem to the newspaper, without Moore's knowledge, certainly believed the poem had been written by Moore. However, several of Livingston's children remembered their father reading that very same poem to them fifteen years earlier.