T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS     (How it came to be)

   This is the story of Dr. Clement C. Moore, and a poem he wrote just for his children.

  First, a bit of Dr. Moore’s background. His father was Benjamin Moore, a Protestant Episcopal clergyman, who became a bishop in that Church.  His father was also a professor at Columbia College in New York, and in 1801 he was elected president of Columbia. 

  Dr. Moore was a scholar, being the Professor of Biblical Learning at General Theological Seminary in New York.  In 1809 he wrote his first book, not a big seller: “A compendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language.” He became a full Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature.  At 35 he discovered love and as a result rather late in life, Dr. Moore was married.

  Soon Dr. and Mrs. Moore had children of their own, and he discovered with his children the wonderland of make believe. He made up the story which was just for his children. Being a scholar, he wrote it down. He was 43 years old at the time and It was 1822. This act eventually caused him to be rather upset a few years later. 

  Harriet Butler, his cousin and the daughter of the rector of St. Paul’s Church in Troy, New York, was visiting Dr.Moore. Somehow she became aware of the poem, and asked for or took a copy. What actually happened is disputed according to who is telling the story of how the poem came into her hands. In any event the Doctor expected her to respect their family’s privacy and was the issue he raised. Several years later she sent the poem anonymously to the newspaper, the Troy Sentinel, and they published the poem.

  Dr. Moore saw the paper with his poem and he “hit the ceiling.” He could not protest without revealing his authorship. This went on for fifteen years, in which more and more papers copied and reprinted the poem as authored by that famous author, “anonymous”.  In 1829 the Sentinel discovered his identity and he threatened a law suit if they named him. 

  It was published in the New York Book of Poetry in `1837, and under pressure his name was listed as the author, and so the Episcopal man of letters who compiled the first Hebrew dictionary in the United States had to admit he had written this Children’s imaginary story.

  On the eve before Christmas, the children of Troy New York often make a lantern procession to his grave in New York’s Trinity Churchyard to remember a bit of whimsy that embarrassed a distinguished full professor… a poem that begins when he wrote: “A Visit From St. Nicholas” now known to us as “Twas the night before Christmas, and…...”   

We have all heard the poem, but now you know who wrote it.  Dr. Clement Clarke Moore, 1779-1863