Produced in response to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon's letter asking whether Santa Claus was real, the widely republished editorial has become one of the most famous ever written.

Born in Rochester, New York, Church graduated from Columbia University and embarked on a career in journalism.

In 1852, Pharcellus' health failed; he resigned his pastorship and moved the family to Chara's home in Vermont.

[4] Francis began to attend Manhattan's Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, whose headmaster was Charles Anthon.

[2] In 1863, Church, his brother William, and others established The Army and Navy Journal[3] to promote loyalty to the Union during the Civil War and report on military affairs.

[3] In 1866, the brothers founded the Galaxy literary magazine as a competitor to The Atlantic Monthly;[8]: 137 [3] Church was a publisher for two years[3] and an editor there until 1872[2] or 1878.

"[3] As editors, the brothers became known for their heavy-handed style, for instance cutting major parts of Rebecca Harding Davis's Waiting for the Verdict when they serialized it.

[3] One of his more popular editorials was in response to a maid asking about etiquette, after which Church wrote a series of additional replies to letters asking for advice.

"[7] An obituary published in The New York Times described Church as not being well known among literary circles because his reputation had been "merged" with that of The Sun, but among those who knew him he was "highly and justly esteemed."

[7] In 1897, Mitchell gave Church a letter written to The Sun by 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, who wanted to know whether there truly is a Santa Claus.

[16] "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"[17] became Church's best-known work and the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history.

[18] Mitchell reported that Church, who was initially reluctant to write a response, produced it "in a short time"[3] during an afternoon.

[19]: 90  Upon publication on September 21, 1897, journalist Charles Anderson Dana described Church's writing as "Real literature," and said, "Might be a good idea to reprint it every Christmas—yes, and even tell who wrote it!