James Lord Pierpont (April 25, 1822 – August 5, 1893)[1] was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, organist, and Confederate States soldier.

Although Pierpont is obscure today, his composition "Jingle Bells" has become synonymous with the Christmas holiday and is one of the most performed and most recognizable songs in the world.

His father, the Reverend John Pierpont (1785–1866), was a pastor of the Unitarian Hollis Street Church in Boston, an abolitionist and a poet.

Robert Fulghum confused James with his father in the book It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It (1989); erroneously attributing the authorship of "Jingle Bells" to the Rev.

In 1849, James Pierpont left his wife and children with his father in Massachusetts to open a business in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush.

The song narrates a version of Pierpont's experiences during the California Gold Rush and the failure of his San Francisco business: "Oh!

I wish those 'tarnel critters that wrote home about the gold Were in the place the Scriptures say 'is never very cold;' For they told about the heaps of dust and lumps so mighty big, But they never said a single word how hard they were to dig.

So I went up to the mines and I helped to turn a stream, And got trusted on the strength of that delusive golden dream; But when we got to digging we found 'twas all a sham, And we who dam'd the rivers by our creditors were damn'd.

I'm going far away but I don't know where I'll go, I oughter travel homeward but they'll laugh at me I know; For I told 'em when I started I was bound to make a pile, But if they could only see mine now I rather guess they'd smile.

In 1854, Pierpont composed the songs "Geraldine" and "Ring the Bell, Fanny" for George Kunkle's Nightingale Opera Troupe.

In August 1857, his song "The One Horse Open Sleigh" was published by Oliver Ditson and Company of 277 Washington Street in Boston dedicated to John P. Ordway.

[7] Researcher Kyna Hamill found a playbill showing that the first attested performance of "One Horse Open Sleigh" took place on Sept. 15, 1857, at Ordway Hall, a prominent minstrel theater in Boston.

A day or two ago, I thought I'd take a ride, And soon Miss Fannie Bright Was seated by my side, The horse was lean and lank; Misfortune seemed his lot, He got into a drifted bank, And we, we got upsot.

A day or two ago, The story I must tell I went out on the snow And on my back I fell; A gent was riding by In a one-horse open sleigh, He laughed as there I sprawling lie, But quickly drove away.

Now the ground is white Go it while you're young, Take the girls to night And sing this sleighing song; Just get a bob tailed bay Two forty as his speed.

[2][3] His father saw military service in 1861 as a chaplain with the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry of the Union Army stationed in Washington, D.C., and later worked for the U.S. Treasury Department.

According to Savannah author Margaret DeBolt and researcher Milton J. Rahn, Pierpont's son, Maynard Boardman, was born in Valdosta.

[3] In the late 1800s, Lillie Pierpont was made a Special Agent of Indian Affairs, thanks to a letter she wrote to Frances Cleveland, imploring her to bring to her husband's attention the plight of the Seminole who yet remained in Florida.

There he was the organist in the Presbyterian Church, gave private piano lessons and taught at the Quitman Academy,[3] retiring as the head of the Musical Department.

[3] At his request, he was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah beside his brother-in-law Thomas Purse, who had been killed in the First Battle of Bull Run as a Private in Company B, 8th Georgia Infantry.

[11] The 1857 song is about a man pining for a girl, Nettie Moore, bought into servitude by a Louisiana trader, who "gave to Master money", shackled her with chains, and took her away from the little white cottage "to work her life away".

4 of the 5 CD set Songs Of The Prairies: The Standard Transcriptions – Part 1: 1934-1935 on Bear Family Records, BCD 15710 EI, 1998, Germany.