For almost 180 years, families have loved and shared a joyous poem of Christmas with their families. The poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," more commonly known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas," has been a classic since its first appearance in the Troy Sentinel in 1823. The poem was published anonymously and, as excitement over the verses grew, everyone wanted to know the name of the author. In 1837 Clement Clarke Moore, a biblical scholar in New York City, allowed his name to be attached as author and, in 1844, he included the piece in his own book, Poems. Moore explained that he had written the poem on the Christmas eve of 1823.

 

One would think that would have put the issue to rest. But there was a problem.

 

The problem was that for at least fifteen years before the poem saw the light of a Troy New York day, by 1808 at the latest, a group of children had been listening to Henry Livingston read them the poem. And all four of them - Charles, the oldest, next-door-neighbor Eliza, second son Sidney, and third son Edwin - all remembered the event and their pleasure in their father's poem.

 

Whether Henry, dead by the time Moore took credit for the poem, would have cared for the fame and attention is doubtful. Whether he would have appreciated someone appropriating his work, though, is a completely different thing.

 

For over a century and a half, those who remembered have passed on the story to the next generation. Descendants collected one another's memories in the hopes that some stray thread would be found that could be pulled on, and maybe, just maybe, unravel the curtain preventing their story from emerging. 
 

 The Poem: