Just as the stores are getting ready to display their Christmas goods, it is time to celebrate the 151st anniversary of the publishing of Jingle Bells. What you might not know it was written by a Georgia man, James Pierpont of Savannah, Ga. To understand why a Georgian, who rarely sees snow at Christmas time, would write such a wintry worded tune, let’s take a look back at its author.

James Pierpont was born in 1822 in Boston, Mass. His father, the Rev. John Pierpont, was a staunch abolitionist and somewhat noted poet of his day. At the age of 10, James wrote a letter to his mother which contained a poem about riding in a sleigh. As James grew older he became discontented with his life and ran away to sea. After nine years aboard sailing ships, James returned home to New York, where his father was serving a Unitarian church in Troy. Restless and determined to travel, Pierpont left his wife and family to get in on the California Gold Rush of 1849. His business failed and he returned home to his family, who were then in Medford, Mass.

In 1853, James, at the age of 31, made a life altering decision. He decided to join his brother, John Pierpont, Jr., who had accepted the call to serve a Unitarian church in Savannah. Once again his family remained in New England while James went off on another adventure. To earn his keep, James served as the organist and choir director of the church. He taught music and singing lessons on the side as well.

Following the death of his first wife in 1856, Pierpont married Eliza Purse, daughter of Savannah mayor Thomas Purse.

Soon after his marriage, James Pierpont published the song, “One Horse Open Sleigh”, Sept. 16, 1857 . The instantly popular song, published by Oliver Ditson and Company of Boston, was re-released in 1859 with its new and permanent title of “Jingle Bells”. Legend has it that “Jingle Bells” was first performed by a children’s choir during a Thanksgiving program in Savannah and later it was requested to be performed during a Christmas program.

Tensions began to mount between the Unitarians, who were in favor of the abolition of slavery, and local residents, Pierpont’s church closed its doors. His brother moved back home, but James remained in Savannah.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Pierpont, a true-blue Yankee, enlisted in the Isle of Hope Volunteers, a company of the First Georgia (later the Fifth) Cavalry. As the company clerk, Pierpont saw little action. He did however, continue to compose patriotic songs, which included “Our Battle Flag” and “Strike For the South”.

After the war, Pierpont, his wife and their four children moved to Valdosta. In 1869, the Pierponts moved once again, this time to Quitman, Fla. Pierpont taught music at the local academy as the head of the music department.

In 1893, James Pierpont died at his home in Winter Haven, Fla., in a land far far away from the snowy land of his birth. At his request, his body was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery next to his brother-in-law, Thomas Purse, who had been killed in Manassas, Va., at the Battle of Bull Run, the first battle of the Civil War.

And now you know the origin of the world’s most famous non-secular Christmas song. What you might not know is that “Jingle Bells” was the first song to be sung in outer space. On Dec. 16, 1965, astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra played and sang. They reported observing a command module with a red suited pilot and eight smaller modules in front as they orbited the North Pole.

The name Pierpont may also be familiar to you. Pierpont’s father, the Rev. John Pierpont, was the grandfather of John Pierpont Morgan, known simply as “J.P. Morgan,” who was one of the richest men in America in the 19th Century. James Pierpont never made much money on the song which has been played and performed millions and millions of times. His family had to struggle just to keep his name as the writer of this timeless classic.

But wait a minute, the story doesn’t end here. The people of Savannah were right proud of Pierpont and his famous song. In 1985, they erected a marker under the water oaks of Troup Square commemorating Pierpont’s serving as music director of the Unitarian Church which fronts on the square, but which originally fronted on Oglethorpe Square.

The marker actually does not claim that Pierpont actually wrote the song while he was in Savannah, but many Savannahians do, and some adamantly so. It is without issue that the song was copyrighted while Pierpont lived in Savannah.

But the folks in Medford, Mass., are just as adamant that the song was first written in Simpson’s Tavern in their town and not way down in the South. Their argument has some merit in that snowfall in Savannah is extremely rare. However, Pierpont was in California in 1850 and could not have written the song as the Medford residents so say. A second “War Between the States,” still simmers. Recently some historians, probably of the northern variety, have proffered evidence that the song was actually written and performed in Bedford in the 1840s. It also seems reasonable to believe that the song, published by the Savannah resident, most likely underwent final revisions in the four years while James Pierpont was residing in the City of Savannah.