Why, you might ask, would we honor James Lord Pierpont? James, who was born in 1822, grew up a Unitarian, but it was his father John who was the minister. John was also an abolitionist, someone who fought against slavery. But James actually fought on the side of the South during the Civil War.

James married and had children, but he left them behind to start a business as part of the California Gold Rush. His business failed after his goods burned up in a fire. A few years later his wife died, and James left his kids with his father as he followed his brother Rev. John Pierpont, Jr. to Savannah, Georgia, where the younger John Pierpont was called to serve a Unitarian church.
So what about this makes James Pierpont so special? Nothing. It was a lot of failure and sadness. Except that somewhere around the time that he moved to Savannah, James wrote a little song you might have heard. He called it “The One Horse Open Sleigh,” but you might know it as “Jingle Bells.”

Pete Markham/Flickr

When he was going through trouble and loss, James Pierpont could have no idea that he would create something that 150 years later would be part of the joyful holiday season for millions of children and adults. That’s hope for you.