The music score of Jingle Bells is pictured as members of Notre Dame cathedral choir rehearse at the Saint Sulpice church in Paris . Photo from The Associated Press
Reports conflict on what happened next . Some claim Pierpont traveled to Savannah , while his wife remained in his father ’ s care . Others claim Pierpont traveled to Savannah following Millicent ’ s death in 1853 . Whatever the reason , he traveled to Savannah .
His brother , John , served as a Unitarian minister in Savannah , and James joined him . James played organ in the church and taught music . He made Savannah home and he was well accepted by the Southern city ’ s society .
Pierpont married Eliza Purse , daughter of Savannah Mayor Thomas Purse . His second wife was related to the Pindar family of Valdosta , and to Valdosta dancer Myra Lott , according to an essay written on Pierpont by the late Valdosta historian Albert Pendleton for a Lowndes County Historical Society newsletter .
Of “ Jingle Bells ’” composition , Pendleton noted , “ During the 1850s , in Savannah , young James wanted someone ’ s opinion of a new song he had composed , went north to Medford and went to a singer who had a piano and played it for her . She liked the ‘ merry little jingle ,’ and he copyrighted it in 1857 , as ‘( The ) One Horse ( Open ) Sleigh ’ later ‘ Jingle Bells .’ Some publishers today print the composer as anonymous .”
The singer was Mrs . Otis Waterman , whose “ merry little jingle ” comment reportedly led to the “ Jingle Bells ” words , according to virtualsheetmusic . com .
By the time of Southern secession and the Civil War , James L . Pierpont had completely abandoned his Northern roots and the abolitionist beliefs of his clergyman father .
While his father served as a Union army chaplain with the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteers , became a member of the
Treasury Department and was a friend of the Lincolns , James “ saw hypocrisy in the North ’ s anti-slavery stance since many made money from it ,” according to Savannah Online .
James Pierpont enlisted with the Confederacy , first as a clerk with the First Georgia Battalion which later became part of Fifth Georgia Volunteer Cavalry .
“ It is likely that James saw limited action during his war years ,” according to Savannah Online . “... James composed several patriotic songs during his war years , among them , ‘ We Conquer or Die ,’ ‘ Our Battle Flag ,’ and ‘ Strike for the South .’”
After the war , Pierpont and his family moved to Valdosta , a relatively new Georgia town established in 1860 . He worked as a music teacher here . Biographer Margaret DeBolt and researcher Milton H . Rahn , according to Pendleton ’ s essay , reported that Pierpont ’ s youngest son , Maynard , was born in Valdosta .
December 2023 | Valdosta Scene 15