A Visit from St. Nicholas A Visit from St. Nicholas "A Visit from St. Nicholas", more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who claimed authorship in 1837. Some commentators now believe the poem was written by Henry Livingston Jr.. The poem has been called "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American" and is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today. It has had a massive impact on the
Clement Moore Butler Clement Moore Butler Clement Moore Butler (1810–1890) was an Episcopal clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate (1850–1853). Clement Moore Butler was born on October 16, 1810, in Troy, New York, the son of David Butler and Chloe Jones Butler. He graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in 1833, and the General Theological Seminary, New York, in 1836. Butler was ordained by Bishop Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk in June 1837. The wagon journey the evening before was not without incident, as the Bishop made improper advances toward Mrs. Butler. She was one of a number of women who suffered sexual