John Pierpont "Autographs of Freedom" (1853). John Pierpont did not write the song "Jingle Bells" as erroneously claimed by Robert Fulghum in his collection of essays It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It (1989). "Jingle Bells" was composed by his son James Lord Pierpont, who lived in Savannah, Georgia, and who was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, composing songs for the Confederate States of America, including "Our Battle Flag", "Strike for the South", and "We Conquer or Die". John Pierpont was also the maternal grandfather of financier J. Pierpont Morgan. For detailed genealogical information, see 20>16232 in
Harry Pierpont Pierpont was living in Kokomo, Indiana staying at a boarding house run by Pearl Elliott. He continued to associate with a group of Jeffersonville ex-cons. Pierpont was implicated as the ringleader of the gang who struck several Indiana banks. Newspaper reports indicated there were seven members in all, and all identified Pierpont as their leader. Most members of the gang were arrested and convicted before Pierpont was arrested in Detroit in the spring. Mrs. Everett Bridgewater was arrested at her home in Indianapolis and sentenced to two to fourteen years; James Robbins arrested at Lebanon, Indiana; Marion "Red" Smith arrested