James Lord Pierpont Of The Prairies - The Standard Transcriptions - Part. 1 - 1934-1935 on Bear Family, BCD 15710 EI, 1998, Germany. The songwriting credit on this collection is listed as: "Gentle Nettie Moore" (Marshall S. Pike/James Pierpont). James Lord Pierpont James Lord Pierpont (April 25, 1822 – August 5, 1893) was a New England-born songwriter, arranger, organist, and composer, best known for writing and composing "Jingle Bells" in 1857, originally entitled "The One Horse Open Sleigh". He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Winter Haven, Florida. His composition "Jingle Bells" has become synonymous with the Christmas holiday and is
James Lord Pierpont in a sleigh through the December snow. In 1836, James ran away to sea aboard a whaling ship called "The Shark". He then served in the US Navy until the age of 21. By 1845, he returned to New England where his father was the pastor of a Unitarian congregation in Troy, New York. James married Millicent Cowee, the daughter of Farwell Cowee and Abigail Merriam, in the late 1840s, and they settled in Medford, where they had three children. His father, Rev. John Pierpont, assumed a position as minister of a Unitarian congregation in Medford, Massachusetts in 1849. In