James Lord Pierpont first of their children, Lillie. Pierpont's children by his first marriage remained in Massachusetts with their grandfather. In August 1857, his song "The One Horse Open Sleigh" was published by Oliver Ditson and Company of 277 Washington Street in Boston dedicated to John P. Ordway. The song was copyrighted on September 16, 1857. The song was originally performed in a Sunday school concert on Thanksgiving in Savannah, Georgia, although it has been claimed that Pierpont wrote it in Medford, Massachusetts in 1850. In 1859, it was re-released with the title "Jingle Bells, or The One Horse Open Sleigh". The song
Francis Harrison Pierpont the time of West Virginia's statehood this included at least some measure of control about thirteen counties claimed by the newly admitted state. In 1864 Pierpont called a Constitutional Convention in Alexandria that recognized West Virginia and abolished slavery, and promulgated the civil Constitution in force in Virginia until 1869. On May 9, 1865, one month after the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, President Andrew Johnson appointed Pierpont as the Provisional Governor of Virginia. Pierpont immediately re-located the seat of government to Richmond. Pierpont followed a policy of forgiveness to those politicians who had served in the Confederate