Clement Clarke Moore

Clement Clarke Moore was an American writer and Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in New York City. The seminary was developed on land donated by Moore and it continues on this site at Ninth Avenue between 20th and 21st streets, in an area known as Chelsea Square. Moore's connection with the seminary continued for more than 25 years.

Moore gained considerable wealth by subdividing and developing other parts of his large inherited estate in what became known as the residential neighborhood of Chelsea. Before this, the urbanized part of the city ended at Houston Street on Manhattan island. For 10 years, Moore also served as a board member of the New York Institution for the Blind.

He is credited and is most widely known as the author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", first published anonymously in 1823. It later became widely known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and has been published in numerous illustrated versions in various languages. Scholars debate the identity of the author, calling on textual and handwriting analysis as well as other historical sources.

Moore was born on July 15, 1779, in New York City at Chelsea, at his mother's family estate, although his parents established their own residence in Elmhurst, Queens.

One of Moore's earliest known works was an anonymous pro-Federalist pamphlet published prior to the 1804 presidential election, attacking the religious views of Thomas Jefferson (the incumbent president and Democratic-Republican candidate). His polemic, titled in full "Observations upon Certain Passages in Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, which Appear to Have a Tendency to Subvert Religion, and Establish a False Philosophy", focused on Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). Moore concluded this work was an "instrument of infidelity".

In 1813, Moore was married to Catharine Elizabeth Taylor, who was of English and Scottish descent. Her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth (née Van Cortlandt) Taylor was the daughter of Philip Van Cortlandt and the niece of Sir Edward Buller, 1st Baronet. Together, they were the parents of nine children, including:

• Margaret Elliot Moore (1815–1845), who married John Doughty Ogden (1804–1887), a grandson of U.S. Attorney Abraham Ogden and nephew of U.S. Representative David A. Ogden.
• Charity Elizabeth Moore (1816–1830), who died young.
• Benjamin Moore (1818–1886), who married Mary Elizabeth Sing (1820–1895), in 1842, and were the parents of Clement Clarke Moore.
• Mary Clarke Moore (1819–1893), who married John Doughty Ogden, her older sister's widower, in 1848.
• Clement Moore (1821–1889), who did not marry.
• Emily Moore (1822–1828), who also died young.
• Catharine Van Cortlandt Moore (1825–1890), who did not marry.
• Maria Theresa Barrington Moore (1826–1900), who did not marry.

Moore died on July 10, 1863, at his summer residence on Catherine Street in Newport, Rhode Island, five days before his 84th birthday. His funeral was held in Trinity Church, Newport, where he had owned a pew. His body was returned to New York for burial in the cemetery at St. Luke in the Fields. On November 29, 1899, his body was reinterred in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York.