SOURCE URL: https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://www.henrylivingston.com/xmas/witnesses/jeannedenig-mar13-1917.htm   [page path reconstructed from the site's relative links]
DOCUMENT: Jeanne (Jeanie) Hubbard Denig to W. S. Thomas, 13 March 1917 (Thomas Collection): her grandmother Eliza Clement Brewer (1798-1878; m. Charles P. Livingston 1826) "always maintained she had heard the poem read by Henry Livingston himself ... before 1822"; "It was a surprise to them when they first saw the verses published under the name of Clement C. Moore."
PROVENANCE OF THIS TEXT: henrylivingston.com transcription of the manuscript (Thomas Collection, now New-York Historical Society, unless stated).
VERIFICATION STATUS: [S] SECOND-HAND transcription (not checked against the original)
RETRIEVED: 2026-09-14
NOTES: Live site henrylivingston.com fails TLS in this environment; page fetched from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine (2024 capture) and converted HTML->text; site navigation lines removed. The site (Mary S. Van Deusen, Livingston descendant) transcribes manuscripts of the Thomas Collection / New-York Historical Society; transcriptions are SECOND-HAND and have not been checked against the manuscripts.
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From Jeanne Hubbard Denig to WS Thomas, Mar 13, 1917
Transcription
Charles Paterson Livingston went to Kaskaskia Illinois about 1819 to practice medicine.
He returned to Poughkeepsie & was married in 1826 to Eliza Clement Brewer.  They went to
Painesville Ohio, & lived there until the death of Dr. Livingston during the "forties."  (I
can get all dates upon my return to Sandusky.)  In 1830 Charles P. Livingston was commissioned
a surgeon in the First Squadron Cavalry in the Militia of Ohio.
He [Charles] believed & often stated that his father, Henry Livingston, wrote "The Night Before Christmas"-
William S. Pelletreu in his article written in 1897 to prove that Clement C. Moore was the author
of "The Night before Christmas" states it was written in 1822.  Eliza Brewer at this time was
twenty-two years of age, yet she always maintained she had heard the poem read by Henry Livingston himself,
which she was yet a child, & she had been familiar with the verses
before
 1822.
She was married in 1826 and went with her husband Charles Paterson Livingston to Painesville, Ohio.
My mother, Jean Paterson Livingston, then xx) said all during her early childhood she often
listened to "The Night Before Xmas" recited to her by
both
 her parents, who invariably
told her that her grandfather Livingston had written the verses.
It was a surprise to them when they first saw the verses published under the name of Clement C. Moore.
My grandmother said the mistake should be corrected, as Henry Livingston was the author of the verses.
Many descendants of Henry Livingston are able to write verses.  Are any descendants of Clement C. Moore able to write verses.
Among the
children
 of Henry Livingston who could "rhyme" were Charles Paterson Livingston,
Edwin Livingston, Susan Livingston.  Among his grandchildren who were able to write
verses were Jane Paterson Livingston, Jeannie Thomas King, Gertrude Thomas!  Among his great grandchildren
able to write verses are Helen Thomas Blackwell, Charles Livingston Hubbard, Jeannie Livingston
Hubbard Denig.
Manuscript
Thomas Collection