--part1_28.e54b35b.27677365_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This was so nice that I thought I would share it with you all. Merry Christmas, Emma in TX. --part1_28.e54b35b.27677365_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: <CIVIL-WAR-L-request@rootsweb.com> Received: from rly-yh01.mx.aol.com (rly-yh01.mail.aol.com [172.18.147.33]) by air-yh05.mail.aol.com (v77.14) with ESMTP; Mon, 11 Dec 2000 19:53:01 -0500 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.123]) by rly-yh01.mx.aol.com (v77.27) with ESMTP; Mon, 11 Dec 2000 19:52:47 -0500 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) id eBC0lsw04189; Mon, 11 Dec 2000 16:47:54 -0800 Resent-Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 16:47:54 -0800 X-Original-Sender: civilwarlist@hotmail.com Mon Dec 11 16:47:53 2000 X-Originating-IP: [209.69.204.26] From: "Civil War moderator" <civilwarlist@hotmail.com> Old-To: CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 00:48:06 -0000 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F235Z2K4xDh9vXsFFsA00014e58@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 12 Dec 2000 00:48:07.0089 (UTC) FILETIME=[31319210:01C063D5] Subject: [CIVIL-WAR] Former Union Chaplain Wrote "Jingle Bells" Resent-Message-ID: <CqxRMD.A.RBB.6WXN6@lists5.rootsweb.com> To: CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Resent-From: CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Reply-To: CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com X-Mailing-List: <CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com> archive/latest/9323 X-Loop: CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Precedence: list Resent-Sender: CIVIL-WAR-L-request@rootsweb.com X-Mailer: Unknown From: "Missouri Mule" <swcelt@mail.stlnet.com> Subject: Former Union Chaplain Wrote "Jingle Bells" Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 05:56:56 -0800 John Pierpont lived and died a failure. At least that's how history might see him. It's not as if he didn't try to find his niche--John poured his heart into everything he did. He just didn't seem to be good at anything. His career started out with a teaching degree from Yale, but his first position didn't last very long. John was much too easy on his students. So he decided to become a lawyer. He failed at that as well. He opened a dry goods store but soon went bankrupt. Next, John tried his hand at poetry. He wasn't a bad writer, but he just couldn't earn enough to pay his bills. John went to school again--this time to become a preacher. His first congregation asked him to resign, so he gave up the ministry. Politics had always intrigued him, so he ran for governor of Massachusetts. He lost big. So he ran for Congress. Again, he lost--by an even worse margin. Then the Civil War broke out, and he enlisted as a chaplain--but only for two weeks. He died at the age of 71 while serving as a clerk in the Treasury Department. John Pierpont's tombstone reads: "Poet, preacher, Philospher, Philanthropist." He wrote a simple song somewhere along the way that any 3-year old today could sing. The melody and lyrics are as cheerful as Christmas itself. He called it "Jingle Bells", a song about sleighs and horse and snow and laughter. John Pierpont, though dead and gone, had finally found his niche. source: Dr. James Dobson's Dec 2000 Bulletin, Focus on the Family. - ---------------------------------------------------------- Scott K. Williams _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com --part1_28.e54b35b.27677365_boundary--