St. Nicholas Hails from Tug Hill

Clement Clark Moore (From: Wikipedia)

Clement Clarke Moore wrote "Twas the Night Before Christmas" in 1822. This was the first popular culture item to conceive of St. Nicholas in the contemporary manner of a big man in a red suit with a sleigh pulled by a reindeer and gifts for all the good little boys and girls. The cartoonist Thomas Nast was inspired by Moore's poem to draw St. Nicholas. His were the first pictures of the new Santa Claus. These are all well-known facts of 19th century Christmas history. What is not precisely known is where Moore was when he wrote the poem. This is of crucial significance because proponents of one or the other location adduce a number of inspirations for the poem based on where they believe Moore wrote it. There are two possible locations: 1) Constableville, New York, or 2) Greenwich Village, New York City.

"Involved in the debate is Constable Hall, a stately limestone mansion in the rugged Tug Hill Country of northern New York state, far from Moore's New York City home. One 'Historic Museum Guide' for New York states with full conviction: 'It was at Constable Hall in 1822 that Clement Clark Moore, a first cousin of William Constable, Jr.'s widow, wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas," which is popularly known today as "Twas the Night Before Christmas.' 

Constable Hall, Constableville, New York
(From: Constable Hall Museum)

"A second opinion relating to the Constables has subsisted through the years. Some believe that although Moore was not present in the Hall at the time of its writing, the poem was intended as a gift for the Constable children whose father had earlier died to an accident during the building of the elegant home...

"And from where did Clement Moore draw inspiration for the poem? Again, opinions seem to vary with the source.

"Constable Hall was built in Lewis County by William Constable Jr. on a vast expanse of land inherited from his father. Constable's wife, Mary Eliza McVicker Constable, was a first cousin of Clement Moore and his visits there are documented. 

"A 1998 Palm Beach Post newspaper story contends that on one such visit Moore encountered a Dutch gardener named Pieter, 'plump and jolly' and perhaps the inspiration for Santa Claus according to one of the last generation of Constables to live in the Hall. The account implies that physical features of the Hall, such as a large chimney and interior shutters in each room, are suggested in the poem." (338-339) --James Hughes, "Those Who Passed Through: Unlikely Visits to Unlikely Places," New York History, Vol. 91, No. 4 (Fall 2010)

Thomas Nast's 1881 Drawing of St. Nicholas
(From: St. Nicholas Center)

Wait a second... the Palm Beach Post?? Hughes rests content with the Palm Beach Post as a source?! I found Hughes' article fascinating because (sad to say) I have never heard of this story of Moore and Tug Hill before. I was glad to read the article. But I am disappointed to see a writer published in New York History citing a contemporary newspaper as his final source of information on a historical matter. I think we could all agree that a published article in a history journal should dig deeper than a current newspaper source.

Nevertheless, what a great story! I cannot wait to visit Constable Hall the next time I go back to northern New York!  

(By the way, Hughes goes into equal depth in the article on the possibility of Greenwich Village as the location for Moore's creativity. But, despite my love for New York City, I'm giving the limelight to Tug Hill because limelight does not shine on Tug Hill very often.)

The Real Meaning of "Manhattan"

Oak-Hickory Forest (From: Wikipedia)

"The Moravian missionary John Heckewelder reported an Indian tradition that when the Dutch first landed on Manhattan Island they gave liquor to the local inhabitants, as a consequence of which 'the Delawares call this place (New-York Island) Mannahattanink or Mannahachtanink to this day,... the same as to say, the island or place of general intoxication.' Another version, published earlier but evidently somewhat revised, has this as a tradition among the Delawares and the Mahicans that they named the island 'Manahachtanienk' meaning 'the island where all became intoxicated.' The story does not agree with known facts, notably the existence of the name already at the time of Hudson's voyage [long before the Dutch arrived], if not before, and the translation is nothing more than a folk etymology... (283)

The Mannahatta Project, which reconstructs the natural history of Manhattan as of 1609, has spread the claim that the name used by the local Lenape Indians was Mannahatta and meant 'island of many hills.' In fact, the spelling 'Mannahatta' is taken from a poem by Walt Whitman and does not mean in any spelling 'island of hills' let alone 'island of many hills'..." (287) --Ives Goddard, "The Origin and Meaning of the Name 'Manhattan,'" New York History, Vol. 91, No. 4 (Fall 2010)

Goddard bolsters his argument as to the incorrectness of both of the above proposed meanings (and others) with extended historical and linguistic arguments. So, what does "Manhattan" mean, according to Goddard? The original Native American inhabitants of Manhattan were Munsees. Their language was Munsee, part of the major linguistic group of Algonquins. Goddard locates the meaning of "Manhattan" as they themselves used it by focusing on the report of Albert Anthony, a 19th century Munsee Indian living on a reservation in Ontario. Anthony provided the Munsees' traditional explanation of "Manhattan" (the following is a quote of Anthony):

"Our traditions affirm that at the period of the discovery of America, our Nation resided on the Island of New York. We call that island Man-a-ha-tonh, The place where timber is procured for bows and arrows. The word is compounded of N'man-hum-in, I gather, and tan-ning, at the place. At the lower end of the island was a grove of hickory trees of peculiar strength and toughness. Our fathers held this timber in high esteem as material for constructing bows, war-clubs, etc." (289)

I am always fascinated to read about the natural history of Manhattan before the European exploration. The contrast between the current and pre-European landscapes could not be greater. The natural order here is almost completely obliterated. Think of it: a grove of hickory trees in lower Manhattan. Amazing!

Election Trickery in New York

"On election day [late 1690s], orders were sent to the captains of English ships in the harbor to send their sailors to the polling place so that the Leislerians, who were heavily represented in the laboring class, would believe an impressment was imminent. This ruse proved successful, sending the Leislerian candidates down in defeat." (55) --Gary B. Nash, The Urban Crucible: The Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution

"New Amsterdam, now called New York"
From: New York Public Library Picture Collection Online

New York politics in the 1690s was dominated by two political factions: the Leislerians and the anti-Leislerians. Although the two did not precisely divide along ethnic and class lines, Leislerians were highly representative of Dutch and laboring class New Yorkers while the anti-Leislerians were generally representative of socially and economically elite English and Dutch New Yorkers. The two parties were formed in reaction to Jacob Leisler, the self-proclaimed governor of New York from 1689 to 1691. Leisler had taken advantage of the change of royal power during the Glorious Revolution in England to seize political control of the New York colony. He remained in this position until 1691 when England sent a new royally appointed governor. Leisler did not relinquish power voluntarily; he was arrested, tried and found guilty of treason by an all-English jury, and executed. His Dutch and laboring class supporters remained politically active after Leisler's death.

The other background detail you need to know in order to understand this quote has to do with English impressments. In the colonial period, when the British navy was in need of new sailors during wartime, impressment gangs would come ashore in American cities and force able-bodied men into naval service. Therefore, able-bodied men had an incentive to steer clear of impressment gangs. In this case, the anti-Leislerians were able to discourage laboring class voters from being in the streets and voting simply by creating the appearance of an impressment. This was quite a trick!