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American composer, songwriter, and organist, best known as the creator of the iconic Christmas standard "Jingle Bells". Born in Boston, Massachusetts. Worked as a clerk, sailed on a whaling ship, joined the California Gold Rush. Settled in Savannah, Georgia, becoming an organist and music director. Composed songs for minstrel shows. Served as a company clerk for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Died in Winter Haven, Florida.

• Pierpont composed "Jingle Bells" (originally titled "The One Horse Open Sleigh") in 1857 while organist at a Unitarian church in Savannah, Georgia, intended as a Thanksgiving song, not specifically for Christmas.
• Despite his New England roots, Pierpont strongly supported the Confederate cause during the Civil War. He composed Confederate marching songs like "Strike for the South" and "We Conquer or Die", and served in the Confederate cavalry.
• Pierpont's personal life was marked by tragedy: his first wife died young; he remarried but later abandoned his second wife and children in Savannah when he moved north; his son, also named James Pierpont, became a founder of J.P. Morgan & Co.
• Pierpont did not achieve significant fame or wealth during his lifetime and died of heart failure in relative obscurity. The immense global popularity of "Jingle Bells" came decades after his death.