thumb|Church's Sun editorial of September 21, 1897, "[[Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus|alt=Refer to the caption]]

Francis Pharcellus Church (February 22, 1839 – April 11, 1906) was an American publisher and editor. In 1897, Church wrote the editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". Produced in response to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon's letter asking whether Santa Claus was real, the widely republished editorial has become one of the most famous ever written.

Born in Rochester, New York, Church graduated from Columbia University and embarked on a career in journalism. With his brother, William Conant Church, Francis founded and edited several periodicals including The Army and Navy Journal, The Galaxy, and the Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal. He was a war correspondent for The New York Times during the American Civil War. He worked at The Sun in the early 1860s and again from 1874 until his death, writing thousands of editorials.

Church died in New York City and was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Early life and education

Francis "Frank" Pharcellus Church was born in Rochester on February 22, 1839, to Pharcellus Church, a Baptist minister, Francis began to attend Manhattan's Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, whose headmaster was Charles Anthon. His education was centered around math and foreign languages. Although Church had entered university studying law and divinity, and spent a time studying under the judge Hooper C. Van Vorst, In 1862, he covered the American Civil War for The New York Times.

In 1863, Church, his brother William, and others established The Army and Navy Journal Supported by literary figures, notably Edmund Clarence Stedman, the brothers worked to attract the best authors possible to their publication, though they focused on New York authors and largely ignored the well-established literary society in New England.

They published the magazine fortnightly for a year, then switched to a monthly format. In 1870, Church proposed that Mark Twain contribute a "Memoranda" column in the magazine, a request Twain accepted; he edited the column from May 1870 to March 1871. Altogether, the magazine published the work of more than 600 authors, The magazine's circulation peaked around 21,000 in 1871 and fell dramatically afterwards. He continued to work for The Sun until his death in 1906.

He disliked politics. In Church's 416-word response, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" became Church's best-known work and the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history.

Mitchell reported that Church, who was initially reluctant to write a response, produced it "in a short time" Upon publication on September 21, 1897, journalist Charles Anderson Dana described Church's writing as "Real literature," and said, "Might be a good idea to reprint it every Christmasyes, and even tell who wrote it!" Because The Sun traditionally did not byline their editorials, Church was not known to be the author until his death in 1906. The editorial is just one of two whose authorship The Sun disclosed. A book based on the editorial, Is there a Santa Claus?, was published in 1921. They had no children. He was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

References

  • Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
  • Biography by BookRags.