Santa's Whiskers

The changing masthead of Rivington’s newspaper: http://allthingsliberty.com/2014/03/james-rivington-kings-printer-patriot-spy/ 
Cows crossing the St. Johns River: http://www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org/map/cowford-becomes-jacksonville?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=450&width=820 
The handwritten baker's list: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/vrm/bakers_account.htm
Port Saint Nicholas: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f5/c5/30/f5c5305847ba2c1ee58aab7c9dcb3605.jpg 
What's left of the cathedral: http://www.spottinghistory.com/view/2905/garoar/

Earliest American References

While it makes sense that the concept of St. Nicholas came to the New World with the first European explorers, the earliest mentions are relatively sparse.

There is the fact that in 1126 the first bishop of Garðar, 
Arnaldur (who was ordained by the Archbishop of Lund 
in 1124), arrived in Greenland and started the 
construction of a cathedral devoted to St. Nicholas, 
patron saint of sailors. http://www.spottinghistory.com/
​view/2905/garoar





​
And in 1492 Columbus entered a port at the extreme 
west end of the Island of Santo Domingo, or, as the 
island was then called, Haiti. The natives called it Port 
Bohio, but Columbus christened it, in honor of the day 
he arrived (Saint Nicholas Day, December 6), Port Saint 
Nicholas. (Haiti: A Degenerating Island, by Rear Admiral 
Colby M. Chester, U.S. Navy, The National Geographic 
Magazine, The National Geographic Society, Hubbard 
Memorial Hall, Washington, D.C. Vol. XIX-Year 1908, 
​p. 203)





​
​
​The first celebration of the feast of St. Nicholas in America probably 
originated in Albany (imported from the Netherlands). A 1675 baker’s 
account mentions that Maria van Rensselaer bought Sinterklaas 
[Santa Claus] goods, illustrating that the feast of Saint Nicolas was 
celebrated in Albany at that time. This item could possibly be the 
earliest reference to the celebration ofSinterklaas (Saint Nicolas) in 
New Netherland. http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/vrm/bakers_
​account.htm













​

​Sometime around 1740 the Spanish built a fort in 
Florida that would later become Jacksonville. It’s 
purpose was to defend Cowford crossing (also known 
as Pass de San Nicholas, or Saint Nicholas Ferry), 
protect settlers and missionaries from Indians, preserve 
South Florida against the British and Americans, and 
prevent smugglers from using the St. Johns River. 
http://www.jaxhistory.com/Jacksonville%20Story/
Picture%20of%20St%20Johns%20River,%20Southbank%
20Fort.htm

During the early 1800’s, the place was simply called 
​“Cowford” (or “Cow Ford”). The St. Johns River narrowed 
at a point next to the present-day County Courthouse. 
​The riverbanks also sloped down in this area, allowing 
​for an easier passage. Florida cowboys chose the spot 
to cross their cattle on the way to market. At low tide, 
drivers walked their beasts to center stream and then 
​forced them to swim the rest of the way. In other words, this was the place where cows forded, or “Cowford.”

Years before, the Timucuan Indians had bestowed a similar name on the location. They called it Wacca Pilatka, the “place where the cattle cross.” On the other hand, the Spanish referred to the site as the “Pass of San Nicholas,” that is, the “Pass of St. Nicholas.” A neighborhood just east of South Jacksonville still goes by that name.

As Santa Claus, the earliest mention in America is 
an item in Rivington's Gazetteer for December 23, 
1773: “Last Monday the anniversary of St. Nicholas, 
otherwise called Santa Claus, was celebrated at 
Protestant Hall, at Mr. Waldron's; where a great 
number of sons of that ancient saint celebrated the 
day with great joy and festivity.” http://www.
stnicholascenter.org/pages/knickerbocker/

That same year New York non-Dutch patriots 
formed the Sons of St. Nicholas, primarily as a 
non-British symbol to counter the English St. 
George societies, rather than to honor St. Nicholas. 
This society was similar to the Sons of St. Tammany 
in Philadelphia. Not exactly St. Nicholas, the 
children's gift-giver. http://www.stnicholascenter.
org/pages/origin-of-santa/

Another notice appeared in Rivington’s Gazetteer in 
​1774. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/
​knickerbocker/

All these are but clues as to what might have been going on. It is not until 1809, with the publication of Washington Irving’s “A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker”, that we see the real legend of Santa Claus in America begin to take shape.