A Visit from St. Nicholas (also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from its first line) has been called "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American" and is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today. More than a decade after it was first published anonymously in the Sentinel, Clement Clarke Moore took credit for its authorship, though his claim to the poem is now in question. Many believe this beloved poem was actually penned by New York writer Henry Livingston, Jr.