Francis Pharcellus Church
He was born in Rochester, New York and graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City in 1859.
With his brother William Conant Church he established The Army and Navy Journal in 1863, and Galaxy magazine in 1866 (merged with Atlantic Monthly after 10 years[1]). He was a lead editorial writer on his brother's newspaper, the New York Sun, and it was in that capacity that in 1897 he wrote his most famous editorial, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. In this editorial he responds to a young girl's question if there truly is a Santa Claus, writing that he definitely exists and placing himself within Christmas' history forever.[neutrality is disputed]
Church died in New York City, aged 67, and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York. He had no children.
Source: Wikipedia
“VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”
“Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.”
“The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.”
“Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS”