Pierce, Jane Appleton (1806-1863), was the wife of Franklin Pierce, who served as president of the United States from 1853 to 1857. Her life was marked by tragedy. She had three children. But all three died—the first as an infant, the second in early childhood, and the third at age 11.
Mrs. Pierce, whose maiden name was Jane Means Appleton, was born in Hampton, New Hampshire, on March 12, 1806. Her father was a Congregational minister and served as president of Bowdoin College from 1807 until his death in 1819. Jane was brought up in a strict religious environment.
Jane Appleton met Franklin Pierce in 1826. The couple married on Nov. 10, 1834. Franklin was then a member of the United States House of Representatives, and the newly married couple moved to Washington, D.C. Mrs. Pierce suffered from poor health. In addition, she disliked Washington and found the social duties of a politician’s wife difficult. Beginning in late 1835, she began taking trips back to New Hampshire without her husband. In 1836, the couple had their first child, also named Franklin. But the baby lived only three days.
Early in her married life, Mrs. Pierce began trying to persuade her husband to leave politics and return to New Hampshire as a lawyer. Franklin Pierce became a United States senator in 1837. But in 1842, he complied with his wife’s request and resigned from the Senate. The Pierces then moved back to New Hampshire. Tragedy struck again in 1843, when their second child, Frank Robert, died at the age of 4.
Franklin Pierce served as a brigadier general in the Mexican War in 1847. In 1852, he returned to politics and was nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president. He won the presidential election. Two months before his inauguration, the couple and their remaining child, Benjamin (called Benny), were on a train when it derailed. Benny was killed in the accident and Jane Pierce saw him die.
Jane Pierce never recovered from this last tragedy. She was unable to attend the inauguration. Deeply depressed, she could not handle the social duties of a first lady during the first half of her husband’s term as president. Abby Kent Means, an aunt and friend of Jane’s, served as White House hostess in her place. Mrs. Pierce took over the duties of first lady during the second half of the term. She died on Dec. 2, 1863.
See also Pierce, Franklin .
