Mystery Mondays: The Pierce Family (part 2)

The tragic start to the Pierce presidency

Nov 15, 2021

I know that last week I hinted that I would dig into the Mystery Mondays story about 47 Central Street being where President Pierce’s administrative staff stayed when he was in Andover.

As we learned in our last Mystery Monday post, we haven’t found evidence that Pierce visited Andover during his presidency. The Andover Advertiser reported that his 1856 trip to New England “was his first since his inauguration.”

So it might seem pointless to dig into the story of Pierce’s administrative staff, but, as with all research rabbit holes, this one led in some interesting directions.

To understand the interesting directions, it’s important to know some key parts of the Pierce family’s story.

Franklin and Jane Pierce

Franklin Pierce married Jane Means Appleton in 1833. The two were an unlikely pair. Pierce was handsome, dashing, and outgoing. He had a natural charm that attracted people to him. He was described as “fun-loving, friendly, and politically talented.” His agreeableness was one of the reasons behind his rapid political rise.

Jane Means Appleton seemed like an unlikely wife for the outgoing Frank Pierce. She was, by contrast with her husband, “painfully shy, relentlessly prim, physically frail and sickly, and given to frequent bouts of melancholy.” Jane loathed politics almost as much as she loathed tobacco and alcohol.

Jane Means Appleton Pierce, The White House Historical Association

The Pierces made their home in Concord, New Hampshire, where they had three sons. Only one of the Pierce’s sons, Benjamin, survived into his school years. Their first son, Franklin Jr, died a few days after he was born. Their second, Frank Robert, died in a typhus epidemic when he was four years old.

Between 1829 and 1842, Franklin Pierce served in the New Hampshire legislature, House of Representatives, and Senate. He served as a colonel and then brigadier general in the Mexican War of 1846.

In 1852, Franklin Pierce was elected the 14th President of the United States, and served between March 1853 and March 1857.

The Andover connection

In 1850, the house at 48 Central Street was the home of John Aiken, a lawyer by training who made a career in manufacturing. John’s second wife was Mary Means Appleton.

Mary happened to be the older sister of Jane Means Appleton, the wife of Franklin Pierce.

Sisters Mary and Jane were close, so Jane and her family were frequent visitors to the Aiken home at 48 Central Street before and after Franklin Pierce’s presidency.

On December 31, 1852, Jane Pierce’s uncle Amos Lawrence died. Franklin, Jane, and son Benjamin traveled from their home in Concord, NH, to Boston to attend the funeral. They planned to return to Concord after a stop-over at Jane’s sister’s home in Andover.

Tragedy

After spending a few days with family in Andover, on January 6, 1853 the Pierces boarded a train at 12:15pm to travel back to their home in Concord.

Tragedy struck before the train left Andover. As the train passed by the Andover poor house, “about half-way to Lawrence, the forward axle of the passenger car broke.” Separated from the rest of the train, the car ran off the track and skidded 12 to 15 feet down an embankment.

Boston Daily Transcript, January 7, 1853

Many passengers were injured in the accident with broken bones, bruises, and in one case a crushed foot that had to be amputated.

Suffering a severe head injury, the Pierce’s 11-year-old son Benny was the only fatality. Benny’s body was taken to the poor house, also known as the almshouse, on what is now Argyle Street. Many injured passengers were taken to the poor house as well for treatment.

President-elect Pierce and his wife Jane returned to the Aiken’s home, where Benny’s funeral was held. Benny was buried in Concord, New Hampshire.

The tragedy struck Jane Pierce deeply. Never an enthusiastic supporter of her husband’s political ambitions, she retreated into her grief.

Jane and Benny Pierce, The White House Historical Association

Newspapers reflected the nation’s sympathy at the family’s tragic loss. Investigations into railroad safety were launched. The presidential inaugural was be a quiet and solemn affair, without the usual pomp.

January 29, 1853, the Boston Evening Transcript noted that Pierce was in Andover the preceding day, but that he returned to Concord that evening.

Jane Pierce joined her husband in Washington, DC, nearly three weeks after his March 1853 inauguration. But she spent most of her time secluded from White House activities. Her cousin, Mrs. Abby Kent Means, served as White House hostess. Nearly two years would pass before Jane Pierce appeared in public at official dinners.

During her husband’s presidency, Jane Pierce spent many months at her sister’s house at 48 Central Street. But, as we learned from the Andover Advertiser, her husband did not join her there.

After the Pierce Presidency

By the time her husband left office in 1857, Jane Pierce was suffering from the long-term recurring effects of tuberculosis.

In March 1857, after the inauguration of Pierce’s successor President James Buchanan, Franklin and Jane left Washington and spent time in Philadelphia so Jane could be attended by doctors there. In May, on their way back to Concord, Jane stopped off to stay with her sister in Andover.

For the next few years, the Pierces traveled to warmer places during the winter months for Jane’s health. In the winter of 1857, the went to Madeira, Portugal. And in 1858, they took an extended trip through Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, and Switzerland. At the end of their trip in 1859, Jane once again stayed at her sister’s in Andover for an extended visit. In January 1860, the Pierces wintered in Nassau in the Bahamas. Jane died in Concord, NH, in 1863. She was 57 years old. Franklin Pierce died six years later, in 1869, in Concord at age 65.

With this background on the Pierce family, their many tragedies, and their Andover connections, I’ll dig into the 47 Central Street administration building story and a theory I have on how it came to be called that.

Thanks for reading!
Elaine

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