Did Franklin Pierce have a family?

Answer 1

Franklin and Jane Pierce had three sons. All died as children.

• Franklin Pierce, Jr. (February 2, 1836 - February 5, 1836), cause of death unknown.
• Frank Robert Pierce (August 27, 1839 - November 14, 1843), died from typhus fever.
• Benjamin "Bennie" Pierce (April 13, 1841 - January 6, 1853), died in train accident in front of his parents, weeks before his father was inaugurated.

Answer 2

Franklin Pierce was born in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, on November 23, 1804. Franklin spent a happy childhood with his six older and two younger brothers and sisters.

Benjamin Pierce, Franklin's Father, had served in the Revolutionary War, and he also served two terms as governor of New Hampshire.

After Franklin Pierce became a member of Congress, his family years were not happy ones. In 1834, he married Jane Means Appleton, the daughter of the former president of Bowdoin College. Pierce's wife suffered from tuberculosis. She disliked Washington and seldom accompanied her husband to the capital. Her natural shyness deepened to melancholy after two of their three sons died in early childhood. Pierce finally agreed to his wife's wishes and resigned from the Senate in 1842, shortly before his term ended.

Life in the White House began in an atmosphere of tragedy and grief for the Pierces. They had seen their 11 year old son Benjamin, die in a railroad accident just two months before the inauguration. Jane Pierce, did not attend her husband's inauguration. She secluded herself in the upstairs bedroom for nearly half of his term. Washington gossips called her, "the shadow in the White House."

Mrs. Abby Kent, an aunt to Mrs. Pierce, served as White House hostess during Pierce's first two years in office. Mrs. Pierce finally appeared at a White House function on January 1, 1855, and thereafter attended state dinners frequently.

Answer 3

Father: Benjamin Pierce, (1757-1839) Revolutionary War hero, hero in the War of 1812, two term governor of New Hampshire

Mother: Anna Kendrick (1769-1838)

Siblings:

• Benjamin Kendrick Pierce (August 29, 1790-1850)

• Nancy M. Pierce McNeil (November 2, 1792-1837)

• John Sullivan Pierce (November 5, 1796-1824)

• Harriet B. Pierce Jameson (1800-1837)

• Charles Grandison Pierce (1803-1828)

• Charlotte Pierce, d. in infancy.

• Henry Dearborn Pierce (September 19, 1812-1880)

He also had a half-sister from his father's first marriage , She was Elizabeth McNeil.

wife: Jane Means Appleton ( March 12, 1806 - December 2, 1863)

children:

• Franklin Pierce, Jr. (February 2, 1836 - February 5, 1836), cause of death unknown.
• Frank Robert Pierce (August 27, 1839 - November 14, 1843), died from typhus fever.
• Benjamin "Bennie" Pierce (April 13, 1841 - January 6, 1853), died in train accident in front of his parents, weeks before his father was inaugurated.

Answer 4

Pierce had a wife and three sons. Sadly, one died as a baby, one died at age four and one was killed in a train accident at age 11.

Answer 5

He was closest to his sister, Elizabeth and her husband, John McNeil.

Answer 6

No- he had three older brothers and two older sisters plus an older half-sister.