United States Presidential First Lady. Jane Means Appleton Pierce was the wife of the 14th President, Franklin Pierce. She served as First Lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857. Born the daughter of a Congregational minister and president of Bowdoin College, she could be described as being a petite, frail young lady, who was sensitive with a retiring personality. She was given a private education, was deeply religious, and could play the piano. With the death of her father, the family moved to Amherst where she met through her brother-in-law, a Bowdoin College graduate, Franklin Pierce. After a long engagement, they married on November 19, 1834. They lived in Hillsborough, New Hampshire before moving to Concord. Her husband was an ambitious lawyer and active in politics, but she abhorred politics imploring him to leave the political arena. He served in the New Hampshire State Legislature, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. Only after she contracted tuberculosis did he resign from the Senate to return home in February of 1842. The couple had three sons but two died young: Franklin, Jr., who died three days after birth in 1836 and Frank Robert, who died at nearly five years old from epidemic typhus in 1843. She believed their demise was a punishment from God for her husband's political involvement. She was aware that her husband attempted to please her by refusing President James Polk's offer to serve on his cabinet as Attorney General, which followed with declining offers to fill a vacancy in the Senate or be a candidate for the governor of New Hampshire. She was pro-temperance movement, whereas her husband drank alcohol, maybe excessively. In late 1846, her husband left to serve in the Mexican-American War, becoming the commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment and reaching the rank of a brigadier general. After the war in early 1848, she was happy with her husband being in partnership in a lucrative law practice near home and watching her son, Benjamin, grow. As a war hero, her husband was nominated as a dark horse candidate for the office of President of the United States. Sources state that she prayed that he would be defeated in the election. When he became the President-elect, she lost all emotional stability and fainted upon hearing the news. Then the ultimate tragedy struck. Before Pierce's inauguration, the family was returning from Boston by train on January 6, 1853 after attending a funeral. The axle on the train broke, hurling their passenger car down an embankment and Benjamin, their eleven-year-old son, was thrown from his seat and instantly killed before his parents' eyes. With Benny's death, all of her three sons had died in childhood. She was now firmly convinced of receiving a punishment from God. Broken mentally and physically, she was not able to attend her son's funeral. She did not attend her husband's inauguration, there was no inaugural ball, nor was the White House prepared for the new President. When months later joining her husband in the White House, she refused to leave her room. In unresolved grief, she often sat crying by the fireplace while writing letters to her deceased son, Benjamin. She did little to help her beleaguered husband, which greatly impacted his political ambitions. Her aunt and the wives of her husband's cabinet acted as the hostess at the White House. This included Varina, the wife of Secretary of State Jefferson Davis. The first and one of the rare social functions, which she attended as First Lady, was at a New Year's Day reception in 1855. Her husband was not offered the nomination for a second term. This was the only time in United States history that an elected president, seeking the candidate for reelection, was not nominated by his political party for a second term. She had endured her husband's four-year term and she did not attend the swearing in of her husband's successor, James Buchanan. Seeking relief from her tuberculosis and the engulfing chronic depression, the Pierces sailed to the Caribbean on board the U.S.S. Powhatan, a government ship loaned to them by President Buchanan. The couple traveled about Europe, but her mental and physical health improved little. The Pierces eventually moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Returning back to New Hampshire after three years brought back a flood of old memories, with her health declining. She lived almost the rest of her life in Andover, Massachusetts at her sister's home. Her sister became her caregiver until her death at age fifty-seven in December of 1863. Her remains were taken to Concord to lie beside their sons, Frank and Benjamin. Franklin, Jr. had been buried in Hillsborough. Her husband outlived her by five years and upon his death was buried beside her in the Old North Cemetery in Concord. The only Concord house ever owned by Franklin Pierce and where the family lived in relative happiness for six years, was threatened with demolition but saved and moved to the Concord Historic District and opened to the public in 1974. It has been restored with many of the furnishings belonging to the Pierce family. Some items are known as "White House Pieces." The two-story wooden home, which was Pierce's wife's home, is called "Pierce Manse," to differentiate from the other Pierce dwellings. Her husband's childhood home, the "Pierce Homestead," is a historical site, as well as the "Pierce Mansion" where he died.
United States Presidential First Lady. Jane Means Appleton Pierce was the wife of the 14th President, Franklin Pierce. She served as First Lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857. Born the daughter of a Congregational minister and president of Bowdoin College, she could be described as being a petite, frail young lady, who was sensitive with a retiring personality. She was given a private education, was deeply religious, and could play the piano. With the death of her father, the family moved to Amherst where she met through her brother-in-law, a Bowdoin College graduate, Franklin Pierce. After a long engagement, they married on November 19, 1834. They lived in Hillsborough, New Hampshire before moving to Concord. Her husband was an ambitious lawyer and active in politics, but she abhorred politics imploring him to leave the political arena. He served in the New Hampshire State Legislature, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. Only after she contracted tuberculosis did he resign from the Senate to return home in February of 1842. The couple had three sons but two died young: Franklin, Jr., who died three days after birth in 1836 and Frank Robert, who died at nearly five years old from epidemic typhus in 1843. She believed their demise was a punishment from God for her husband's political involvement. She was aware that her husband attempted to please her by refusing President James Polk's offer to serve on his cabinet as Attorney General, which followed with declining offers to fill a vacancy in the Senate or be a candidate for the governor of New Hampshire. She was pro-temperance movement, whereas her husband drank alcohol, maybe excessively. In late 1846, her husband left to serve in the Mexican-American War, becoming the commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment and reaching the rank of a brigadier general. After the war in early 1848, she was happy with her husband being in partnership in a lucrative law practice near home and watching her son, Benjamin, grow. As a war hero, her husband was nominated as a dark horse candidate for the office of President of the United States. Sources state that she prayed that he would be defeated in the election. When he became the President-elect, she lost all emotional stability and fainted upon hearing the news. Then the ultimate tragedy struck. Before Pierce's inauguration, the family was returning from Boston by train on January 6, 1853 after attending a funeral. The axle on the train broke, hurling their passenger car down an embankment and Benjamin, their eleven-year-old son, was thrown from his seat and instantly killed before his parents' eyes. With Benny's death, all of her three sons had died in childhood. She was now firmly convinced of receiving a punishment from God. Broken mentally and physically, she was not able to attend her son's funeral. She did not attend her husband's inauguration, there was no inaugural ball, nor was the White House prepared for the new President. When months later joining her husband in the White House, she refused to leave her room. In unresolved grief, she often sat crying by the fireplace while writing letters to her deceased son, Benjamin. She did little to help her beleaguered husband, which greatly impacted his political ambitions. Her aunt and the wives of her husband's cabinet acted as the hostess at the White House. This included Varina, the wife of Secretary of State Jefferson Davis. The first and one of the rare social functions, which she attended as First Lady, was at a New Year's Day reception in 1855. Her husband was not offered the nomination for a second term. This was the only time in United States history that an elected president, seeking the candidate for reelection, was not nominated by his political party for a second term. She had endured her husband's four-year term and she did not attend the swearing in of her husband's successor, James Buchanan. Seeking relief from her tuberculosis and the engulfing chronic depression, the Pierces sailed to the Caribbean on board the U.S.S. Powhatan, a government ship loaned to them by President Buchanan. The couple traveled about Europe, but her mental and physical health improved little. The Pierces eventually moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Returning back to New Hampshire after three years brought back a flood of old memories, with her health declining. She lived almost the rest of her life in Andover, Massachusetts at her sister's home. Her sister became her caregiver until her death at age fifty-seven in December of 1863. Her remains were taken to Concord to lie beside their sons, Frank and Benjamin. Franklin, Jr. had been buried in Hillsborough. Her husband outlived her by five years and upon his death was buried beside her in the Old North Cemetery in Concord. The only Concord house ever owned by Franklin Pierce and where the family lived in relative happiness for six years, was threatened with demolition but saved and moved to the Concord Historic District and opened to the public in 1974. It has been restored with many of the furnishings belonging to the Pierce family. Some items are known as "White House Pieces." The two-story wooden home, which was Pierce's wife's home, is called "Pierce Manse," to differentiate from the other Pierce dwellings. Her husband's childhood home, the "Pierce Homestead," is a historical site, as well as the "Pierce Mansion" where he died.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19666/jane_means-pierce: accessed
), memorial page for Jane Means Appleton Pierce (12 Mar 1806–2 Dec 1863), Find a Grave Memorial ID 19666, citing Old North Cemetery, Concord,
Merrimack County,
New Hampshire,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Jane Means Appleton Pierce
Fulfill Photo Request for Jane Means Appleton Pierce
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
This memorial already has a grave photo. Please indicate why you think it needs another.
There is no plot information for this memorial. Your photo request is more likely to be fulfilled if you contact the cemetery to get the plot information and include it with your request.
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.