Jane means appleton pierce in concord

Jane Means Appleton Pierce

In looks and in pathetic destiny young Jane Means Appleton resembled the heroine of a Victorian novel. The gentle dignity of her face reflected her sensitive, retiring personality and physical weakness.

Her father had died--he was a Congregational minister, the Reverend Jesse Appleton, president of Bowdoin College--and her mother had taken the family to Amherst, New Hampshire.

Jane means appleton pierce in concord

And Jane met a Bowdoin graduate, a young lawyer with political ambitions, Franklin Pierce.

Although he was immediately devoted to Jane, they did not marry until she was 28 -- surprising in that day of early marriages. Her family opposed the match; moreover, she always did her best to discourage his interest in politics.

The death of a three-day-old son, the arrival of a new baby, and Jane's dislike of Washington counted heavily in his decision to retire at the apparent height of his career, as United States Senator, in 1842. Little Frank Robert, the second son, died the next year