Jane Means Pierce (née Appleton; March 12, 1806 – December 2, 1863) was the first lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857, being married to Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States. Born in Hampton, New Hampshire, she married Pierce, then a congressman, in 1834 despite her family's misgivings. She refused to live in Washington, D.C., and in 1842, she convinced her husband to retire from politics. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination without her knowledge in 1852 and was elected president later that year. Their only surviving son, Benjamin, was killed in a train accident before Franklin's inauguration, sending Jane into a deep depression that afflicted her for the rest of her life. Pierce was a reclusive first lady, spending the first two years of her husband's presidency mourning her son. Her duties at this time were often fulfilled by Abby Kent-Means. After Franklin's presidency, they traveled abroad for two years before settling in Massachusetts. She died of tuberculosis in 1863.
Pierce disliked political life and was unhappy in the role of first lady. She took interest in abolitionism, and attempted to influence her husband's decisions on the subject. A Puritan, Pierce was strictly religious and believed the tragedies she suffered were divine retribution for her and her husband's sins. Jane has been described as the opposite of her husband, who was outgoing, political, and a heavy drinker. She was reclusive, averse to politics, and a teetotaler.
Early life
Jane Means Appleton was born in Hampton, New Hampshire, on March 12, 1806, to Congregationalist minister Jesse Appleton and his wife Elizabeth Means Appleton. The Appletons had six children: three elder daughters, of which Jane was the third, and three younger sons. Their father became president of Bowdoin College in 1807, and the family settled in Brunswick, Maine (then part of Massachusetts). After his death, the family lived with Elizabeth's mother in Amherst, New Hampshire. evangelical Jane's education was of a high quality, consisting of both public schooling and homeschooling. As she approached young adulthood, Appleton was shy, devoutly religious, and pro-temperance. Even in her youth, her health was poor; she regularly contracted severe winter colds. She may also have met him while he was visiting her mother's home. Appleton's family opposed the relationship for a number of reasons, including their difference in class, his poor manners, his drinking, his tolerance of slavery,
The Pierces went together to Washington, D.C., after their marriage, but Jane found the city unpleasant. In 1835, she attended the White House New Year's Day reception with her husband and met President Andrew Jackson. She decided to leave the city later that year, returning to her mother's home in Amherst while her husband remained in Washington. This period of Jane's life is often regarded as her happiest, as her husband was out of politics and she still had two surviving sons. He had deceived her about his presidential aspirations, denying the extent to which he was seeking the office.
As first lady, Pierce insisted on adherence to religious practice in the White House, instructing the staff to attend church and holding religious services in the White House library. Pierce's cousin Amos A. Lawrence described the effect this had on her husband, saying that he was deeply pious in her presence but drank heavily when she was away. Taking an interest in abolitionism, she began attending Congressional debates after her period of mourning to follow the issue. At the end of her husband's term, she again declined to attend the presidential inauguration, this time of her husband's successor James Buchanan. She is also one of the most obscure, having served in the role before it had national prominence and during a presidency that has itself become obscure. Much like other antebellum first ladies, she has often been identified as avoiding the spotlight and of little importance to her husband's administration. She is considered to have had little influence on the position of first lady and set no precedent for her successors.