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| The Pierce Manse, Concord, New Hampshire |
As a New Hampshire resident I am well aware that our state has produced only one US president, and that he usually rates a spot somewhere at the bottom of any given ranked list of the presidents. Franklin Pierce (1804 – 1869) was the 14th president (1853 – 1857) during those contentious years leading up to the Civil War. I’ve heard that he was a Copperhead, and he supported the violence in Kansas, and that he died of alcoholism. It turns out that much of this was myth!
The Pierce Brigade is a group of volunteers who turned out
to rescue Franklin Pierce’s home from destruction during the 1970s when a
section of Concord was undergoing urban renewal. This organization not only preserved the home
of our 14th president, they also preserve his legacy and try to dispel
the misconceptions about his administration that made him so unpopular.
During his presidency Franklin Pierce supported the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, which led to extreme violence, and he was not re-nominated
by his party for the 1856 election. He
was also a critic of Abraham Lincoln during his administration. Why?
Well, according to the volunteers at the Pierce Manse in Concord, and
according to Peter Wallner, the author of a recent two volume biography of
Pierce, he was an ardent supporter of the Constitution. Since the Constitution supported slavery, he
thought it was up to him to uphold the right of the Southern states to own
slaves. He was not a fan of Lincoln
suspending several constitutional rights, such as habeas corpus, during the
Civil War.
The Pierce Brigade, being such loyal fans of Franklin
Pierce, has produced a brochure titled Myths
and Truths of the Pierce Administration.
It is based on “notes from a
lecture at the Pierce Manse by Peter Wallner”.
I have heard Wallner speak twice about Pierce, once at a Mayflower Society
luncheon and also at a library lecture.
He is a real Pierce fan, and his extensive research gives details of his
life and administration that is usually just a brief note given in history
classes. This little brochure dispels
many of the stories I had heard from my own teachers and history
professors. According to Wallner “Pierce
was a Jeffersonian/Jacksonian Democrat who supported limited power to the federal
government, strict interpretation of the Constitution, and states’ rights. He never wavered on these principles, which
he applied to every political and social issue he faced during his political
career.”
You can now see why Pierce was so unpopular in his own
hometown, home state and in the Northern states before, during and after the
Civil War. And yes, drinking took a toll on his health and he died of cirrhosis
of the liver in 1869. He is buried in
the Old North Cemetery in Concord, not far from the Pierce Manse.
This Myths and Truths
brochure is passed out to anyone who would like to learn more about
Pierce. It is available at the front
desk of the Pierce Manse in Concord, New Hampshire, which is staffed and
operated by the Pierce Brigade. I was
there last week with my “Ladies Lunch Bunch” from my new condo association, and
we all enjoyed our tour very much, and appreciated the efforts of these
enthusiastic volunteers. I cannot
believe that after living in New Hampshire 30 years, it was my first visit to
the Pierce Manse.
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| Photographs were not allowed inside the Manse but I was allowed to take a picture of these dolls According to the label: "In 1970 the Pierce Brigade commissioned Mrs. Ruth M. Barlome of Sheffield Lake, Ohio to create molds for china doll heads resembling Franklin and Jane Pierce. Using photographs, Mrs. Bartlome did create the molds and produced over 200 dolls for the Brigade. These dolls were sold for $25 each to raise funds for the restoration of the Manse." |
This bit of local history is interesting to me because President Pierce and I share a common ancestor- Thomas Pierce (1620 – 1683) of Woburn, Massachusetts. I also share a common ancestor with Pierce’s wife, Jane Means Appleton (1806 – 1863). I’ll post these charts below.
Thomas
Pierce & Elizabeth Carew
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Thomas
Pierce & Elizabeth Cole
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Stephen Pierce & Tabitha Parker John Pierce &
Deborah Convers
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|
Stephen Pierce & Esther Fletcher Ebenezer Pierce & Mary
Wilson
| |
Benjamin Pierce & Elizabeth Merrill Deborah Pierce &
Increase Wyman
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Benjamin Pierce & Anna Kendrick Increase Wyman &
Catherine Unknown
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Franklin Pierce & Jane Means Appleton Jemima Wyman & Joshua
Burnham
(F.P. is my 4th cousin 7 generations removed) |
Jemima Burnham
& Romanus Emerson
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George Emerson & Mary
Esther Younger
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Mary Katharine Emerson & George E. Batchelder
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Carrie M. Batchelder & Joseph Elmer Allen
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Stanley Elmer Allen & Gertrude M. Hitchings
(my
grandparents)
--------------------------------------------------
John Baker & Elizabeth Unknown
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Thomas Baker & Priscilla Symonds Martha Baker & Thomas
Andrews
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Priscilla Baker & Isaac Appleton Sarah Andrews & Joseph Swett
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|
Isaac Appleton & Elizabeth Sawyer Benjamin Swett &
Elizabeth Norton
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Francis Appleton & Elizabeth Hubbard Elizabeth Swett & David
Batchelder
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Jesse Appleton & Elizabeth Means Elisha Batchelder
& Sarah Lane
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Jane Means Appleton & Franklin Pierce Jonathan Batchelder & Nancy Thompson
(J.MA. is my 5th
cousin, 6 generations removed) |
George E. Batchelder & Abigail M. Locke
|
George E. Batchelder & Mary Katharine Emerson
(my
2nd great grandparents – see above)
Jane Means Appleton’s maternal grandmother was Mary McGregor,
wife of Robert Means. Mary’s parents
were David McGregor and Mary Boyd of Londonderry, New Hampshire. Mary’s grandfather was Rev. James McGregor
(1677 – 1729), the minister who brought his flock from Aghadowey, Northern
Ireland to Nutfield (Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire).
For more information on President Franklin Pierce:
The Pierce Manse
14 Horseshoe Pond Lane
Concord, New Hampshire
Phone: 603-225-4555
What is the Pierce Brigade?
http://www.piercemanse.org/Support.html
The Pierce Manse http://www.piercemanse.org/
Peter Wallner’s two volume biography of Franklin Pierce is
(Volume 1) Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire’s Favorite Son, 2004 and (Volume
2) Franklin
Pierce: Martyr for the Union, 2007
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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-pierce-brigade-fans-of-one-of-our.html
Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
Back when ancestry used to have that "possible famous relatives" function it told me I was related to Franklin Pierce but I never pursued it.Now I know. It's through 9x great grandparents Thomas Pierce & Elizabeth Cole.
ReplyDeleteAnd another cousin connection for us, too, Bill!
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