Presidents and Celebrities: Franklin Pierce and Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer born in Salem Massachusetts on the 4th of July in 1804. He wrote about history, morality, and religion. His most famous work is probably "The Scarlet Letter." Hawthorne was a very close friend of an American President. His uncle Robert Manning insisted that Hawthorne attend college, despite the author's protests. With his uncle's financial support, Hawthorne was sent to Bowdoin College in 1821. Hawthorne met future president Franklin Pierce on the way to Bowdoin, at the stage stop in Portland, and the two became lifelong friends. Once at the school, Hawthorne also met future poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Hawthorne graduated from Bowdoin in 1825. He published his first work in 1828, the novel Fanshawe, but he was not pleased with it. He published several short stories in periodicals, which he collected in 1837 and republished as Twice-Told Tales. The following year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at the Boston Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, and later moved to Salem, the Berkshires, and then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels.
Hawthorne's neighbors in Concord included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In 1852, Hawthorne wrote "The Life of Franklin Pierce", the campaign biography of his friend. The book portrayed Pierce as "a man of peaceful pursuits". Not everyone shared Hawthorne's opinion of Pierce. Abolitionist Horace Mann said of the book, "If he makes out Pierce to be a great man or a brave man, it will be the greatest work of fiction he ever wrote." The biography was quite flattering of Pierce. Hawthorne describes Pierce as a statesman and soldier who had accomplished no great feats because of his humility. As Hawthorne put it, Pierce was someone who made "little noise" and so "withdrew into the background". Hawthorne did not make any mention of Pierce's heavy drinking, even though rumors of Pierce's alcoholism were rampant. On the controversial issue of slavery, Hawthorne stressed Pierce's belief that slavery could not "be remedied by human contrivances" but would, over time, "vanish like a dream".
In November of 1852 Pierce won election as President, and Hawthorne was rewarded in 1853 with the position of United States consul in Liverpool. The appointment came shortly after the publication of Tanglewood Tales. The appointment was considered the most lucrative foreign service position at the time. Hawthorne's wife Sophia described the post as "second in dignity to the Embassy in London". This appointment ended in 1857 at the close of the Pierce administration. The Hawthorne family toured France and Italy until 1860. It was during his time in Italy, that the previously clean-shaven Hawthorne grew a bushy mustache.
While serving as consul in England, Hawthorne wrote a series of sketches about the English countryside called Our Old Home. On July 2, 1863, he wrote the book’s dedication to Franklin Pierce. It read in part:
"It rests among my certainties that no man’s loyalty is more steadfast, no man’s hopes or apprehensions on behalf of our national existence more deeply heartfelt, or more closely intertwined with his possibilities of personal happiness, than those of FRANKLIN PIERCE."
His publisher, James T. Fields, begged him to leave it out. Nathaniel Hawthorne replied, “if he is so exceedingly unpopular that his name is enough to sink the volume, there is so much the more need that an old friend should stand by him.” Hawthorne’s friend Ralph Waldo Emerson ripped out the dedication before putting the book on his library shelf.
In June of 1858, the Pierces left on a tour of Portugal, Spain, France and Switzerland. In the fall they traveled to Florence, Naples, and Capri in Italy. In February of 1859 they arrived in Rome, where Pierce had a reunion with his old friend. Hawthorne and Pierce had not seen one another for nearly six years. Hawthorne had been living in Rome since the fall of 1858. Hawthorne and his wife Sophia had their problems. Their teenage daughter Uma was unwell, and the Pierce's gave support to their friends while she recovered from her illness.
At the outset of the American Civil War, Hawthorne traveled with William D. Ticknor to Washington, D.C., where he met another President. Abraham Lincoln. Hawthorne wrote about his experiences in the essay "Chiefly About War Matters" in 1862. In 1863 Pierce’s wife Jane died. Nathaniel Hawthorne stood by the side of the grieving ex-president as she was laid to rest. At the funeral Pierce noticed Hawthorne seemed in ill health and adjusted his friend's collar to keep him warm.
Failing health prevented him from completing several more romance novels that he was working on. Hawthorne was suffering from pain in his stomach. In 1864, Hawthorne embarked on a recuperative trip with his friend Franklin Pierce, though his neighbor Bronson Alcott was concerned that Hawthorne was too ill. Hawthorne’s wife Sophia told the ex-president that Hawthorne needed help getting in and out of carriages because of his weak eyesight and poor balance. While on a tour of the White Mountains, he died in his sleep on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
They two were staying at the Pemigewasset Hotel, on the site of what is now a Plymouth State University dormitory. Hawthorne took a nap, ate a bit of food and drank a cup of tea before going to bed. Pierce, in a letter he wrote four years later, described what happened next:
“Passing from his room to my own, leaving the door open and so placing the lamp that its direct rays would not fall upon him and yet enable me to see distinctly from my bed, I betook myself to rest too, a little after ten o’clock. But I awoke before twelve, and noticed that he was lying in a perfectly natural position, like a child, with his right hand under his cheek. That noble brow and face struck me as more grand serenely calm then than ever before. With new hope that such undisturbed repose might bring back fresh vigor, I fell asleep again; but he was so very restless the night previous that I was surprised and startled when I noticed, at three o’clock, that his position was identically the same as when I observed him between eleven and twelve. Hastening softly to his bedside, I could not perceive that he breathed, although no change had come over his features. I seized his wrist, but found no pulse; ran my hands down upon his bare side, but the great, generous, brave heart beat no more.”
Pierce sent a telegram to Hawthorne's sister-in-law Elizabeth Peabody asking her to inform Mrs. Hawthorne in person. Mrs. Hawthorne was too saddened by the news to handle the funeral arrangements herself. Hawthorne's son Julian, a freshman at Harvard College, learned of his father's death the next day. Longfellow wrote a tribute poem to Hawthorne published in 1866 called "The Bells of Lynn". Hawthorne was buried on what is now known as "Authors' Ridge" in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts.
Pierce was deeply saddened by the death of his old friend and in his later years his drinking worsened. A photo of the elderly Pierce taken by Matthey Brady shows the ruddy look of a heavy drinker. Pierce returned to Concord in September of 1869, suffering from severe cirrhosis of the liver. He died at 4:35 am on October 8, 1869. President Ulysses Grant, who later defended Pierce's service in the Mexican War in his memoirs, declared a day of national mourning. Pierce was interred next to his wife and two of his sons at Concord's Old North Cemetery.
Hawthorne graduated from Bowdoin in 1825. He published his first work in 1828, the novel Fanshawe, but he was not pleased with it. He published several short stories in periodicals, which he collected in 1837 and republished as Twice-Told Tales. The following year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at the Boston Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, and later moved to Salem, the Berkshires, and then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels.
Hawthorne's neighbors in Concord included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In 1852, Hawthorne wrote "The Life of Franklin Pierce", the campaign biography of his friend. The book portrayed Pierce as "a man of peaceful pursuits". Not everyone shared Hawthorne's opinion of Pierce. Abolitionist Horace Mann said of the book, "If he makes out Pierce to be a great man or a brave man, it will be the greatest work of fiction he ever wrote." The biography was quite flattering of Pierce. Hawthorne describes Pierce as a statesman and soldier who had accomplished no great feats because of his humility. As Hawthorne put it, Pierce was someone who made "little noise" and so "withdrew into the background". Hawthorne did not make any mention of Pierce's heavy drinking, even though rumors of Pierce's alcoholism were rampant. On the controversial issue of slavery, Hawthorne stressed Pierce's belief that slavery could not "be remedied by human contrivances" but would, over time, "vanish like a dream".
In November of 1852 Pierce won election as President, and Hawthorne was rewarded in 1853 with the position of United States consul in Liverpool. The appointment came shortly after the publication of Tanglewood Tales. The appointment was considered the most lucrative foreign service position at the time. Hawthorne's wife Sophia described the post as "second in dignity to the Embassy in London". This appointment ended in 1857 at the close of the Pierce administration. The Hawthorne family toured France and Italy until 1860. It was during his time in Italy, that the previously clean-shaven Hawthorne grew a bushy mustache.
While serving as consul in England, Hawthorne wrote a series of sketches about the English countryside called Our Old Home. On July 2, 1863, he wrote the book’s dedication to Franklin Pierce. It read in part:
"It rests among my certainties that no man’s loyalty is more steadfast, no man’s hopes or apprehensions on behalf of our national existence more deeply heartfelt, or more closely intertwined with his possibilities of personal happiness, than those of FRANKLIN PIERCE."
His publisher, James T. Fields, begged him to leave it out. Nathaniel Hawthorne replied, “if he is so exceedingly unpopular that his name is enough to sink the volume, there is so much the more need that an old friend should stand by him.” Hawthorne’s friend Ralph Waldo Emerson ripped out the dedication before putting the book on his library shelf.
In June of 1858, the Pierces left on a tour of Portugal, Spain, France and Switzerland. In the fall they traveled to Florence, Naples, and Capri in Italy. In February of 1859 they arrived in Rome, where Pierce had a reunion with his old friend. Hawthorne and Pierce had not seen one another for nearly six years. Hawthorne had been living in Rome since the fall of 1858. Hawthorne and his wife Sophia had their problems. Their teenage daughter Uma was unwell, and the Pierce's gave support to their friends while she recovered from her illness.
At the outset of the American Civil War, Hawthorne traveled with William D. Ticknor to Washington, D.C., where he met another President. Abraham Lincoln. Hawthorne wrote about his experiences in the essay "Chiefly About War Matters" in 1862. In 1863 Pierce’s wife Jane died. Nathaniel Hawthorne stood by the side of the grieving ex-president as she was laid to rest. At the funeral Pierce noticed Hawthorne seemed in ill health and adjusted his friend's collar to keep him warm.
Failing health prevented him from completing several more romance novels that he was working on. Hawthorne was suffering from pain in his stomach. In 1864, Hawthorne embarked on a recuperative trip with his friend Franklin Pierce, though his neighbor Bronson Alcott was concerned that Hawthorne was too ill. Hawthorne’s wife Sophia told the ex-president that Hawthorne needed help getting in and out of carriages because of his weak eyesight and poor balance. While on a tour of the White Mountains, he died in his sleep on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
They two were staying at the Pemigewasset Hotel, on the site of what is now a Plymouth State University dormitory. Hawthorne took a nap, ate a bit of food and drank a cup of tea before going to bed. Pierce, in a letter he wrote four years later, described what happened next:
“Passing from his room to my own, leaving the door open and so placing the lamp that its direct rays would not fall upon him and yet enable me to see distinctly from my bed, I betook myself to rest too, a little after ten o’clock. But I awoke before twelve, and noticed that he was lying in a perfectly natural position, like a child, with his right hand under his cheek. That noble brow and face struck me as more grand serenely calm then than ever before. With new hope that such undisturbed repose might bring back fresh vigor, I fell asleep again; but he was so very restless the night previous that I was surprised and startled when I noticed, at three o’clock, that his position was identically the same as when I observed him between eleven and twelve. Hastening softly to his bedside, I could not perceive that he breathed, although no change had come over his features. I seized his wrist, but found no pulse; ran my hands down upon his bare side, but the great, generous, brave heart beat no more.”
Pierce sent a telegram to Hawthorne's sister-in-law Elizabeth Peabody asking her to inform Mrs. Hawthorne in person. Mrs. Hawthorne was too saddened by the news to handle the funeral arrangements herself. Hawthorne's son Julian, a freshman at Harvard College, learned of his father's death the next day. Longfellow wrote a tribute poem to Hawthorne published in 1866 called "The Bells of Lynn". Hawthorne was buried on what is now known as "Authors' Ridge" in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts.
Pierce was deeply saddened by the death of his old friend and in his later years his drinking worsened. A photo of the elderly Pierce taken by Matthey Brady shows the ruddy look of a heavy drinker. Pierce returned to Concord in September of 1869, suffering from severe cirrhosis of the liver. He died at 4:35 am on October 8, 1869. President Ulysses Grant, who later defended Pierce's service in the Mexican War in his memoirs, declared a day of national mourning. Pierce was interred next to his wife and two of his sons at Concord's Old North Cemetery.