geeky
Pierce does not appear to have been particularly religious as a young man, which is remarkable in a way, because on November 19, 1834, Pierce married Jane Means Appleton, a very devout woman. The Reverend Silas Aiken, Jane's brother-in-law, conducted the small ceremony. Jane was the daughter of Jesse Appleton, a Congregational minister and former president of Bowdoin College, and Elizabeth Means. The Appletons were prominent Whigs, in contrast with the Pierces' Democratic affiliation. Jane was shy, devoutly religious, and pro-temperance. From early on in their relationship she encouraged her husband to abstain from alcohol, something that would become a lifelong problem for him. Jane had a strong dislike for politics and she especially disliked Washington, D.C., creating a tension in their marriage as the result of their differing core values and priorities.
The Pierces had three sons, all of whom died in childhood. Franklin, Jr. died 3 days after his birth in 1836. Frank Robert died at the age of four in 1843 from typhoid fever. It was the death of their son 11 years old son Benjamin on January 6, 1853 that was most traumatic for the grieving parents. Benny was killed in a train accident before Pierce's inauguration when the train derailed near and rolled down an embankment near Andover, Massachusetts. Pierce and Jane survived, but in the wreckage they found poor Benny crushed to death, his body nearly decapitated. Pierce was not able to hide the gruesome sight from his wife. The tragedy caused the Pierces both to suffer severe depression afterward. Jane believed that the train accident was divine punishment for her husband's pursuit and acceptance of high office. She wrote a lengthy letter of apology to "Benny" for her failings as a mother and avoided social functions for much of her time as First Lady. For nearly two years, she remained in the upstairs living quarters of the White House, spending her days writing letters to her dead son. Her social duties were performed by her aunt Abby Kent-Means and her close friend Varina Davis, wife of War Secretary Jefferson Davis. She made her first official appearance as First Lady at a New Year's Day reception in 1855 and thereafter served as White House hostess irregularly.
Jane Pierce remained in New Hampshire as Pierce departed for his inauguration, which she did not attend. Pierce, who was the youngest man to be elected president to that point, chose to affirm his oath of office on a law book rather than swear it on a Bible, as all of his predecessors except John Quincy Adams had done. In his inaugural address he referred to how the Americans who fought the Revolution had done so "under the guidance of a manifest and beneficent Providence". In the penultimate paragraph of his address, he said:
"But let not the foundation of our hope rest upon man's wisdom. It will not be sufficient that sectional prejudices find no place in the public deliberations. It will not be sufficient that the rash counsels of human passion are rejected. It must be felt that there is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence."
Many historians suggest that Pierce was not an especially religious man during his presidency. But at least one historian, Michael Gerhardt, the author of The Forgotten Presidents: Their Untold Constitutional Legacy, claims that Pierce sought solace for his grief from his Episcopalian religion.
Pierce's popularity declined sharply after he supported the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which nullified the Missouri Compromise. Passage of the act led to violent conflict over the expansion of slavery in the American West. Pierce expected to be renominated by the Democrats in the 1856 presidential election, but he was abandoned by his party after being seen as not electable.
After leaving the White House, the Pierces remained in Washington for more than two months, before moving to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The couple spent the next three years traveling, beginning with a stay in Madeira and followed by tours of Europe and the Bahamas. When he returned to the United States, he criticized New England Protestant ministers, who largely supported abolition and Republican candidates, describing their actions as "heresy and treason".
As the Democratic Convention of 1860 approached, some asked Pierce to run as a compromise candidate that could unite the fractured party, but Pierce refused. As several southern states began plans to secede, Pierce sent a letter appealing to the people of Alabama to remain in the Union. When the war began, Pierce proposed an assembly of former U.S. presidents to resolve the issue, but this suggestion was not acted on. Pierce opposed the war, stating in a letter to his wife, "I will never justify, sustain or in any way or to any extent uphold this cruel, heartless, aimless, unnecessary war."
Jane Pierce died of tuberculosis in Andover, Massachusetts in December 1863. She was buried at Old North Cemetery in Concord, New Hampshire. Pierce's drinking grew worse after Jane's death. In April 1865, following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a mob gathered outside Pierce's home in Concord, demanding to know why he had not raised a flag to show his grief. Pierce courageously confronted the crowd. He expressed sadness over Lincoln's death but said that his record of military and public service proved his patriotism. This seemed to quiet the crowd.
It has been said that after Jane's death, Pierce grew increasingly spiritual. On the second anniversary of Jane's death, Pierce was baptized into his wife's Episcopal faith at St. Paul's Church in Concord. He found this church to be less political than his former Congregational denomination, which had alienated Democrats with anti-slavery rhetoric. He spent most of his time in Concord and his cottage at Little Boar's Head on the coast, sometimes visiting Jane's relatives in Massachusetts. Still interested in politics, he expressed optimism when Ulysses S. Grant was elected President.
Pierce's health declined further through mid-1869, as he continued to drink heavily. He returned to Concord that September, suffering from severe cirrhosis of the liver. He died at 4:35 am on October 8, 1869, 46 days before his 65th birthday. President Grant declared a day of national mourning. Newspapers across the country carried lengthy front-page stories examining Pierce's colorful and controversial career. Pierce was interred next to his wife and two of his sons in the Minot enclosure at Concord's Old North Cemetery.