Jane Means Pierce (née Appleton; March 12, 1806 – December 2, 1863) was the wife of Franklin Pierce and the first lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857. She married Franklin Pierce, then a congressman, in … See more

The Pierces lived in Washington for a month after the end of Franklin's presidential term and then toured New England during the summer. They traveled abroad for two years, returning home to purchase 60 acres (24 ha) of land in Concord before … See more

Appleton met Franklin Pierce after he moved to Amherst to study law at Bowdoin. One anecdote suggests that they met during a thunderstorm when he implored her not to … See more

In 1852, Pierce's husband received the Democratic Party nomination for president. She is said to have fainted upon hearing the news. He had deceived her about his presidential … See more

The general public's first impression of Pierce was in a biography of her husband by family friend Nathaniel Hawthorne at the beginning of Franklin's campaign. It emphasized her poor … See more

Pierce was a Puritan, and this formed the basis of her worldview. Her religious beliefs impressed on her the conviction that suffering was punishment from God. She strongly opposed Washington's political and social culture, lamenting the regular parties and … See more