PIERCE, FRANKLIN. 



569 



minister to Russia in which country he re- 

 mained about three years ; and on his return 

 home, toward the end of 1860, he was elected 

 Governor of his native State. This was on the 

 eve of the war; and, in those ever-mem- 

 orable events which marked the outbreak of 

 hostilities between the North and the South, 

 the deceased ex-Governor took a prominent 

 part. The name of Governor Pickens is insep- 

 arably associated with the story of Fort Sum- 

 ter, and with the overt acts which precipi- 

 tated the war. Governor Pickens was one 

 of the most active promoters of secession. 

 No sooner had he been inaugurated as Gov- 

 ernor, than he boldly declared for the dis- 

 ruption of the Union, even at the risk of war ; 

 and, immediately after the Charleston Conven- 

 tion had passed the Ordinance of Secession, 

 he issued his proclamation, declaring the with- 

 drawal of South Carolina from the Union an 

 accomplished fact, taking steps .at the same 

 time for organizing an independent govern- 

 ment. He then demanded of Major Anderson 

 the surrender of Fort Sumter, and, upon the 

 refusal of that officer to comply with the 

 demand, ordered that fire should be opened 

 upon the fort. Upon the capture of Sumter, 

 he addressed the people of Charleston, calling 

 God to witness, in the course of his speech, 

 that, so long as he remained their Chief Magis- 

 trate, no power on earth should ever lower 

 from the fortress the flags that had been raised 

 in place of the national ensign, unless they 

 were lowered and trailed in a sea of blood. 

 While he continued as Chief Magistrate of the 

 State, Governor Pickens did all in his power to 

 support the Confederate Government in its 

 prosecution of the war; but in 1862 he was 

 succeeded in that office by Governor Bonham, 

 and after the close of the war he sank into 

 comparative obscurity, in which he remained 

 until his death. 



PIERCE, FRANKLIN-, LL. D., an American 

 statesman, fourteenth President of the United 

 States, born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, 

 November 23, 1804; died at Concord, New 

 Hampshire, October 8, 1869. He was of Revo- 

 lutionary stock, his father, General Benjamin 

 Pierce, having participated in the battle of 

 Bunker Hill, and served throughout the Revo- 

 lutionary War, not leaving the army till 1784. 

 He was, subsequently, for thirteen consecutive 

 years, a member of the State Legislature, and 

 in 1827-'29, Governor of the State. The son, 

 Franklin, was sent at an early age to the acad- 

 emies at Hancock and Francetown, and in 

 1820,at the age of sixteen, entered Bowdoin Col- 

 lege, at Brunswick, Maine. During his college 

 course he taught school for one or more win- 

 ters, to replenish his somewhat scanty finances. 



Leaving college in 1824, where he had 

 graduated with honor, he returned to Hills* 

 borough, but, choosing law as his profession, he 

 soon entered the office of Judge Woodbury, at 

 Portsmouth. Moving thence to Northampton, 

 Mass., he spent the last two years of his 



preparatory studies in the law-school there, 

 and in the office of Judge Parker at Amherst, 

 and in 1827 was admitted to the bar. His 

 entry was not a brilliant one, his first case 

 proving a failure ; but he was not discouraged, 

 and, by careful study and discipline, soon 

 attained a high position as a lawyer, in a bar 

 of remarkable ability. He early took a deep 

 interest in politics, as was natural, his father 

 being a leader of the Democratic party in the 

 State. In 1829, the year of bis father's second 

 election as Governor, he was elected to the 

 State Legislature from Hillsborough. He was 

 continued in the Legislature for four years, 

 being chosen Speaker in 1832-'33. 



In 1833 he was elected to Congress, where 

 he remained for four years. His record there 

 was not particularly brilliant. He worked 

 faithfully as a member of the Judiciary and 

 other committees, always advocating the meas- 

 ures proposed by President Jackson. He sus- 

 tained Jackson's opposition to the improve- 

 ment system, opposed the establishment of a 

 military academy at West Point, and sided 

 with the Administration in every measure. 

 Being elected, in 1836, United States Senator 

 from New Hampshire, he took his seat in the 

 Senate at the beginning of the Administration 

 of Mr. Van Buren, in 1837, the youngest mem- 

 ber of that body. He saw that his time for 

 distinction was yet to come. Such men as 

 Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Benton, Woodbury, 

 and- Silas Wright, occupied every avenue to 

 reputation, and engrossed the attention of all 

 hearers. Pierce spoke little, working on com- 

 mittees and familiarizing himself with the 

 affairs which demanded his attention, and soon 

 came to be looked upon as authority on the 

 subjects of Revolutionary pensions and the 

 defence of the country. 



In 1840 Mr. Van Buren was defeated ; and, 

 for the first time in twelve years, the administra- 

 tion was taken from the hands of the Demo- 

 crats and transferred to the Whigs. An extra 

 session of Congress was called by President 

 Harrison, who did not live to see it assemble, 

 and an effort was to be made, to overthrow 

 some of the acts in regard to national bank- 

 ing, the tariff, etc., which had been the 

 especial favorites of the Democracy. During 

 this time Mr. Pierce was looked upon by the 

 Democrats as their ablest defender, and some 

 of his speeches on the questions of the day 

 are among his most eloquent efforts. 



A political life is not necessarily a pecu- 

 niarily successful one, and Mr. Pierce, who had 

 in 1834 married a daughter of the Rev. Dr. 

 Appleton, ex-President of Bowdoin College, 

 found a family growing up around him with 

 very little provision made for their future sup- 

 port. He, therefore, in 1842, gave up his seat 

 in the Senate and removed again to Concord. 

 Although he entered the Senate without a 

 reputation as a lawyer, he returned to find a 

 most remunerative practice awaiting him. A 

 writer of the day says : "It is a convincing 



