We made it to 60 days on the road!
We checked online and learned that the President Franklin Pierce home opens at 10, so we didn’t have to rush to get there. It would fit perfectly into our day plans.
About a dozen miles from our Keyser Pond Campground is Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Pierce’s home. Well, this home actually belonged to his father, Benjamin Pierce, a frontier farmer who became a Revolutionary War soldier, a state militia general, and a two-time governor of New Hampshire.
I didn’t know much about Franklin Pierce, probably one of the more obscure U.S. Presidents, but I was interested. Paintings and photographs portrayed him to be one of the most handsome presidents ever. He was the first president born in the 19th century (on a side note, JFK was the first president born in the 20th century). He served from March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1857, and the last president born in a log cabin, which is now located on the bottom of Franklin Pierce Lake, a nearby man-made lake.
He began his presidency exhausted and in mourning. Two months before his inauguration, on January 6, 1853, the President-elect's family had boarded a train in Boston, and was trapped in their derailed car when it rolled down an embankment near Andover, Massachusetts. Pierce and his wife, Jane Means Appleton Pierce, survived, merely shaken up, but saw their surviving 11-year-old son Benjamin crushed to death. None of his three children lived to see him serve as President. She viewed the train accident as a divine punishment for her husband's pursuit and acceptance of high office. They went to the White House in the depths of depression. His wife wore black the entire time she served as first lady.
He chose to "affirm" his oath of office rather than swear it, becoming the first president to do so; he placed his hand on a law book rather than on a Bible while doing so. He was also the first president to recite his inaugural address from memory. He was sometimes referred to as "Baby" Pierce. The nickname seemingly referred to his youthful appearance and his being the youngest president to take office to that point.
Like his immediate predecessors, he proved powerless in his attempts to stem the tide of civil war. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, to which he gave his full support, was aimed at easing the conflict in the Midwestern territories by establishing popular sovereignty – the idea was to allow residents to choose for themselves whether their states would be free or slave states.
Unfortunately the results were disastrous, with Kansas erupting into a bitter, bloody conflict. What the nation needed was not a popular sovereignty, but strong decisive leadership. Franklin Pierce proved unequal for the task. In later years he openly opposed the Civil War, calling the bloodshed a tragedy and the goal the Union by force “an impossibility.”
Pierce has been ranked among the least effective Presidents. Because of his political leanings, he was abandoned by his party and not re-nominated to run in the 1856 presidential election and was replaced by James Buchanan as the Democratic candidate. After losing the Democratic nomination, Pierce continued his lifelong struggle with alcoholism as his marriage fell apart. His reputation was all but totally destroyed during the Civil War when he declared support for the Confederacy, and personal correspondence between Pierce and Confederate President Jefferson Davis was leaked to the press. He died in 1869 from cirrhosis.
None of this, except for the part about the his father, the log cabin and the house was offered as part of the tour we received from the cute little lady dressed in a period piece who was to give us our tour. She was the only person on site, selling items in the tiny gift shop, selling admission tickets to the house, as well as providing the actual tour.
She did however relate some interesting stories about the President’s home life and was eager to announce that the percentage of authentic items in the home was the highest of any presidential home. Her presentation was probably one of the better ones I’ve ever been on, since not only was she very knowledgeable about her subject, but her personality was a kick to boot. This was not a part of the National Park system, but rather a private vendor working in conjunction with the New Hampshire state park system. It turned out her father, a retired Army veteran, had taken it upon himself to preserve this little bit of history, and now she was slowly taken over as he was slowing down.
We were the first people to appear and for a while it appeared that we’d be the only ones to take the tour. But while we were waiting for her, two more couples arrived, one with two young daughters. During the tour, we heard the entry bell ring, and since she was the only person there, she had to excuse herself, and came back minutes later with another couple to add to the tour.We were admonished not to shoot any photographs inside the house, but when she left to admit the last couple, I took it upon myself to break that rule. Oh well.
After leaving the Pierce homestead, we continued westward through the New Hampshire and into Vermont ski country, stopping to have lunch on a mountain pass with a great view of the countryside.
In a short while we were in once again in New York, headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame. A few miles outside of Cooperstown we found a KOA with its own fish-stocked lake, which didn’t do that much for me since fish hate me. We pulled in and got a site overlooking the lake, but the view was almost totally blocked by another 5th wheel trailer.
Because we were just staying the night, we elected only to get water and electricity hook-ups, no sewer, and we didn’t even unhook the trailer, which would make leaving tomorrow quick and easy.
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