Today in U.S. Presidential History: 1804 - Future 14th US President Franklin Pierce was born in a log cabin in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, the fifth of eight children born to Benjamin Pierce and his second wife, Anna Kendrick (his first wife Elizabeth Andrews died in childbirth, leaving a daughter). Benjamin was by then a prominent Democratic-Republican state legislator, farmer, and tavern-keeper. During Franklins childhood, his father was deeply involved in state politics, while two of his older brothers fought in the War of 1812. Public affairs and the military were a major influence in his early life. Franklins father, sought to ensure that his sons were educated and placed him in a school at Hillsborough Center in childhood and sent him to the town school at Hancock at the age of 12. Franklin was not fond of schooling. Growing homesick at Hancock, he walked 12 miles back to his home one Sunday. His father fed him dinner and drove him part of the distance back to school before kicking him out of the carriage and ordering him to walk the rest of the way in a thunderstorm. Franklin later cited this moment as the turning-point in my life. Later that year he transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy to prepare for college. By this time he had built a reputation as a charming student who was sometimes prone to misbehavior. In fall 1820, Franklin entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, one of nineteen freshmen. He joined the Athenian Society, a progressive literary society, alongside Jonathan Cilley (later elected to Congress) and Nathaniel Hawthorne (the author), with whom he formed lasting friendships. Last in his class after two years, he worked hard to improve his grades and in 1824 graduated in fifth place in a graduating class of fourteen. (Compiled from Wikipedia.org)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 03:46:49 +0000
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