The Christmas Tree the 14th President Franklin Pierce, is accreted with setting up the first indoor Tree. And like everything else when it comes to politics even the Tree had controversy. Some claim the first tree was set by Benjamin Harrison. In 1899 the White House of President William McKinley received letters urging the president to forgo participation in the "Christmas tree habit". The letter writers, which the Chicago Daily Tribune noted had taken up the "forestry fad", referred to "arboreal infanticide", according to the Tribune. Those opposed to a tree in the White House that year also termed Christmas trees "un-American" because it was a historically German tradition. At least one tree was displayed in the White House that year, in the kitchen department, for the maids.
Franklin was born 23 November 1804 Hillsborough N.H. described as handsome, charming and interesting. Frank attended Bowdoin College in 1824 and began studying law; he was admitted to the bar in 1827. At 24, he won election to the New Hampshire state legislature, and two years later he became its speaker. A member of the Democratic Party and a steadfast supporter of Andrew Jackson, Pierce began serving in Congress in 1833. He married Jane Appleton (1806-1863), the daughter of a former Bowdoin president in 1834. They had 3 children, Franklin Pierce, Jr. (February 2–4, 1836) Franklin "Frank" Robert Pierce (1839 – 1843) – died at age four from epidemic typhus and Benjamin Pierce (April 13, 1841 – January 16, 1853) – train accident, he was the only fatality.
The Pierces apparently had genuine affection for each other, but they quarreled often—preferring private life, she opposed his decision to run for president—and gradually they drifted apart. When Benny was killed in a train accident before the swearing-in on January 6, 1853, Jane believed that God was displeased with her husband's political ambitions. On March 4, the presidential inauguration took place and Jane was not present for the ceremony. She distanced herself during her husband's presidency, wrapped in melancholia after losing every one of her young children. She never recovered from the tragedy. She died of tuberculosis
Franklin was the son of Benjamin (1757-1839) an American Revolutionary Lieut. and Governor of New Hampshire his mother Anna Kendrick (1769-1838) was Benjamin second wife. Like his father and brother Franklin became active in the Military and after being in the New Hampshire Militias, he joined the Mexican-American War.he was promoted to Brigadier General on 3 March 1847. He returns to Concord in 1847 and resigned from the Army. His military exploits elevated his popularity in New Hampshire, but his injuries and subsequent troubles in battle led to accusations of cowardice which would long shadow him. He had demonstrated competence as a general, especially in the initial march from Vera Cruz, but his short tenure and his injury left little for historians to judge his ability as a military commander.
In 1853 Pierce, then the youngest man to be elected president, chose to affirm his oath of office on a law book rather than swear it on a Bible, as all his predecessors except John Quincy Adams had done. He was the first president to deliver his inaugural address from memory
He died on 8 October 1869 in Concord, New Hampshire. He was suffering from severe cirrhosis of the liver. He is interred next to his wife and sons in Old North cemetery, Concord, New Hampshire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Christmas_tree#First_tree
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/franklin-pierce
https://www.biography.com/people/jane-pierce-9440403
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/franklin-pierce/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/814/franklin-pierce
