Col. Benjamin Kendrick Pierce

Benjamin Kendrick Pierce once described his life as having been like "a leaf in the breeze" and it surely was.

Born the eldest son, and 2nd child, of Gov Benjamin Pierce, Benjamin K grew up in Hillsboro NH, attended local schools... entered Dartmouth College in 1807...studied law with David Street in Hillsboro NH... enlisted in the US Army... was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant...promoted to Captain... was ordered to Mackinac Island, Michigan where he met and married Josette LaFramboise (which was not received well back East..his wife being of mixed French and Indian blood and a Catholic, to boot)...became a father to 2 children (Harriet and Langdon)...lost his son and wife shortly after the boy's birth...was re-assigned to Pensacola,Florida; leaving Harriet with his sister Elizabeth McNeil...married Amanda Boykin while stationed in Shasta,Alabama in 1823..promoted to Brevet Major....was reassigned to Norfolk, Virginia...made permanent commander of Fort Delaware,Michigan in 1827...lost his wife Amanda to disease in 1831; shortly before the Fort was destroyed by fire...ordered again to Fort Defiance in Florida..brevated Lt Col in 1836..took command of Fort Hamilton NY in 1827..ordered back to Florida where he erected a blockhouse in 1838 (which became FORT PIERCE)..married Louisa Read in Baltimore, MD....assigned to Ft Houlton in Maine in 1839...promoted to full Lt Col in 1842...was stationed to Ft Adams in Rhode Island...Benjamin Pierce died in New York City in 1850.

 Throughout his many assignments he would either have his children Harriet, Elizabeth, Amanda and Charlotte visit him but most often they were either some or all in the care of his sister Elizabeth (wife of Gen John McNeil) or with  family friends...he lost 3 wives (by natural causes) and 3 sons at young ages (Langdon..by Josette..named after a former NH Governor), Henry Jackson, and Benjamin K Jr)...was ultimately buried at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Kings County, NY with his daughter Elizabeth buried at the same site..

Tales of the Great Lakes/Early Chicago Fort Dearborn/Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin/Ft Delaware at wikipedia/St Lucie Historical Society/NH Historical Society-Pierce letters (courtesy of Peter Wallner,head genealogist)/NEHGS/Miley's Memos -rootsweb ancestry.com/USG archives-Mackinac vital records/Mackinac County-MIGenWeb project/Pierce Genealogy by Frederick Clifton Pierce pp 165-166/Interview with Jim Halbe-transcript of 11/11/1967 speech/list of NH Governors/Franklin Pierce & the American Democracy/Cypress Hills Natl Cemetery, Kings County NY......

   A career military man, Benjamin Kendrick Pierce was the eldest son of Gov Benjamin Pierce and Anna Kendrick and second child born to Benjamin. His elder half-sister Elizabeth was born to Benjamin and Elizabeth Andrews. 

   Born and raised in Hillsboro NH, he attended Phillip's Academy and entered Dartmouth in 1807, where he studied for three years.He then went to study law with David Starrett of Hillsborough, until the outbreak of war with Great Britain (the War of 1812) when he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the US Army.

  While stationed with the Artillery at Ft Mackinac he became Captain, married the daughter of a prominent local fur trader (Madame LaFramboise) . This marraige was not totally approved back East since Josette LaFramboise was of mixed ancestry..however, it was a very good alliance.

 Josette LaFramboise died in childbirth after giving Benjamin K a daughter Harriet and a son Langdon (named for a former NH Governor). Unfortunately, the son died soon after his mother...Harriet, the daughter, was left in the care of Elizabeth McNeil,his sister, while Benjamin K was ordered to Florida by the military..

  There he was brevetted Lt Colonel for his service in defense at Fort Drane, Florida. During the next few years he was deployed to New York, Delaware, again to Florida (where he established what is now known as FORT PIERCE...

  During one duty station  he met and married a second time, to an Amanda Boykin and had daughters Elizabeth (who never married), Charlotte and Amanda (who married into another branch of the Boykin family)...it appears, from reading " Our Worthy Commander" by Louis Burbey and reading letters to family members (held at the NH Historical Society) that he also had two other sons...both of whom died. The only mention of a son living beyond the first couple of years was of a Benjamin Jr, but ; alas, he also died at or before the age of ten...

 In 1838, while stationed near Baltimore, Maryland, Benjamin Kendrick married again....to a Louisa Read... no information regarding her is currently known..

 In the 1840's he was briefly stationed in or near Holden, Maine..his daughter Harriet met and married Lt James Brewerton Ricketts, and he was, as often was the case...reunited with his children. Because of his brother-in-law's retirement from the Military (Col John McNeil)...Benjamin's daughters were within the care of that family while they were in Boston, Mass.

 Pierce later transferred to Plattsburgh, New York and New York City...

 He never fully regained full health after his years in Florida and died in New York City in 1850; having outlived most of his children

*Per Cypress Hills National Cemetery lists Benjamin K Pierce , Lt Col. 1ST US ART, NH, is buried at Plot 20 along with daughter Elizabeth Pierce.

Info from :

• St Lucie County Historical Society, St Lucie, Florida
• Massachusetts NEHGS
• Fort Delaware/Wikipedia
• Amanda Boykin Pierce/Find A Grave
• Benjamin K Pierce/Find A Grave
• Benjamin K Pierce-Fort Wiki
• Gentner Family Tree, pg 330

* History of Hillsboro NH by George Waldo Browne, Vol 2, pg 461.

DISCLAIMERS: Altho a son Daniel is noted in http://fortwiki.com/Benjamin_K._Pierce no mention is found in either letters written to his family or research into the life and history of Madame Laframboise (Josette's mother) to support the existence of such a named son; nor for any child to be cared for by her; especially since his daughter was cared for by his sister Elizabeth and her husband John McNeil at Mackinac after his reassignment to Florida. And Louis Burbey's "Our Worthy Commander" states that a son, Benjamin K. Jr. attended West Point: but I believe that this is NOT the correct ; but his sister Elizabeth's son Benjamin; since his child, Benjamin, is notated in records of Immanuel Episcopal Church at New Castle.

Also noted: 1820 Census for Michigan,Michilimackinack County shows: Pierce, Benjamin K

white males under 10....1 white males 26-44...........1 white females under 10..2 white female 26-44..........1

Pierce, John S white male 26-44..............1 white female 26-44...........1

We know that Benjamin K did NOT have 2 female children by Josette, BUT that a girl was born to John S Pierce in 1820...it would appear that the census confused the two families....AND no 2nd male child (other than Langdon) is indicated by the count.

Henry Jackson Pierce, a son; along with Benjamin Kendrick Jr, is mentioned and notated by the records of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church at New Castle, Delaware as being buried with his mother and Benjamin Jr.

There is so little info regarding his 3rd marriage to Louisa Reed.. Index card re letter written by Franklin Pierce regarding attending Benjamin's 1838 marriage gives a little credence to the event.

BENJAMIN K. PIERCE ...... Birth: Aug. 29, 1790 Hillsboro Hillsborough County New Hampshire, USA Death: Apr. 1, 1850, USA

Family links:

Parents:

 Benjamin Pierce (1757 - 1839)

 Anna Kendrick Pierce (1768 - 1838)

Spouse:

 Amanda Boykin Pierce (1805 - 1831)*

Children:

 Harriet Josephine Pierce Ricketts (1818 - 1854)*

 Elizabeth Boykin Pierce (1827 - 1847)*

 Charlotte Boykin Pierce Lang (1828 - 1852)*

 Henry Jackson Pierce (1829 - 1830)*

 Amanda Pierce Boykin (1830 - 1857)*

 Benjamin Kendrick Pierce (1831 - 1831)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Cypress Hills National Cemetery Brooklyn Kings County New York, USA Plot: , 20

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Maintained by: Peggy Wilkins Originally Created by: US Veterans Affairs Offi... Record added: Mar 03, 2000 Find A Grave Memorial# 2596239

• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2596239