The First of a series of important events—the First solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, the First landing on the moon, the First Thanksgiving—holds an honored place in the human memory and in the bank of history. The First Christmas Tree in the White House was very special, not only because it inaugurated an esteemed tradition, but what it meant to America’s First Lady.
Two months before the inauguration of Franklin Pierce, America’s 14th president, his only surviving child, Bennie, age eleven, was killed in a railroad accident. Jane Appleton Pierce, whose two other sons died in early childhood, fell into a deep melancholy. She did not attend her husband’s inauguration. In fact, she wanted nothing to do with Washington, D.C. Becoming “First Lady” meant nothing to her in the face of lost motherhood. Her grief, despite her abiding Christian faith, like that of Rachel, could not be consoled.
2012 White House Christmas Tree
Rather than join her husband in Washington, Mrs. Pierce remained in Boston and did not leave for several days. Friends convinced her that she should join her husband in the nation’s capitol. She traveled as far as Baltimore, but stayed there for several weeks. President Pierce visited her there as often as he could. At last, he was able to persuade her to accompany him back to Washington.
Poor Mrs. Pierce, the “very picture of melancholy,” as one person described her, had staterooms at the White House draped in black in honor of Bennie. She refused to take part in any political functions and secluded herself in two rooms on the second floor where she spent much of her time writing long letters to her lost child. She would give the letters to Sidney Webster, confidential secretary to the president, who would routinely promise to “get them in the mail right away”. She came to exemplify, according to Washington gossips, “The Shadow of the White House.”
The First Lady’s unrelieved, dark mood was, naturally, of great concern to her husband as well as to White House staff members. Sidney Webster, together with some of his co-workers, hoping to bring some cheer into the life of Mrs. Pierce, came up with a bold, though psychologically risky, idea. They would arrange for a Christmas tree to be set up inside the White House and a group of youngsters to sing carols. With the president’s approval, the plan went ahead. It would all be, they hoped and prayed, for Mrs. Pierce’s benefit.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, the president’s grieving wife was led downstairs by her husband to the door of the East Room. As the door opened, boys and girls from the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church began singing “Away in a Manger.”
Jane Pierce, completely taken by surprise, wept so vigorously that she shook. As she began to regain her composure, she became entranced by the brightly decorated tree and was beguiled by the children raising their voices in honor of a Savior born in a manger.
According to Washington chronicles, Jane Appleton Pierce then produced the first radiant smile that anyone in the capitol had ever seen flash upon her face. “Thank you, boys and girls, for your beautiful carols,” she said. “Keep your places, please, while Mr. Snow [the informal chief of staff] goes to see what sweetmeats Cook has made ready for your visit.” Turning to her husband and still radiant with surprise and joy, she embraced him and exclaimed: “Thank you, Mr. Pierce, for the most wonderful Christmas tree in the world. Best of all, Bennie is looking down from heaven and is enjoying it with us. That means I won’t even have to write him a letter to describe it! Thank you for the most wonderful Christmas surprise I ever had!”
One cannot underestimate the value that the grace of the Christmas Season and the countless expressions of peace bring to people of good will. Honoring the babe born in Bethlehem in decoration and in song provides an unfailing benediction. The First Christmas Tree in the White House, in 1856, may have proven to have been the most salutary.
Dr. Donald DeMarco is a Senior Fellow of Human Life International. He is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, CT, and a regular columnist for St. Austin Review. His latest works, How to Remain Sane in a World That is Going Mad and Poetry That Enters the Mind and Warms the Heart are available through Amazon.com.
Articles by Don:
- In Solitary Witness
- Sweet Land of Liberty. . .Let Freedom Ring
- Fear of Science
- When a Lie is More Than a Lie
- The Republic of Choice In a Culture of Death
