Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States. Shortly before he and his wife Jane moved into the White House they were struck with tragedy when a railcar the Pierce family was traveling in derailed. President Pierce and Jane survived, but their 11-year-old son Benny was killed.
While Pierce didn’t distinguish himself as one of the country’s greatest leaders, he did successfully open trade relations with Japan, a major coup as since Japan had refused to entertain trade prior and had in fact closed its borders to foreigners back in 1683. When U.S. Representative Commodore Matthew Perry returned to the states after the successful signing of the treaty, he brought gifts to Pierce from the Japanese. Among these gifts were 7 teacup sized dogs.
These dogs were possibly the breed known as the Japanese Chin. Highly valued by the Japanese, they were toy-sized dogs, although in the 1800s this size dog was called a “sleeve” dog – so named because they could fit into the sleeve of a kimono.
Varina Davis, wife of then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, described the dogs as having “a head like a bird with a blunt beak, eyes large and popped, and a body like a newborn puppy of the smallest kind.” Varuna went on to add that these dogs were so small that they could scamper around on a coffee saucer.
These “sleeve” dogs arrived in the White House a day before Commodore Perry, and Pierce was reportedly delighted with them. According to Varuna Davis, the day the dogs showed up, Pierce “appeared at the Jefferson Davis household exclaiming ‘General, I have a dog for you!’” President Pierce gave one of the Chins to Secretary Davis, who named the dog Bonin and could from then on often be seen carrying the little dog around in his pocket.
President Pierce kept one dog and gave the others to friends (including Secretary Davis.) Little more is known about the dogs or which one the President might have kept. But one thing is for sure – for such small dogs, they certainly won over some very important men and represented a major trade accomplishment between two of the strongest countries in the world.