The students rebelled and went on strike, an event that Pierce was suspected of leading.[11] During his final year at Bowdoin, he spent several months teaching at Hebron Academy in rural Hebron, Maine, where he earned his first salary and his students included future Congressman John J. Perry.[12][13]
Pierce read law briefly with former New Hampshire Governor Levi Woodbury, a family friend in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.[14] He then spent a semester at Northampton Law School in Northampton, Massachusetts, followed by a period of study in 1826 and 1827 under Judge Edmund Parker in Amherst, New Hampshire. He was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in late 1827 and began to practice in Hillsborough.[15] He lost his first case, but soon proved capable as a lawyer. Despite never being a legal scholar, his memory for names and faces served him well, as did his personal charm and deep voice.[16] In Hillsborough, his law partner was Albert Baker, who had studied law under Pierce and was the brother of Mary Baker Eddy.