£s.d.By Building the Addition to my House2622 Arches at 6/612900 Coins & Returns at 6/214A Frontispiece310Underpinning & altering the Cellar2raising a Chimney15building an Oven15building a Kiln1building a Kitchen9103 Arches at 6/182 Plain Doat 2/65500 Coins & returns at 6/11055190
Expensive stone was imported for the house by Captain Roger Lyndon, master of theMarigold, whose account occurs in the ledger:
£s.d.1749AprilBy 630 Bricks at 20/ prm.10DecrBy Gen’l Charges forhewn Stone from MrNicholson[98]651641750JuneBy Gen’l Charges forsundrys by the MarigoldBy Do for freight ofStones to my House5
It is interesting to note that bricks, probably carried from England as ballast, were brought by Captain Lyndon.
Figure 11.—Fireplace mantelsillustrated in William Salmon’sPalladio Londonensis.(Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)
Not all the hewn stone was fashioned in England.William Copein, a Prince William County mason, and Job Wigley were employed together in 1749 to the amount of £2 8s. In 1750 Copein was paid by Mercer for 64 days of work at 3s. 1d. per day, totaling £9 17s. 4d. Copein was another accomplished craftsman, the marks of whose skill still are to be seen in the carved stone doorways of Aquia Church in Stafford County and in the baptismal font at Pohick Church in Fairfax.
The design of the house will be considered in more detail later in the light of both archeological and documentary evidence. It is already quite clear, however, that the new mansion was remarkably elaborate, reflecting the workmanship of some of Virginia’s best craftsmen. The most significant clues to its inspiration are found in the titles of four books which Mercer purchased in 1747. These are listed in the inventory of his books in Ledger G as follows:
“Hoppne’s Architecture.” This was probablyThe Gentlemans and Builders Repository on Architecture Displayed. Designs Regulated and Drawn by E. Hoppus, and engraved by B. Cole. Containing useful and requisite problems in geometry ... etc, (1738). Edward Hoppus was “Surveyor to the Corporation of the London Assurance.” He also edited Salmon’sPalladio Londonensis. We find no writer on architecture named Hoppne and assume this was a mistake.“Salmon’s Palladio Londonensis.”Palladio Londonensis: or the London Art of Building, by William Salmon, which appeared in at least two editions, in 1734 and in 1738, had a profound influence on the formal architecture of the colonies during the mid-century.“Palladio’s Architecture.” The Italian Andrea Palladio was the underlying source of English architectural thought from Christopher Wren down to Robert Adam. Underthe patronage of Lord Burlington, this book was brought out in London in an English translation by Giacomo Leoni under the titleThe Architecture of A. Palladio; in Four Books. It had appeared in three editions prior to this inventory, in 1715, 1721, and 1742, according to Fiske Kimball (Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early Republic; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1924, p. 58). Mercer probably owned one of these. “Langley’s City & Country Builder.”City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Designby Battey Langley, 1740, 1745. This was another copybook much used by builders and provincial architects.
“Hoppne’s Architecture.” This was probablyThe Gentlemans and Builders Repository on Architecture Displayed. Designs Regulated and Drawn by E. Hoppus, and engraved by B. Cole. Containing useful and requisite problems in geometry ... etc, (1738). Edward Hoppus was “Surveyor to the Corporation of the London Assurance.” He also edited Salmon’sPalladio Londonensis. We find no writer on architecture named Hoppne and assume this was a mistake.
“Salmon’s Palladio Londonensis.”Palladio Londonensis: or the London Art of Building, by William Salmon, which appeared in at least two editions, in 1734 and in 1738, had a profound influence on the formal architecture of the colonies during the mid-century.
“Palladio’s Architecture.” The Italian Andrea Palladio was the underlying source of English architectural thought from Christopher Wren down to Robert Adam. Underthe patronage of Lord Burlington, this book was brought out in London in an English translation by Giacomo Leoni under the titleThe Architecture of A. Palladio; in Four Books. It had appeared in three editions prior to this inventory, in 1715, 1721, and 1742, according to Fiske Kimball (Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early Republic; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1924, p. 58). Mercer probably owned one of these. “Langley’s City & Country Builder.”City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Designby Battey Langley, 1740, 1745. This was another copybook much used by builders and provincial architects.
Figure 12.—Doorways illustrated in William Salmon’sPalladio Londonensis(the London Art of Building), one of the books used by William Bromley, the chief joiner who worked on Mercer’s mansion. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)
All four of these books were listed in succession in the ledger and bracketed together. Next to the bracket are the initials “WB,” to indicate that the books had been lent to someone who bore those initials. In this case it is virtually certain that the initials are those of William Bromley, to whom the books would have been of utmost importance in designing the woodwork of the house.
Door hardware was purchased from William Jordan in June 1749, according to an item for “Locks & Hinges” that amounted to the large sum of £13 8s. 8d.
DOMESTIC FURNISHINGS
As the mansion progressed, so did the acquisition of furnishings suitable to its elegance. As early as 1742, doubtless in anticipation of the new house, Mercer had bought from Hunter a “lanthorn,” three porringers, two cotton counterpanes at 27s., a plate warmer for 7s. 6d., a half-dozen plates for 3s. 6d., a half-dozen deep plates for 6s., a dozen “Stone Coffee cups” for 18d., a dozen knives and forks for 3s., two tin saucepans at 4d. each, and “4 Dishes, 19½ lib.” (obviously large pewter chargers). In 1743 he bought “5 gallon Basons 4/7” and “2 pottle Basons at 2/4” (for toilet use), “1 Soop Spoon 1/,” and “1 Copper Chocolate pot 7/6 & mull Stick 6d,” “2 blew & WtJugs 2/” (probably Westerwald stoneware), and “1 Flanders Bed Bunt, 25” (colored cotton or linen used for bedcovers).
In 1744 Mercer acquired from Charles Dick 4 candlesticks for a penny each, 2 pairs of large hinges, a “hair sifter,” “2 kitchen buck hand knives,” 12 cups and saucers for 2s., “1 milkmaid 2d” (probably a shoulder yoke), and “1 bucket ½d.” In 1745 a 5-gallon “Stone bottle” for 3s. 6d., “1 doz. butcher knives,” a hearthbroom, six spoons for a shilling, a pair of scissors, “8 Chamberdoor Locks wthbrass knobs £2,” and “1 Sett finest China 35/, 2 punch bowls ... 2.7” were purchased.
The following year Mercer paid a total of £23 for a silver sugar dish, weighing 8 oz., 5 dwt.; one dozen teaspoons and tray, 8 oz., 7 dwt.; a teapot and frame, 26 oz., 8 dwt. This lot of silver probably was bought at second hand, having been referred to as “Pugh’s Plate pdEdwdWright as by Rect.” He paid John Coke, a Williamsburg silversmith, £1 6s. for engraving and cleaning it. In the meanwhile, in 1745, he had sold Coke £6 worth of old silver. He also sold a quantity of “old Plate” for £15 17s. 3d. to Richard Langton in England through Sydenham & Hodgson. In 1747 he made a large purchase of silver from the silversmith William King[99]of Williamsburg:
oz.dwt.£s.d.May 1747By BernardMoore for1 Cup5113083By JamesPower for1 Waiter87½4142½By a pair ofSauceboats258By a largeWaiter29348113½By a smallerDo238By a small Do8814815½ @ 11/384139
In March 1748, Mercer settled with Captain Lyndon for the following:
£s.d.1superfine large gilt Sconce glass6161Do551Walnut & gold Do2101Marble Sideboard 32/6 Bragolo [sic] 32/635
The following June he bought a marble table from William Jordan and in October “4 looking Glasses,” which Jordan obtained from Sydenham & Hodgson.
Figure 13.—Table-deskmade in 1749 for Henry Purefoy of Shalstone Manor in Buckinghamshire by John Belchier of London. In the following year, John Mercer received £43 13s. worth of “Cabinet Ware” from that noted cabinetmaker. (Reproduced fromPurefoy Letters, 1735-1753,G. Bland, ed., Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd., London, 1931, by courteous permission of the publisher.)
Meanwhile, William Walker’s brother Robert made 14 chairs for Mercer, on which William’s carver spent 54 days. The total cost was £30 8s. The quality of Mercer’s furniture is illustrated further by a purchase in 1750 from Lyonel Lyde,[100]a London merchant, of £43 13s. worth of “Cabinet Ware from Belchier.” Belchier was a leading London furniture maker, whose shop in 1750 was located on the “south side of St. Paul’s, right against the clock.” Sir Ambrose Heal, inThe London Furniture Makers, illustrates a superb japanned writing cabinet in green and gold chinoiserie made by Belchier in 1730.[101]Belchier also supplied Shalstone Manor, the Buckinghamshire estate of Henry Purefoy, with a table-desk in 1749 (fig. 13).[102]
The ledger notes other occasional purchases of furniture during this period. In 1746 Mercer paid cash “for oysters & a bedsteed,” in the amount of 10s. 6d. In September 1748, he bought “an Escritoire” from tutor John Phipps, for which he paid £5.
LIGHTING DEVICES
Artificial lighting for the manor house receives sparse mention. The four candlesticks bought in 1744 for a penny each were probably of iron or tin for kitchen use. Candlesticks purchased earlier probably remained in use, sufficing for most illumination. It is a modern misconception that colonial houses were ablaze at night with lamplight and candlelight. Candles were expensive to buy and time-consuming to make, while lamps rarely were used before the end of the century in the more refined areas of households. The principal use of candles was in guiding one’s way to bed or in providing the minimum necessary light to carry on an evening’s conversation.During cold weather, fireplaces were a satisfactory supplement. In general, early to bed and early to rise was the rule, as William Byrd has shown us, and artificial light was only a minor necessity.
Nevertheless, some illumination was needed in the halls and great rooms of colonial plantation houses, especially when guests were present—as they usually were. The three sconce glasses which Captain Lyndon delivered to Mercer in 1748 were doubtless elegant answers to this requirement. These glasses were mirrors with one or more candle branches, arranged so that the light would be reflected and multiplied. On special occasions, these, and perhaps some candelabra and a scattering of candlesticks to supplement them, provided concentrations of light; for such affairs the use of ordinary tallow candles, with their drippings and smoke, was out of the question. A pleasant alternative is indicated by the purchase in April 1749 of “11½ lib. Myrtle Wax att 5d ... 14.4½” and “4 lib Beeswax 6/” from Thomas Jones of the Eastern Shore. Similar purchases also are recorded. Myrtle wax came from what the Virginians called the myrtle bush, better known today as the bayberry bush. Its gray berries yielded a fragrant aromatic wax much favored in the colonies. In making candles it was usually mixed with beeswax, as was evidently the case here. A clean-burning, superior light source, it was nonetheless an expensive one. Burning in the brackets of the sconce glasses at Marlborough, heightening the shadows of the Palladian woodwork and, when snuffed, emitting its faint but delicious fragrance, it must have been a delight to the eyes and the nostrils alike.
NEGROES
Negroes played an increasingly important part in the life of Marlborough, particularly after the manor house was built. Between 1731 and 1750 Mercer purchased 89 Negroes. Most of these are listed by name in the ledger accounts. Forty-six died in this period, while 25 were born, leaving a total of 66 Negroes on his staff in 1750. In 1746 he bought 6 men and 14 women at £21 10s. from Harmer & King in Williamsburg. The new house and the expanded needs for service were perhaps the reasons for this largest single purchase of slaves.
There is no indication that Mercer treated his slaves other than well, or that they caused him any serious difficulties. On the other hand, his frequent reference to them by name, the recording of their children’s names and birth dates in his ledger, and the mention in his journal of new births among his slave population all attest to an essentially paternalistic attitude that was characteristic of most Virginia planters during the 18th century. Good physical care of the Negroes was motivated perhaps as much by self-interest in protecting an investment as by humane considerations, but, nonetheless, we find such items in the ledger as “To Cash pdDoctor Lynn for delivering Deborah.”
That discipline served for the Negroes as it usually did for all colonials, whether the lawbreaker were slave, bondsman, or free citizen, is indicated by an entry in the Dick account: “2 thongs wthSilk lashes 1/3.” One must bear in mind that corporal punishment was accepted universally in the 18th century. Its application to slaves, however, usually was left to the discretion of the slave owner, so that the restraint with which it was administered depended largely upon the humanity and wisdom of the master.
The use of the lash was more often than not delegated to the overseer, who was hired to run, or help run, the plantation. It was the overseer who had a direct interest in eliciting production from the field hands; a sadistic overseer, therefore, might create a hell for the slaves under him. It is clear from Mercer’s records that some of his overseers caused problems for him and that at least one was a brutal man. For October 1747 a chilling entry appears in the account of William Graham, an overseer at Bull Run Quarters: “To Negroes for one you made hang himself. £35.” Entered in the “Negroes” account, it reappears, somewhat differently: “To William Graham for Frank (Hanged) £35 Sterling. £50. 15.” This is one of several instances on record of Negroes driven to suicide as the only alternative to enduring cruelties.[103]In this case, Graham was fined 50 shillings and 1293 pounds of tobacco.
We do not know, of course, whether other Negroes listed as dead in Mercer’s account died of natural causes or whether cruel treatment contributed to their deaths. In the case of a homesick Negro named Joe, who ran away for the third time in 1745, Mercer seems reluctantly to have resorted to an offer of reward and an appeal to the law. Even so, hedeclined to place all the blame on Joe. Joe had been “Coachman to Mr. Belfield of Richmond County” and in the reward offer Mercer states that Joe
... was for some time after he first ran away lurking about the Widow Belfield’s Plantation.... He is a short, well-set Fellow, about 26 Years of Age, and took with him several cloaths, among the rest a Suit of Blue, lined and faced with Red, with White Metal Buttons, Whoever will secure and bring home the said Negroe, shall receive Two Pistoles Reward, besides what the Law allows: And as I have a great Reason to believe, that he is privately encouraged to run away, and then harboured and concealed, so that the Person or Persons so harbouring him may be thereof convicted, I will pay to such Discoverer Ten Pistoles upon Conviction. This being the third Trip he has made since I bought him inJanuarylast, I desire he may receive such Correction in his Way home as the Law directs, when apprehended.[104]
... was for some time after he first ran away lurking about the Widow Belfield’s Plantation.... He is a short, well-set Fellow, about 26 Years of Age, and took with him several cloaths, among the rest a Suit of Blue, lined and faced with Red, with White Metal Buttons, Whoever will secure and bring home the said Negroe, shall receive Two Pistoles Reward, besides what the Law allows: And as I have a great Reason to believe, that he is privately encouraged to run away, and then harboured and concealed, so that the Person or Persons so harbouring him may be thereof convicted, I will pay to such Discoverer Ten Pistoles upon Conviction. This being the third Trip he has made since I bought him inJanuarylast, I desire he may receive such Correction in his Way home as the Law directs, when apprehended.[104]
Whether Joe received the harsh punishment his offense called for is not recorded. However, in 1748 Mercer accounted for cash paid for “Joe’s Lodging & burial £3. 10.,” suggesting that Joe enjoyed death-bed care and a decent burial, even though he may have succumbed to “such correction ... as the law directs.”
As has already been suggested, his overseers seem to have given Mercer more trouble than his slaves. One was Booth Jones of Stafford, about whom Mercer confided in his ledger, “By allowed him as Overseer tho he ran away about 5 weeks before his time was out by wchI suffered more damage than his whole wages. £3. 11.” Meanwhile, in 1746 William Wheeland, an overseer at Bull Run Quarters, “imbezilled” 40 barrels of corn.
James Savage was one of the principal overseers and seems to have been in charge first at Sumner’s Quarters and then at Bull Run Quarters. John Ferguson succeeded him at the former place. William Torbutt was also at Bull Run, while Mark Canton and Nicholas Seward were overseers at Marlborough.
The outfitting of slaves with proper clothes, blankets, and coats was an important matter. It called for such purchases as 121 ells of “ozenbrigs” from Hunter in 1742. “Ozenbrigs” was a coarse cloth of a type made originally in Oznabruck, Germany,[105]and was traditionally the Negro field hand’s raiment. Many purchases of indigo point to the dying of “Virginia” cloth, woven either on the plantation or by the weavers mentioned earlier. Presumably, shoes for the Negroes were made at Marlborough, judging from a purchase from Dick of 3¼ pounds of shoe thread. The domestic servants were liveried, at least after the mansion was occupied. William Thomson, a Fredericksburg tailor, made “a Coat & Breeches [for] Bob, 11/.” Bob was apparently Mercer’s personal manservant, who had served him since 1732. Thomson also was paid £4 16s. 2d. for “Making Liveries.” The listing of such materials as “scarlet duffel” and “scarlet buttons” points to colorful outfitting of slaves.
SAILING, FISHING, HUNTING
Water transportation was essential to all the planters, most of whom owned sloops. We have seen that Mercer used a sloop for his earliest trading activities before he settled at Marlborough, and it is apparent that in the 1740’s either this same sloop or another which may have replaced it still was operated by him. Hauling tobacco to Cave’s warehouse, picking up a barrel of rum in Norfolk or a load of lumber on the Eastern Shore were vital to the success of the plantation. To equip the sloop, 14 yards of topsail, ship’s twine, and a barrel of tar were purchased in 1747. Mercer had two Negroes named “Captain” and “Boatswain,” and we may suppose that they had charge of the vessel. Such an arrangement would not have been unique, for many years after this, in 1768, Mercer wrote that “a sloop of MrRitchie’s that came around from Rappafor a load of tobacco stopped at my landing; his negro skipper brought me a letter from MrMills....”[106]
That there was considerable hunting at Marlborough is borne out by repeated references to powder, shot, gunpowder, and gunflints. Fishing may have been carried on from the sloop and also in trap-nets of the same sort still used in Potomac Creek off the Marlborough Point shore. In 1742 purchases were made of a 40-fathom seine and 3 perch lines, and in 1744 of 75 fishhooks and 2 drumlines.
BOOKS
In Ledger G, Mercer listed all the books of his library before 1746. He then listed additions as theyoccurred through 1750 (Appendix K). This astonishing catalog, disclosing one of the largest libraries in Virginia at that time, reveals the catholicity of Mercer’s tastes and the inquiring mind that lay behind them. Included in the catalog are the titles of perhaps the most important law library in the colony.
The names of all sorts of books on husbandry and agriculture are to be found in the list: “Practice of farming,” “Houghton’s Husbandry,” “Monarchy of the Bees,” “Flax,” “Grass,” and Evelyn’s “A Discourse of Sallets.” Mercer’s interest in brewing, which later was to launch a full-scale, if abortive, commercial enterprise is reflected in “London Brewer,” “Scott’s Distilling and Fermentation,” “Hops,” and the “Hop Gardin,” while “The Craftsman,” “Woollen Manufacture,” and “New Improvements” indicate his concern with the efficiency of other plantation activities.
He displayed an interest in nature and science typical of an 18th-century man: “Bacon’s Natural History,” “Gordon’s Cosmography,” “Gordon’s Geography,” “Atkinson’s Epitome of Navigation,” “Ozamun’s Mathematical Recreations,” “Keill’s Astronomy,” and “Newton’s Opticks.” Two others were “Baker’s Microscope” and “Description of the Microscope &c.” It may be significant that in 1747 Mercer bought three microscopes from one “Doctor Spencer” of Fredericksburg, the books on the subject and the instruments themselves possibly having been intended for the education of the three boys.
“150 Prints of Ovid’s Metamorphosis” appears, in addition to “Ovid’s Metamorphosis and 25 Sins,” for which Mercer paid £8 6s. to William Parks in 1746. “Catalog of Plants” and “Merian of Insects” are other titles related to natural science.
Many books on history and biography are listed—for example, “Life of Oliver Cromwell,” “Lives of the Popes,” “Life of the Duke of Argyle,” “Hughes History of Barbadoes,” “Catholick History,” “History of Virginia,” “Dr. Holde’s History of China,” “The English Acquisitions in Guinea,” “Purchas’s Pilgrimage.”
There are 25 titles under “Physick & Surgery,” reflecting the planter’s need to know the rudiments of medical care for his slaves and family. Art, architecture, and travel interested him also, and we find such titles as “Noblemen’s Seats by Kip,” “Willis’s Survey of the Cathedrals,” “8 Views of Scotland,” “Perrier’s Statues,” “Pozzo’s Perspective,” “100 Views of Brabant & Flanders,” “History of Amphitheatres.” There was but one title on music—“The Musical Miscellany,” mentioned previously. “Report about Silver Coins” was probably an English report on the exchange rate of silver coinage in the various British colonies.
Mercer kept abreast of English literature of his own and preceding generations: “Swift’s Sermons,” the “Spectator” and the “Tatler,” “Pope’s Works,” “Turkish Spy,” “Tom Brown’s Letters from the Dead to the Living,” “Pamela,” “David Simple,” “Joseph Andrews,” “Shakespeare’s Plays,” “Ben Jonson’s Works,” “Wycherley’s Plays,” “Prior’s Works,” “Savage’s Poems,” “Cowley’s Works,” and “Select Plays” (in 16 volumes), to mention but a few. The classics are well represented—“Lauderdale’s Virgil,” “Ovid’s Art of Love,” “Martial” (in Greek), as well as a Greek grammar and a Greek testament. There were the usual sermons and religious books, along with such diverse subjects as “Alian’s Tacticks of War,” “Weston’s Treatise of Shorthand” and “Weston’s Shorthand Copybook,” and “Greave’s Origin of Weights, &c.” He subscribed to theLondon Magazineand theGentleman’s Magazine, and received regularly theVirginia Gazette.
While most of Mercer’s books were for intellectual edification or factual reference, a few must have served the purpose of sheer visual pleasure. Such was Merian’s magnificent quarto volume of hand-colored engraved plates of Surinam insects, with descriptive texts in Dutch. The 18th-century gentleman’s taste for the elegant, the “curious,” and the aesthetically delightful were all satisfied in this luxurious book, which would have been placed appropriately on a table for the pleasure of Mercer’s guests.[107]
THE PETITION
Although overseeing the construction of his mansion, buying the furniture for it, and assembling a splendid library would have been sufficient to keep lesser men busy, Mercer was absorbed in other activities as well. On May 10, 1748, for example, he recorded in his journal that he went “to Raceground by James Taylor’s & WidoTaliaferro’s,”[108]traveling 50 miles to do so. On December 13, 1748, he went “toStafford Court & home. Swore to the Commission of the Peace,” thus becoming a justice of the peace for Stafford County.
Figure 14.—Archeological survey plansuperimposed over detail of 1691 plat, showing southwest corner of town developed by Mercer. It can be seen that the mansion foundation was in the area near the change of course “by the Gutt between Geo. Andrew’s & the Court house,” hence in the vicinity of the courthouse site.
In the meanwhile, years had gone by, and no action had been taken on the suit in chancery brought in the 1730’s to establish Savage’s survey of Marlborough as the official one. During this time, Mercer had continued to build on various lots other than those he owned, “relying on the Lease and Consent of [the feoffees], at the Expense of above Fifteen Hundred Pounds, which Improvements would have saved forty lots.” Finally, “judging the only effectual way to secure his Title would be to procure an Act of General Assembly for that purpose,”[109]Mercer applied to the Stafford court to purchase the county’s interest in the town, to which the court agreed on August 11, 1747, the price to be 10,000 pounds oftobacco. Since this transaction required legislative approval, Mercer filed with the House of Burgesses the petition which has served so often in these pages to tell the history of Marlborough.
Mercer argued in the petition that the county had nothing to lose—that it “had received satisfaction” for at least 30 lots, some of which he might be obliged to buy over again; that, considering the history of the town, no one but himself would be likely to take up any other lots, the last having been subscribed to in 1708; and that his purchase of the town would be not to the county’s disadvantage but rather to his own great expense. He was willing to accept an appraisal from “any one impartial person of Credit” who would say the town was worth more, and to pay “any Consideration this worshipful House shall think just.”
He pointed out that the two acres set aside for the courthouse were excluded and that they “must revert to the Heir of the former Proprietor, (who is now an Infant).” He did not indicate in the petition that he himself was the guardian of William Brent, infant heir to the courthouse property. It is most significant, therefore, that in asking for favorable action he added, “except the two acres thereof, which were taken in for a Courthouse, as aforesaid and which he is willing to lay of as this worshipful House may think most for the Benefit of Mr. William Brent, the Infant, to whom the same belongs,or to pay him double or treble the worth of the said two acres, if the same is also vested in your Petitioner.” (Italics supplied.) Plainly, Mercer had much at stake in obtaining title to the courthouse land. This supports the hypothesis that the Gregg survey of 1707 infringed on the courthouse land, that Ballard’s lot 19 on the Gregg survey overlapped it, and that Mercer’s first two houses, and now his mansion, were partly on land that rightfully belonged to his ward, William Brent. Mercer apparently had so built over all the lower part of Marlborough without regard to title of ownership, and had so committed himself to occupancy of the courthouse site, that he was now in the embarrassing position of having to look after William Brent’s interests when they were in conflict with his own. Likely it is that he had depended too much on acceptance of the still-unauthorized Savage survey to correct the previous discrepancies by means of its extra row of lots.
Still further indication that the courthouse land was at issue is found in the proceedings that followed the petition. In these, there are repeated references to Mercer’s having been called upon to testify “as the Guardian of William Brent.” Clearly, the legislators were concerned with the effect the acceptance of the petition would have on Brent’s interests. If Mercer, as seems likely, was building his mansion on the courthouse land, the burgesses had reason to question him. In any case, the House resolved in the affirmative “That the said Petition be rejected”.[110]
This setback was only temporary, however. The wider problems of Marlborough had at least been brought to light, so that by the time the next fall session was held Mercer’s 18-year-old suit to have Savage’s designated the official survey finally was acted upon:
“At a General Court held at the Court House in Williamsburg the 12th October 1749” the John Savage survey of 1731 was “Decreed & Ordered” to be “the only Survey” of Marlborough. The problem of overlapping boundaries occasioned by the conflicts between the first two surveys was solved neatly. Mercer agreed to accept lots 1 through 9, 22 and 25, and 33, 34, 42, and 43, “instead of the sd17 lots so purchased.” The new lots extended up the Potomac River shore, while the “sd17 lots” were those which he had originally purchased and had built upon. Since he had “saved” these 17 lots by building on them, according to the old laws for the town, “it is further decreed & ordered that the said Town of Marlborough grant & convey unto the sdJohn Mercer in fee such & so many other Lotts in the said Town as shall include the Houses & Improvmtsmade by the said John Mercer according to the Rate of 400 square feet of Housing for each Lot so as the Lots to be granted for any House of greater Dimensions be contiguous & are not separated from the said House by any of the Streets of the said Town.”[111]
Thus, Mercer’s original titles to 17 lots were made secure by substituting new lots for the disputed ones he had occupied. This device enabled the feoffees to sell back the original lots—at £182 per lot—with new deeds drawn on the basis of the Savage survey. The final provision that lots be contiguous when a house larger than the minimum 400 square feet was built on them, and that the house and lots should not be separated by streets from each other, guaranteed the integrity of the mansion and its surroundingland. No mention was made here, or in subsequent transfers, of the courthouse land. Presumably it was conveniently forgotten, Mercer perhaps having duly recompensed his ward.
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Three weeks before his petition was read in the House, Mercer became ill. On October 26, 1748, he noted in his journal, “Very ill obliged to keep my bed.” This was almost his first sickness after years of apparently robust health. Such indispositions as he occasionally suffered had occurred, like this one, at Williamsburg, where conviviality and rich food caused many another colonial worthy to founder. In this case, anxiety over the outcome of his petition may have brought on or aggravated his ailment. In any event, he stayed throughout the court session at the home of Dr. Kenneth McKenzie, who treated him. On November 3 he noted that he was “On Recovery,” and two days later “went out to take the air.” The following appears in his account with Dr. McKenzie:
October 1748:By Medicines & Attendancemyself & Ice£7.19.11By Lodging &c. 7 weeks6. 6. 7
From William Parks, on another occasion, he bought “Rattlesnake root,” which was promoted in 18th-century Virginia as a specific against the gout, smallpox, and “Pleuritick and Peripneumonic Fevers.”[112]Twice he bought "British oyl," a favorite popular nostrum sold in tall, square bottles, and on another occasion “2 bottles of Daffy’s Elixir.”[113]In 1749 he settled his account with George Gilmer, apothecary of Williamsburg, for such things as oil of cinnamon, Holloways’ Citrate, “Aqua Linnaean,” rhubarb, sago, “Sal. Volat.,” spirits of lavender, and gum fragac. The final item in the account was for April 22, 1750, for “a Vomit.” The induced vomit, usually by a tartar emetic, was an accepted cure for overindulgence and a host of supposed ailments. That inveterate valetudinarian and amateur physician, William Byrd, was in the habit of “giving” vomits to his sick slaves.[114]
In November and December 1749 Mercer sustained his first long illness, during which he was attended by “Doctor Amson.” “Taken sick” at home on November 13, he evidently did not begin to recover until December 11. Whatever improvement he may have made must have received a setback on the last day of the year, when he recorded in his journal: “Took about 60 grains of Opium & 60 grains of Euphorbium by mistake instead of a dose of rhubarb.”
RELIGION AND CHARITIES
Mercer’s religious observances were irregular, although usually when he was home he attended Potomac Church. At the same time he continued as a vestryman in Overwharton Parish (which included Potomac and Aquia churches). On September 28, 1745, the vestry met to decide whether to build a new Aquia church or to repair the old one. They “then proceeded to agree with oneWilliam Walker, an Undertaker to build a new brick Church, Sixty Feet Square in the Clear, for One Hundred and Fifty Three Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty Pounds of Transfer Tobacco.”[115]In October Mercer entered in Ledger G, under the Overwharton Parish account, “To drawing articles with Walker.” In December he charged the parish with “2 bottles claret” and “To Robert Jackson for mending the Church Plate.” Jackson was a Fredericksburg silversmith.[116]
The following March, the proprietors of theAccokeek Ironworks petitioned the Committee on Propositions and Grievances with an objection to the vestry’s decision to rebuild, claiming that “as the said Iron-Works lie in the Parish aforesaid, and employ many Tithables in carrying on the same, they will labour under great Hardships thereby....”[117]The petition was rejected, but nothing seems to have been done on the new church until three months after Walker’s death in February 1750, when Mourning Richards was appointed undertaker.[118]
Mercer’s charities in this decade form a short list. His only outright gift was his “Subscription to Protestant working-Schools in Ireland. To my annual Subscription for Sterling £5.5.” In 1749 he did £12 3s. worth of legal work for the College of William and Mary, which he converted into “Subscriptions to Schools” of equal value; in other words, he donated his services.
CATHERINE MERCER’S DEATH AND ANN ROY’S ARRIVAL
On April 1, 1750, Mercer went to Williamsburg for the spring session and stopped en route to visit his friend Dr. Mungo Roy at Port Royal in Caroline County. He remained at Williamsburg until the seventh, except for going on the previous day to “Greenspring” to be entertained by Philip Ludwell in the Jacobean mansion built a century earlier by Governor Berkeley. Again stopping off at Port Royal, he returned home on May 10. He remained there until June 15, when he made the laconic entry in his journal: “My wife died between 3 & 4 at noon.” What time this denotes is unclear.
Figure 15.—Portrait of Ann Roy Mercer, John Mercer’s second wife and the daughter of Dr. Mungo Roy of Port Royal, painted in 1750 or shortly thereafter. (Courtesy of Mrs. Thomas B. Payne.)
Following this loss—Catherine Mercer was only 43—Mercer remained at home for five days, then visited his sister-in-law Mrs. Ann Mason. The next night he stayed with the pastor of Aquia Church, Mr. Moncure, then returned to Marlborough and remained there for nearly a month. Meanwhile, he purchased from Fielding Lewis, at a cost of £3 18s. 7½d., “sundrys for mourning.” William Thomson, the Stafford tailor, made his mourning clothes. The preparations for the funeral must have been elaborate; it was not held until July 13.
At the end of July Mercer went to Williamsburg, thence to Yorktown, and from there to Hampton and Norfolk by water on an “Antigua Ship,” returning to Hampton on August 5 on a “Negro Ship,” evidently having caught passage on oceangoing traders. The younger children remained in Williamsburg with George and a nurse. On September 8 he went to Port Royal and stayed “at Dr. Roy’s.” He returned home on the 10th, then went back to Port Royal on the 14th, staying at Dr. Roy’s until the 20th, attending Sunday church services during his visit. He returned home again on the 23rd, only to visit Dr. Roy once more on the 28th. The October court session drew him to Williamsburg, where he remained until November 7. While there, he purchased the following from James Craig,[119]a jeweler: