MEKCER
MEKCER
eiitiul in establishing Mount Enon academy in
Richmond county in 1807, and was one of the
foundere of Mercer InHtitute, Penfield, Greene
county, in 1833, named in his honor, which be*
came Mercer university in 183J7, and wa« removed
to Macon in 1870. He gave the sum of ^,000 to
the university during his life and by will, and
ser ve<l as a truste«'. 1 8:iH- 1 1 . Me gave about $2.").000
toother religious an<l «'ducational institutiotiH,
among them Columbian college, Washington,
D.( '. He received the honorary degree D.D. from
Brown university in \Ki'i. He edited the Chrin-
tinn Index, the first Baptist n<>ws[)ai)er published
in Georgia, which he purchased of Dr. W. T.
Biantly, of Philadelphia, in 18^^], and established
at his home in Washington, (ia., and in 1840
he gave it to the Georgia Baptist Convention.
He collected a volume of hymns entitled Mercer's
Cluster, and is the author of : History of the
Georgia Baptist Association (1836). He died in
Washington. Ga., Sept. 6, 1841.
MERCERt John, author of " Laws of Virginia." was l>orn in ("liurch street, Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 6. 1704 ; son of Jolui and Grace (Fenton) Mercer ; grandson of R')bertand Elinor (Reynolds) Mercer, and great-grandson of !^oel and Ann (Smith) Mercer, of Chester, England. He settled in Staf- ford county, Va., where lie was a lawyer by pro- fession and secretary of the Ohio company. He w.is a vestryman of Acquia church, Stafford county. Va. He was first married. June 10. 1725, to Catherine, only daughter of Col. George Mason of Stafford county, and aunt of George Mason ((|.v.). and secondly, on Nov. 10, 1750, to Ann, daughter of Col. Mungo Roy, of Essex county, Va. Ho had ten children by his first, and nine by his second, wife. He was a large landed pro- prietor, reside 1 at Marlborough, SUifford county, Va., and was the founder of one branch of the Mercer family of Virginia. He was designated as John Mercer of MarUxjrough." He was the author of : An Abridgment of the Laws of Vir- ginia (\787), its title page reading: An Exact Abridgment of all the Public Acts of Assembly of Virginia in Force and Use, Together with Sundry Precedents Adapted thereto and Projyer Tables, by John Mercer, Gent. Williaynsburg : Printed by Williatn Parks, MDCCXXXVII. Another edition pul>lished in Glasgow, Scotland, 1759. brought it <lown to Jan. 1, 1758. He was also the author of the first tract published in Virginia in op|)osition to the Stamp Act. He died at Marlborough, Va., Oct. 14, 1768.
MERCER, John Francis, governor of Mary- land, was liorn at Marll)orough, Stafford county, Va., May 17, 1759; son of John (q.v.) and Ann (Roy) Mercer. He was graduated at the College of William and Mary in 1775, entered the Revolu- tionary army as lieutenant in the 3d Virginia
OLP 5TATf HOUSC'
AT A/^AlAPOCIl.
1783 -I7a4.
regiment, Feb. 26, 1776, and was wounded at the
battle of the Brandy wine, Sept. 11, 1777. He
was promoted captain in the 8<1 Virginia regiment
in September, 1777, to rank from June 27, 1777,
and was aide-de-camp to Gen. Charles Lee, 1778-
79. After the
battle of Mon-
mouth he re-
signed from the
army througli
his sympathy
for General I^ee.
He returned to
Virginia, where
he recruited
and equipped at,
his own expense'
a troop of cav-
alry of which
he was commis-
sioned lieutenant-colonel in October, 1780. He
joined Gen. Robert Lawson's brigade and served
at Guilford, N.C. When Lawson's brigade dis-
banded, he attached his command to Lafayette's
army and served until after the surrender at
Yorktown. He studied law directed by Thomas
Jefferson, resided on his estate ** Marlboro'" on
the Potomac, and was a delegate from Virginia
to the Continental congress, 1782-85. He removed
to his wife's estate " Cedar Park," West River,
Arundel county, Md., in 1785, and was a delegate
from Maryland to the convention that framed
the Federal constitution in 1787, but with George
Ma.son of Virginia. Luther Martin of Maryland,
and others, he refused to sign the instrument as
framed on account of its consolidation tendencies.
He was a representative in the Maryland legisla-
ture for several sessions ; a representative in the
2d congress to fill the unexpired term of William
Pinkney, resignetl, and to the 3d congress, his
service in congress extending from Feb. 6, 1792,
to April 13, 1794, when he resigned. He was
elected governor of Maryland, Nov. 9, 1801, by
the Democratic party and served one year, after
which he was again a representative in the state
legislature. He was marrieii, Feb. 8, 1785, to
Sophia, daughter of Richard and Margaret (Caile)
Sprigg, of West River, Mtl. Their daughter,
Margaret (1791-1846), kno%vn as the "Hannah
More of America," freed the slaves she inherited,
became a teacher, and converted ** Cedar Park "
into a school for girls which she conducted for
over ten years, then removed to Franklin, near
Baltimore, and afterward to Belmont, near
Leesburg. Va., where she died. His grandson,
William Roy Mercer, son of John, was living in
Doylestown, Pa., in 1902. Governor Mercer died
in Philadelphia, Pa., while under medical treat-
ment, Aug. 30, 1821.
