The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia Part 11

Mercer argued in the pet.i.tion 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 pet.i.tion 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 Pet.i.tioner_." (Italics supplied.) Plainly, Mercer had much at stake in obtaining t.i.tle 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 t.i.tle of ownership, and had so committed himself to occupancy of the courthouse site, that he was now in the embarra.s.sing 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 pet.i.tion. 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 pet.i.tion 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 Pet.i.tion 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 s^d 17 lots so purchased." The new lots extended up the Potomac River sh.o.r.e, while the "s^d 17 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 s^d John Mercer in fee such & so many other Lotts in the said Town as shall include the Houses & Improvm^{ts} made 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 t.i.tles to 17 lots were made secure by subst.i.tuting 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 surrounding land. 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[108] James Taylor lived in Caroline County; the "Wid^o Taliaferro" was probably Mrs. John Taliaferro of Spotsylvania.

[109] Pet.i.tion of John Mercer, loc. cit. (footnote 17).

[110] _JHB, 1742-1747; 1748-1749_, op. cit. (footnote 6), pp.

285-286.

[111] John Mercer's Land Book, loc. cit. (footnote 12).

HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Three weeks before his pet.i.tion 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 pet.i.tion 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 & Attendance myself & Ice 7.19.11 By Lodging &c 7 weeks 6. 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."

FOOTNOTES:

[112] Ten years earlier a vogue for rattlesnake root had been established, apparently by those interested in promoting it.

On June 16, 1738, Benjamin Waller wrote to the editor of the _Virginia Gazette_ extolling the virtues of rattlesnake root in a testimonial. He claimed it cured him quickly of the gout, and, he wrote, "I am also fully convinced this Medicine has saved the Lives of many of my Negroes, and others in that Disease, which rages here, and is by many called a _Pleurisy_; And that it is a sure Cure in a Quartan Ague."

Two weeks later the _Gazette_ carried "Proposals for Printing by Subscription a _Treatise_ on the DISEASES of _Virginia_ and the Neighbouring Colonies ... To which is annexed, An Appendix, showing the strongest Reasons, _a priori_, that the Seneca Rattle-Snake Root must be of more use than any Medicine in the _Materia Medica_."

[113] See GEORGE B. GRIFFENHAGEN and JAMES HARVEY YOUNG, "Old English Patent Medicines in America," (paper 10 in _Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Papers 1-11_, U.S. National Museum Bulletin 218, by various authors; Washington: Smithsonian Inst.i.tution, 1959).

[114] _The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712_, edit. Louis B. Wright and Marian Tingling.

(Richmond, Virginia: The Dietz Press, 1941), p. 188 (for example).

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 one _William 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 the Acc.o.keek Ironworks pet.i.tioned 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 t.i.thables in carrying on the same, they will labour under great Hardships thereby...."[117] The pet.i.tion 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[115] Op. cit. (footnote 19), p. 203.

[116] _Virginia Gazette_, October 20, 1752; RALPH BARTON CUTTEN, _The Silversmiths of Virginia_ (Richmond, 1953), pp.

39-40.

[117] Op. cit. (footnote 19), p. 199.

[118] WHIFFEN, op. cit. (footnote 94), p. 142.

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.

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.

7-1/2d., "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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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._)]

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 pa.s.sage 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:

s. d.

By a pair of Earrings 2 12 By a pair of b.u.t.tons 2 12 By a plain Ring 1 1 6

On November 8 he returned to Dr. Roy's. On the 10th he added a characteristically spa.r.s.e note to his chronicle, "Married to Ann Roy."

The period for mourning poor Catherine was short indeed. But the mansion at Marlborough needed a mistress, and Mercer's children, a mother. A new chapter was about to open as the decade closed. From the meticulous records that Mercer kept, it has been possible to see Mercer as a dynamic cosmopolite, accomplishing an incredible amount in a few short years. His constant physical movement from place to place, his reading of the law and of even a fraction of his hundreds of books in science, literature, and the arts, his managing of four plantations, attending two monthly court sessions a year at Williamsburg, looking after the legal affairs of hundreds of clients, concerning himself with the design and construction of a remarkable house and selecting the furnishings for it--all this ill.u.s.trates a personality of enormous capacity.

Marlborough was now a full-fledged plantation. Although the legacy of an earlier age still nagged at Mercer and prevented him from holding t.i.tle to much of the old town, he had, nevertheless, transformed it, gracing it with the outspread grandeur of a Palladian great house.

FOOTNOTES:

[119] "James CRAIG, _Jeweller_, from LONDON Makes all sorts Jeweller's Work, in the best Manner at his Shop in _Francis_ Street (facing the Main Street) opposite to Mr. Hall's new Store." _Virginia Gazette_, September 25, 1746.