Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821

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John Francis Mercer (May 17, 1759 – August 30, 1821) was an American lawyer, planter, and politician from Virginia and Maryland, who served as Maryland's 10th governor, as well as a member in the Continental Congress, the Virginia House of Delegates, the U.S. House of Representatives, and Maryland State Assembly.

Born at Marlborough plantation in Stafford County in the Colony of Virginia, Mercer received his education at home from private teachers before attending the College of William and Mary, and graduated in 1775. During the American Revolutionary War, Mercer accepted a commission as lieutenant in the 3rd Virginia Regiment in the Continental Army, rising to captain before serving as an aide-de-camp with the rank of major to General Charles Lee. He resigned from the army when Lee did in October 1779, but recruited a cavalry company for the Virginia militia as the British navy discharged Tarleton's Raiders and others to raid plantations in Chesapeake Bay. Thus he held the rank of lieutenant colonel and served briefly under Lafayette as he led troops at the Battle of Guildford, Battle of Green Spring, siege of Yorktown and other locations.

After General Cornwallis' surrender in 1781, Stafford County voters elected Mercer as one of their two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782. Fellow legislators selected Mercer as one of Virginia's delegates to the Continental Congress in both 1783 and 1784. When Richard Brent died, a special election to fill his place as Stafford County's delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates was held. In 1785 Mercer married his wife, and soon moved to Anne Arundel County, Maryland, where he operated her estates using enslaved labor.

Mercer became one of Maryland's delegates to the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, but because he was opposed to centralization, withdrew before signing the Constitution. Mercer was also a delegate to the Maryland State Convention of 1788, to vote whether Maryland should ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. He served terms in the Maryland State Assembly from 1788 to 1789 and from 1791 to 1792 before being elected to represent Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from the second and third districts from 1792 to 1794, resigning on April 13, 1794. He again served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1800 to 1801 before winning election as the tenth Governor of Maryland for two one-year terms from 1801 to 1803. Mercer again served in the Maryland House of Delegates between 1803 and 1806.

Mercer traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to seek medical attention, and died there. Initially interred in a burial vault at St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia, his remains were later returned to his Cedar Park estate in Maryland for burial.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Bland, Theodorick, 1742-1790. Papers of Virginia members of the Continental Congress, 1767-1820. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Monroe, James, 1758-1831. Papers of James Monroe [manuscript], 1778-1831, n.d. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Galloway-Maxcy-Markoe Families Papers, 1654-1888, (bulk 1750-1860) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Thomas Addis Emmet collection, 1483-1876 (bulk:1700-1800) New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Galloway-Maxcy-Markoe Families Papers, 1654-1888, (bulk 1750-1860) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Joseph Halle Schaffner autograph collection, 1683-1948. Houghton Library
referencedIn Autograph File, M Houghton Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. [Letter, 17]84 May 25 [to John Lawson] / J. Mercer. Smith College, Neilson Library
referencedIn Thomas Addis Emmet collection, 1483-1876 (bulk:1700-1800) New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. Letter, 1806 June 10, Washington [D.C.] to John Mercer, n.p. William & Mary Libraries
creatorOf Mercer, John, 1759-1821. Letter to James Monroe [manuscript] 1814 Feb. 23. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Washington, George, 1732-1799. ALS, 1776 March 12 : Cambridge, [MA], to John Tayloe. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
referencedIn Carroll collection, 1776-1867. Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis. Papers, 1783, 1802. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
creatorOf Chase, Samuel, 1741-1811. ALS : Baltimore, Md., to John Francis Mercer, Annapolis, Md, 1803 Nov. 7. Rosenbach Museum & Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821,. Letters to John Francis Mercer, 1783-1814. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Monroe, James, 1758-1831. Letters : concerning the Hay family, 1809-1830. James Monroe Museum & Memorial Library
creatorOf John Francis Mercer Letter to John Fitzgerald, 1785 May 28 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
referencedIn James Monroe Papers, 1758-1839 Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Monroe, James, 1758-1831. Papers : of James Monroe in the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Senate, 1783-1790. James Monroe Museum & Memorial Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1785 May 28, n.p., to John Fitzgerald, Alexandria, [Va.]. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1793 November 30, West River near Annapolis, [Maryland] to [Thomas Jefferson], n.p. William & Mary Libraries
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1792 December 13, Anna[poli]s, [Maryland] to Thomas Jefferson, Philadelphia, [Pennsylvania]. William & Mary Libraries
creatorOf Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. Letter to Governor John Francis Mercer, 1802 July 7. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1781 January 20, Fredericksburg, [Va.] to. William & Mary Libraries
creatorOf Monroe, James, 1758-1831. Papers : of James Monroe as minister to France, 1785- 1831. James Monroe Museum & Memorial Library
creatorOf Mercer family. Papers : of the Mercer family, 1760-1833. George Mason's Gunston Hall
referencedIn Garnett, James Mercer, 1840-1916. Papers of James Mercer Garnett, 1861-1919. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Frederick M. Dearborn collection of military and political Americana, Part I: The Revolution and the Administration, 1669-1958. Houghton Library
creatorOf Lee, Henry, 1756-1818. Papers, 1768-1816. Library of Virginia
creatorOf Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. Letter : Washington, D.C., to Governor John Francis Mercer, Annapolis, Md., 1802 July 7. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1797 August 9, Marlborough, [Virginia] to [Thomas Jefferson], n.p. William & Mary Libraries
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1792 October 7, Annapolis, [Maryland], to [Thomas Jefferson], n.p. William & Mary Libraries
referencedIn Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866. Jared Sparks collection of American manuscripts, 1582-1843 Houghton Library
creatorOf Beebe, Virginia Dawson,. Collection : of Mason family papers, 1725-1857, n.d. (bulk 1781-1834). George Mason's Gunston Hall
referencedIn Washington, George, 1732-1799. ALS, 1788 August 31 : Mount Vernon, to Thomas Johnson. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter, 1792 October 28, Annapolis, [Maryland] to Thomas Jefferson, n.p. William & Mary Libraries
creatorOf Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821. Letter of John Francis Mercer, 1784. Library of Congress
referencedIn Mercer family. Papers : of the Mercer family, 1656-1869 (bulk 1740- 1845). Virginia Historical Society Library
creatorOf Monroe, James, 1758-1831. Papers : concerning his law practice in Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1780-1804. James Monroe Museum & Memorial Library
referencedIn Autograph File, L, 1641-1976. Houghton Library
referencedIn Chapman family. Legal papers, 1799-1871. Bucks County Historical Society
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Beebe, Virginia Dawson, person
associatedWith Carroll, Charles, 1737-1832. person
correspondedWith Chapman family. family
associatedWith Chase, Samuel, 1741-1811. person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf College of William and Mary. corporateBody
correspondedWith Colquhoun, James, fl. 1796-1800 person
associatedWith Dearborn, Frederick M. (Frederick Myers), b. 1876 person
associatedWith Emmet, Thomas Addis person
associatedWith Fitz-Gerrald, John. person
correspondedWith Forrest, Richard, d. 1828 person
correspondedWith Galloway family family
associatedWith Garnett, James Mercer, 1840-1916. person
correspondedWith Grosvenor, Thomas Peabody, 1778-1817 person
associatedWith Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804. person
associatedWith Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 person
associatedWith Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. person
associatedWith Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. person
associatedWith Lawson, John. person
associatedWith Lee, Henry, 1756-1818. person
correspondedWith Lee, Henry, 1787-1837 person
correspondedWith Legislators corporateBody
correspondedWith Markoe family family
correspondedWith Marshall, John, 1755-1835 person
associatedWith Maryland. Governor corporateBody
grandchildOf Mason, George, 1660-1716. person
nieceOrNephewOf Mason, George, 1690-1735 person
relativeOf Mason, George, 1725-1792 person
relativeOf Mason, Thomson, 1733-1785 person
correspondedWith Maxcy family family
auntOrUncleOf Mercer, Charles Fenton, 1778-1858 person
memberOf Mercer family. family
sibling of Mercer, George, 1733-1784. person
sibling of Mercer, James, 1736-1793 person
childOf Mercer, John, 1704-1768 person
parentOf Mercer, John, 1788-1848 person
spouseOf Mercer, Sophia Sprigg person
associatedWith Mifflin, Thomas, 1744-1800. person
associatedWith Monroe, James, 1758-1831. person
correspondedWith Muse, Battaile, fl. 1792-1803 person
associatedWith Potts, Richard, 1753-1808. person
associatedWith Schaffner, Joseph Halle, 1897-1972 person
associatedWith Sitgreaves, John, 1757-1802. person
correspondedWith Spaight, Richard Dobbs, 1758-1802 person
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
correspondedWith Tazewell, Henry, 1753-1799 person
memberOf United States. Congress. House corporateBody
memberOf United States. Continental Congress corporateBody
memberOf Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates corporateBody
associatedWith Washington, George, 1732-1799. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Philadelphia PA US
Anne Arundel County MD US
Virginia--Loudoun County
Stafford County VA US
Subject
Land use
Legislators
Manners and customs
Manners and customs
Politicians
Weights and measures
Wheat
Occupation
Army officers
Delegates, U.S. Continental Congress
Governors
Plantation owners
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Slaveholders
State Representative
Activity

Person

Birth 1759-05-17

Death 1821-08-30

Male

Britons,

Americans

English

Information

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