Mercer's first actual ownership of property came as a result of his
marriage. In 1725 he purchased from his wife Catherine 885 acres of land
near Potomac Church for £221 5s. and another tract of 1610 acres on
Potomac Run for £322.[57] His occupancy of the Ballard house, meanwhile,
was arranged on a most informal basis, three years having been allowed
to pass before he paid his first and only rent--a total of 12
shillings--to his uncle-in-law David Waugh.
In January 1730 the following appears under "Domestick Expenses": "To
bringing the frame of my house from Jervers to Marlbro ... 40/."
Associated with this are items for 2000 tenpenny nails, 2000 eightpenny
nails, and 1000 sixpenny nails, together with "To Chandler Fowke for
plank," "To J^{no} Chambers &c bring board from Landing," and "To John
Chambers & Robt Collins for bringing Bricks & Oyster Shells."
In the same month the account of Anthony Linton and Henry Suddath
includes the following:
By building a house at Marlborough when finished
by agreement £10.0.0
By covering my house & building a Chimney 3.0.0
Clearly, the Mercers had outgrown the temporary shelter which the little
Ballard house had given them. Now a new house was under construction,
with the steps plainly indicated. To obtain timber of sufficient size to
frame the house it was necessary to go where the trees grew. The nearest
thickly forested area was north of Potomac Creek and Potomac Run. The
appropriate timbers apparently grew on property owned by Mercer but
occupied by the widow of James Jervis (or "Jervers"). Not only did the
trees grow there, but we may be sure that there they were also felled,
hewn, and cut, and the finished members fitted together on the ground to
form the frame of the new house. It was a time-honored English building
practice to prepare the timbers where they were felled, shaping them,
drilling holes for "trunnels" (wooden pegs or "tree nails"), inscribing
coded numbers with lumber markers, and then knocking the prefabricated
members apart and transporting them to the building site.[58]
Oystershells and bricks for the chimney were brought from Cedar Point
and Boyd's Hole, south of Marlborough, by Chambers and Collins. Shells
were probably burned at the house site to make lime for mortar. Chambers
was paid 12 pence a day for 32-1/2 days' work spread over a period from
October 1730 to February 1731. Hugh French had been paid for 1000 bricks
on August 24, 1730, while James Jones, on October 3, 1730, was
recompensed three shillings for "9 days of work your Man plaistering my
House & making 2 brick backs."
[Illustration: Figure 4.--THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF JOHN MERCER. Detail from
J. Dalrymple's revision (1755) of the map of Virginia by Joseph Fry and
Peter Jefferson. Marlborough is incorrectly designated "New Marleboro."
(_Courtesy of the Library of Congress._)]
The new house was thus brought to completion early in 1731. That it was
a plain and simple house is apparent from the small amount of labor and
the relatively few quantities of material. It appears to have had two
fireplaces only and one chimney. Although the house was wooden, there is
no evidence that it had any paint whatsoever, inside or out.