As early as 1742 the ledger shows that Mercer was building steadily,
although the nature of what he built is rarely indicated. Hunter's
account for 1742 lists 2500 tenpenny nails and 1000 twenty-penny nails,
while in the following year the same account shows a total of 4200
eightpenny nails, 5000 tenpenny, 2000 fourpenny, and 1000 threepenny
nails. The following tools were bought from Hunter in 1744: paring
chisel, 1-1/2-inch auger, 3/4-inch auger, socket gouge, broad axe, adze,
drawing knife, mortice chisel, a "square Rabbit plane," and "plough Iron
& plains." In Charles Dick's account we find purchases in 1745 of 16,000
flooring brads, 4000 twenty-penny nails, 2000 each of fourpenny,
sixpenny, eightpenny, and tenpenny brads, and 60,000 fourpenny nails.
Beginning in 1744 Mercer made great purchases of lumber. Thomas Tyler of
the Eastern Shore sold him 2463 feet of plank in that year, and in 1745
made several transactions totaling 5598 feet of 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-inch
plank, as well as 23,170 shingles. In 1746 Charles Waller of Stafford
sold Mercer 5193 feet of 1-, 1-1/4-, and 1-1/2-inch plank. In the same
year James Waughhop of Maryland provided "4000 foot of Plank of
different thicknesses for £12," and in May 1749, "2300 foot of 1-1/2
Inch Plank at 7/." Mercer made several similar purchases, including
14,700 shingles, from Robert Taylor of the Eastern Shore.
Where all these materials were used is a matter for conjecture. We know
that Mercer made "Improvements" to the extent of "saving" 40 lots under
the terms of the Act for Ports and Towns, and that a great deal of
construction work, therefore, was going on. One building was probably a
replacement for a warehouse, for a laconic entry in his journal on New
Year's day of 1746 notes that "My warehouses burnt." These were
doubtless the buildings erected in 1732 and officially vacated in 1735.
That at least one eventually was rebuilt for Mercer's own use is known
from an overseer's report of 1771 (Appendix M).
The windmill, the foundations of which still remain in part near the
Potomac shore, was probably built in 1746. Mercer's cash account for
that year includes an item of 2s. 6d. for "Setting up Mill," which
apparently meant adjusting the millstones for proper operation. In
August he paid Nathaniel Chapman £22 19s. 8-3/4d. "in full for Smith's
work." A windmill, with its bearings, levers, lifts, and shafts, would
seem to have been the only structure requiring such a costly amount of
ironwork.
The most elaborate project of all, however, is clearly discernible in
the ledger. In 1746 Thomas Anderson,[93] in consideration of cash and
legal services, charged for "making & burning 40^m Stock bricks" at 4
pounds 6 pence per 1000. In the same year David Minitree, described by
Mercer as a "Bricklayer," came to Marlborough from Williamsburg.
Minitree was more than an ordinary bricklayer, however, for he had
worked on the Mattaponi church, and later, between 1750 and 1753, was to
build Carter's Grove for Carter Burwell.[94]
The credit side of Minitree's account in Ledger G is as follows:
£ s. d.
1746
Decemb^r 5 By making & burning 9 5 7-1/2
41,255 Bricks at 4/6
1747
Septemb^r By stacking & burning 16 9-1/2
11,200 D^o at 1/6
By making & burning 14 2 10
62,849 D^o at 4/6
By making & burning 4 6
1000 D^o at 4/6
By short paid of my 9-1/2
Order on Maj^r
Champe
By building part of 10-1/2
my House
The last item, in particular, is clear indication that an architectural
project of importance was underway and that Mercer had set about to make
Marlborough the equal of Virginia's great plantations. Only "part of my
house" was built by Minitree, yet his bill was more than five times the
total cost of Mercer's previous house, completed in 1730!
Since it was customary in Virginia to make bricks on the site of a new
house, utilizing the underlying clay excavated from the foundation,
Minitree, as well as Anderson, made his bricks at Marlborough before
using them. Mortar for laying bricks was made of lime from oystershells.
In 1747 and 1748, we learn from the ledger, 61-1/2 hogsheads of
oystershells were bought from Abraham Basnett, an "Oysterman," payment
having been made in cash, meat, and brandy. "Flagstones &c" were
obtained in 1747 through Major John Champe at a cost of £36 4s. 6d.
These may have been the same stones brought up as "a load of stone" by
"Boatswain Davis" of Boyd's Hole in Passapatanzy in October 1747 for £4
5s. 5d.
Early in 1748 a new set of developments concerning the house took place.
Major William Walker of Stafford, revealed in the journal and the
ledgers as an old acquaintance of Mercer's, then became the
"undertaker," or contractor, for the house. Walker was a talented man
who had started out as a cabinetmaker, a craft in which his brother
Robert still continued. Whiffen (_The Public Buildings of Williamsburg_)
shows that he both designed and built a glebe house for St. Paul's
Parish, Hanover County, in 1739-1740, and the steeple for St. Peter's
Church in New Kent the latter year. Also in 1740 he built a bridge
across the Pamunkey for Hanover County. At the same time that he was
engaged on Mercer's mansion, he undertook in March 1749 to rebuild the
burned capitol at Williamsburg. He died 11 months later before bringing
either of these major projects to completion.[95]
Walker's carpenter was William Monday. Mercer settled with Monday in
March 1748 for a total bill of £126 16s. 2-1/2d., but with a protest
addressed to himself in the ledger: "By work done about my House which
is not near the value as by Maj^r Walker's Estimate below, yet to avoid
Disputes & as he is worth nothing I give him Credit to make a full
Ballance."
Meanwhile, William Bromley, a joiner, had gone to work on the interior
finish. Like Minitree and Walker, Bromley represented the highest
caliber of artisanship in the colony. Eighteen years later Mercer
referred to Bromley, "who," he said, "I believe was the best architect
that ever was in America."[96] Bromley employed several apprentices,
among them an Irishman named Patterson.[97] For the interval from July
9, 1748, to December 25, 1750, Bromley was paid £140 1s. 1/2d., almost
entirely for wages. The payment included "3 p^r hollows & rounds / 6
plane irons / 1 gallon Brandy." For the same period Andrew Beaty, also a
joiner, received £113 5s. 1-1/2d. On June 19, 1749, Mercer noted in his
journal, "Beaty's apprentice came to work." These men were specialists
in framing woodwork and in making paneling, doors, wainscoting, and
exterior architectural elements of wood.
The opulence of the building's finish is indicated by a charge on
Walker's account for "his Carver's work 69 days at 5/, £17. 15...."
Previously, while Minitree was still working on the house, an item had
been entered in August 1747, "To Cash paid for cutting the Chimneypiece
... 6.3." A chimneypiece was usually the ornamental trim or facing
around a fireplace opening, although in this instance the overpanel may
have been meant.
Jacob Williams, a plasterer, worked 142-1/2 days for a total of £22 4s.
4d., while his helper Joseph Burges was employed 43 days for £5 7s. 6d.
Walker charged £3 8s. 11d. for "his Painters work about my house," and
a purchase of "42 gallons of Linseed Oyl" was recorded in the general
charges account. Three books of goldleaf, which Mercer had obtained from
George Gilmer, the Williamsburg apothecary, were charged, together with
paint, to Walker.
In May 1750, a charge by George Elliot, "Turner, Stafford," was
recorded, "By turning 162 Ballusters at 6^d, £4.1...." Another item, for
supplying "341-1/2 feet Walnut Plank at 2^d," settled in October, may
have been for the wood of which the balusters were made.
Thomas Barry, "Bricklayer," carried on the work that Minitree had not
completed. His account for 1749 follows:
£ s. d.
By Building the Addition to my House 26
22 Arches at 6/ 6 12
900 Coins & Returns at 6/ 2 14
A Frontispiece 3 10
Underpinning & altering the Cellar 2
raising a Chimney 1 5
building an Oven 15
building a Kiln 1
building a Kitchen 9 10
3 Arches at 6/ 18
2 Plain D^o at 2/6 5
500 Coins & returns at 6/ 1 10
-- -- --
55 19 0
Expensive stone was imported for the house by Captain Roger Lyndon,
master of the _Marigold_, whose account occurs in the ledger:
£ s. d.