Mercer seems to have been concerned principally with his brewers and
with the wasteful scheme they furthered with their incompetencies. Even
they seem to have been beyond his strength, for he became ill in January
1766, and suffered recurrently the rest of the year. From his journal we
can detect a once-strong man's struggle against the first warnings of
approaching death:
August 26 Rode 6 m. & home had a fever 12
27 sick
28 Rode 5 m. & home 10
29 2 m. & D^o had an Ague 4
30 D^o
31 D^o
Sept 1 Had an Ague
2 Rode 5 m. & home 10
* * *
Sept 22 to M^r Selden's & ret'^d abo^t a mile
but went back 12
23 home by 12 and went to bed 10
24 Confined to my bed
(remained so rest of month)
Oct 1 Confined to my bed and very ill
5 D^o Sat up a little
6 D^o Better
7 D^o D^o
8 Drove out 3 m & home 6
He informed George that after his return from Mr. Selden's on September
23 he was for "several days under strong delerium and had the rattles."
By the beginning of 1768, however, he was able to boast that "I think I
may safely aver that I have not been in a better [state of health] any
time these twenty years past, & tho' I am not so young, my youngest
daughter ... was born the 20th day of last January."
On April 22, 1766, he noted in the journal that the "Kitchen roof
catched fire" and on May 15 that he "Took Possion [sic] of my summer
house." The latter was probably located in the garden, where, during his
convalescence in the spring, he was able to make a meticulous record of
the blooming of each plant, flower, tree, and shrub, constituting a most
interesting catalog of the wild and cultivated flora of 18th-century
Marlborough. The catalog is indicative of Mercer's ranging interests and
his knowledge of botanical terms (see Appendix L). That the garden was
perhaps as interesting as the house is borne out by the fact that in
1750, as the house was reaching completion, Mercer had brought from
England a gardener named William Blacke, paying Captain Timothy
Nicholson for his passage.
Mercer's close attention to the natural phenomena around him began with
his illness in 1766. On January 4, only a few days after he had become
ill, he installed a thermometer in his room, and eight days later moved
it to his office. Regularly, from then until the close of his journal,
except when he was absent from Marlborough, he recorded the minimum and
maximum readings. One has only to look at the figures for the winter
months to realize that "heated" rooms, as we understand them, were
little known in the 18th century. Only on Christmas Eve in 1767 did the
temperature range from a low of 41° to as high as 63°, because, as
Mercer noted, "A good fire raised the Thermometer so high."
Although Mercer apparently found surcease from his cares in the peaceful
surroundings at Marlborough, his responsibilities went on nevertheless.
The cost of keeping slaves remained an enormous and wasteful one: "Every
negroes cloaths, bedding, corn, tools, levies & taxes will stand yearly
at least in £5," he wrote to George. In his letter he placed an order
through George for clothing, which included 25 welted jackets "for my
tradesmen & white servants," indicating the large number of white
workmen on his staff. It also included 20 common jackets, 45 pair of
woolen breeches, 1 dozen greatcoats, 5 dozen stockings, 1-1/2 dozen for
boys and girls, 4 dozen "strong felt hats & 600 Ells of ozenbrigs. We
shall make Virg^a cloth enough to cloath the women and children, but
shall want 50 warm blankets & 2 doz of the Russia drab breeches."
Against the advice of his merchant friend Jordan, he declined to order a
superior grade of jacket for his Negroes that would last two years,
since "most negroes are so careless of their cloathes & rely so much on
a yearly support that I think such jackets as I had are cheapest & last
the year very well."
He ordered George to buy new sheeting for family use, including "84 yds
of such as is fit for comp^a," inasmuch as "my wife is ashamed of her
old sheets when any strangers come to the house." He also placed an
order for windmill sails, which, he observed, were costly in the colony,
and could be made only at Norfolk.
My millwrights directions were
The Drivers 3 foot 6 inches broad }
} 23 feet long.
The leaders 3 3 }
A Suit I had made at Norfolk by those dimensions proved too long,
something, they should be of Duck N^o. 2.
In addition, he ordered nails, 50 yards of haircloth, a yard wide, for
the malt kiln, a "drill plow with brass seed boxes for wheat, turnips,
lucarn pease &c," and a considerable number of books, particularly for
his children. "Bob. Newbery at the Bible & Sun in S^t. Paul's
churchyard can best furnish you at the cheapest rate with books best
adapted to the real instruction as well as amusement of children from
two to six feet high."
The long letter was finally finished on January 28, 1768, its great
length partly dictated by the fact that the river had frozen,
immobilizing the posts. He noted in his journal that on February 16 he
was in Fredericksburg and "dined at my Sons being my birthday and 63
y^{rs} old." On the 24th he attended a meeting of the Ohio Company at
Stafford courthouse and on March 14 returned there for a court session.
The next day he went home to Marlborough, perhaps never to leave again.
The journal ended at the close of the month. The next that we hear of
him appeared in Rind's _Virginia Gazette_ on October 27:
On Friday, the 14th instant, died at his house in Stafford County,
John Mercer, Esq., who had practiced the law with great success in
this colony upwards of forty years. He was a Gentleman of great
natural abilities inspired by an extensive knowledge, not only in
his profession, but in several other branches of polite literature.
He was of a humane, generous and chearful disposition, a facetious
companion, a warm friend, an affectionate husband, a tender parent,
and an indulgent master.
[Illustration: Figure 17.--PLATE FROM MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN'S
_Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium efte Veranderung Surinaamsche
Insecten_ (Antwerp, 1705), an elegant work in Mercer's Library.]