PERSONAL ACTIVITIES 



During the 1 730"s Mercer recorded a iiiiniiiuiin of 

 recreational activities. Those that he did list are 

 representative of the society of which he was a part. 

 Making wagers was a favorite anmscnient. For 

 example, he was owed £7 16s. by "Cbl" George 

 Braxton To a Wager you laid n\c at Cap' Rob' 

 Brooke's house before M' James Rcid, Will"' Brooke 

 &c Six Guineas to one that Col" Spotswood would 

 not during the Reign of K. George that now is, 

 procure a Commission as Chief or Lieu' Ciov' of 

 \'irginia." In 1731 he paid William Brent "By a 

 pistole won of me about Hedgman's wrestling with 

 and throwing Fra*' Dade. £1.1.12.'" He also paid 

 £2 10s. to James Markham "By [my] part on the 

 Race on Stotham's horse." There aic other scattered 

 references to wagers on horseraces. 



Mercer had become a vestryman in Ovei-wharton 

 Parish as early as 1730, and appears to have been 

 made responsible for all legal matters pertaining to 

 that church. His account, shown in detail in Appen- 

 dix G, is of interest in showing that violations of moral 

 law were held accountable to the church and that 

 fines for convictions were paid to the church. Mercer, 

 representing the parish, collected a portion of each 

 fine as his fee. 



Most of his energies now seem to have been divided 

 between the law and the substantial responsibilities 

 for managing his plantations. The increasing extent 

 of tobacco cultivation is revealed in the tobacco 

 account with ''M'' Jonathan Foward, Merchant in 

 London" (presumably John Foward, mentioned 

 earlier), extending from 1733 to 1743. This account 

 lists shipments of 129 hogsheads of tobacco, totaling 

 £643 Is. lid. (if we include a few extraneous items, 

 such as "To an over charge in Lemons" and "To a 

 Still charg'd never sent"). Several similar accounts 

 involve proceeds from tobacco. In 1734 and 1738, 

 for example, he shipped 54 hogsheads to \VilIiam 

 Stevenson, another London merchant, for £207 7d. 

 on the ships Triton, Snake, Brooks, and Elizabeth. 



Marlborough's full transition to a seat of tobacco- 



Figure 6. M(1THER-0F-1'KARI COl NTKRS. Or 



■"fish," used in playing 18th-century games, 

 including Loo, at which Mercer once won 

 7s. 3d. from Col. George Mason (III). These 

 examples, collected in Massachusetts, are prob- 

 ably late 18th century. (USNM 61.399.) 



planting empire is now clearly discernible. In so 

 becoming, it was typical of the consolidation of 

 wealth, property, and power in \irginia as the 

 mid-century approached. Land had become both 

 a substitute for tobacco in lean years and the means 

 for paying ofT debts. The same land in better 

 years yielded crops to its new owners, so that a 

 relatively few dynamic men were able to amass 

 great wealth and form a ruling aristocracy. The 

 varieties of talents in men like Mercer — who, besides 

 being a planter, was an accomplished lawyer and 

 able administrator — placed them in the ascendancy 

 over their less able fellows. The vigor and ability 

 with which such men were endowed fostered the 

 remarkable class of leaders of the succeeding genera- 

 tion, who had so much to do with founding the nation. 



