lid to Furnau's & Williamsburg 

 12 e at Williamsburg 

 [He remained at Williamsburg until November 6.] 



17 



Such itineraries were punctuated by periods of stay- 

 ing at Mailborousili, but e\cn then there were day- 

 long journeys to Stafford courthouse, to church, or to 

 a survey. The courthouse, which succeeded that at 

 Marlborough, was situated on the south side of Po- 

 tomac Creek, about three miles upstream from the 

 old site. Mercer almost invariably took the 10-niile- 

 long land route through the site of the present \illage 

 of Brook, along the Fredericksburg road past Potomac 

 Clhurch, then along the headwaters of Potomac Run 

 on a now-disused road leading to Belle Plains. Just 

 before reaching the courthouse, which stood on a rise 

 of land some distance back from the creek, he passed 

 "Salvington," the mansion of Joseph Selden.**^ Near 

 the water, and in sight of the courthouse, stood the 

 house of John Cave, whose grandfather in 1707 had 

 bought his land from Sampson Darrell, undertaker 

 of the Marlborough courthouse.*** Near it, on a 

 foundation still \isible, Cave built the warehouse that 

 bore his name, and through him passed much of the 

 tobacco that Mercer raised locally. Occasionally, 

 when he had business to do at Cave's, Mercer would 

 return home by water, as he did on August 14, 1746: 



to Stafford Court & M'' Cave's 

 home by water 



VEHICLES 



11 

 5 



During the 1 74U"s Mercer's travels were often by 

 chaise or chariot. We learn from Ledger G that he 

 bought "a fourwhcel Chaise" from Charles Carter ''^ 



'^ Ser pp. 25, 3.5-36, 46-47 and footnote 95 for further refer- 

 ences to William Walker. Mercer's visit on this occasion 

 probably relates to Walker's tentative appointment to rebuild 

 Aquia Church. 



" Mrs. .\nn Spoore of Stafford County. 



" Probably Mercer's sister-in-law, Mrs. .Xnn Mason, mother 

 of George Mason of Gunston Mall. 



*»Dr. Mcnry Potter lived in Spotsylvania Clounty. His 

 estate was advertised for sale the following April 17 in the 

 Virginia Gazrtte. 



*' George Hoomes was a justice of Caroline County court. 

 He was appointed in 1735, the same year in which John Mer- 

 cer qualified to practice law at the same court. "E.xtracts 

 from the Records of Caroline Couiilv," VMM (Richmond, 

 1912), vol. 20, p. 203. 



"- Probably Thomas Anderson (see p. 35 and footnote 93); 

 \^ illi 111! Clray was justice of New Kent County. 



^^ Joseph Selden's estate passed to his son .Samuel, who 

 married Mercer's eldest daughter, Sarah Ann Mason Mercer. 

 .See John Melville Jennings, cd., "Letters of James Mercer to 

 John Francis Mercer," VH.\J (Richmond, 1951), vol. 59, 

 pp. 89-91. 



'^Fredericksburg district-court papers, file 571, bundle F, 

 nos. 36-43 (through George F. S. King, Fredericksburg); 

 Stafford County Will Book, Liber Z, p. 383 (August 5, 1 707). 



** Ledger G (original at Bucks County Historical Society) 

 covers the period 1744-1750, with some entries in 1751 and a 

 few summary accounts covering Mercer's career. Further 

 footnoted references to this ledger will be omitted. Charles 

 C;arter lived at "Cleve" in King George County, near Port 

 Royal, fronting on the Rappahannock. See Fairfax Harri- 

 son, "The Will of Charles Carter of Cleve," \'H.\I i Richiiioiul, 

 1923), vol. 31, pp. 42^3. 



28 



