later before bringing cither of these major projects 

 to completion."'' 



Walker's carpenter was William Monday. Mercer 

 settled with Monday in March 1748 for a total bill 

 of £126 16s. 2}^d., but with a protest addressed 

 to himself in the ledger: ''By work done aijout my 

 House which is not near the \alue as by Maj ■■ Walker's 

 Estimate below, yet to avoid l)is])utes & as he is 

 worth nothing I give him CIredit 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." '" Bromley employed several appi entices, 

 among them an Irishman named Patterson.'" For 

 the interval from July 9, 1748, to December 25, 

 1750, Bromley was paid £140 Is. Wd., almost 

 entirely for wages. The payment included "3 p'' 

 hollows & rounds / 6 plane irons / 1 gallon Brandy." 

 For the same period Andrew Beaty, also a joiner, 

 received £113 5s. 1 'i'd. 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, wainscot- 

 ing, and e.xterior 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}^ days 

 for a total of £22 4s. 4d., while his helper Joseph 

 Surges was employed 43 days for £5 7s. 6d. 

 Walker charged £3 8s. lid. for "his Painters work 



"■■ WniFFEN, ibid., pp. 134-137, 217; JHB, 1742-1747; 

 1748-1749 op. cit. (footnote 6), p. 312; JHB, 1752-1755; 

 /755-775« (Richmond, 1909), p. 28. 



•« Purdi<- & Dixon's Virginia Cazelte, September 26, 1 7t)(i. 

 Mercer spelled the name Brownley in Ledger G, but in the 

 Gazette article it is printed consistently as Bromley. As published 

 in the Geome Mercer Papers it is spelled, and perhaps miscopied, 

 BramUy. We have chosen Bromley as the most likely spelling, 

 in the absence of other references to him. 



■'" Gemge Mercer Papers, op. cit. (footnote .'il ). p. 204. 



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'', £4.1 . . . ." Another item, for supplying 

 "341}.^ feet Walnut Plank at 2''," 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 1 2 



900 Coins & Returns at 6/ 2 14 



A Frontispiece 3 10 



Underpinning & altering the Cellar 2 



raising a Chimney I 5 



building an Oven 15 



building a Kiln 1 



building a Kitchen 9 10 



3 Arches at 6/ 18 



2 Plain D° at 2/6 5 



500 Coins & returns at 6/ 1 10 



55 



19 







Expensive stone was imported for the house by 

 Captain Roger Lyndon, master of the Marigold., 

 whose account occurs in the ledger: 



£ s. d. 



1749 April By 630 Bricks at 20/ p' 10 



m. 

 Dec"^ By Gen'l Charges for 

 hewn Stone from M ■■ 

 Nicholson ^ 65 16 4 



1 750 June B\ Cien'l Charges foi- 



sundrys by the Mari- 

 gold 

 By Do for freight of 

 Stones to my House 5 



It is interesting to note that bricks, probably carried 

 from England as ballast, were brought by Captain 

 Lyndon. 

 Not all the hewn stone was fashioned in England. 



"' Captain Timothy Nicholson was a London merchant and 

 shipmaster engaged in the Virginia trade with whom Mercer 

 arranged several transactions. 



