lohacro. Since this transaction required lei;isl.iii\<- 

 ;i()|)iu\al, Mercer filed with the House of Burgesses 

 the petition vvliich has served so often in these pages 

 (I) tell the histoiy of Marlljoroutjh. 



Mercer argued in the petition that the county had 

 nothini; to lose — that it "had received satisfaction" 

 for at least 30 lots, some of which he niii^ht be obliged 

 to buy over again; that, considering the history of the 

 town, no one but himself would be likely to take up 

 any other lots, the last having been subscribed to in 

 1708: and that his purchase of the town would be not 

 to the county's disadvantage but rather to his own 

 great expense. He was willing to accept an appraisal 

 from "any one impartial person of Credit" who 

 would say the town was worth more, and to pay 

 "any C^onsideration this worshipful House shall think 

 just." 



He pointed out that the two acres set aside for the 

 courthouse were excluded and that they "must revert 

 to the Heir of the former Proprietor, (who is now an 

 Infant)." He did not indicate in the petition that 

 he himself was the guardian of William Brent, infant 

 heir to the courthouse property. It is most significant, 

 therefore, that in asking for favorable action he added, 

 "except the two acres thereof, which were taken in 

 for a Court-house, as aforesaid and which he is 

 willing to lay of as this worshipful House may think 

 most for the Benefit of Mr. William Brent, the Infant, 

 to whom the same belongs, or to pay him double or 

 treble the worth of the said two acres, if the same is also 

 vested in your Petitioner."' (Italics supplied.) Plainly, 

 Mercer had much at stake in obtaining title to the 

 courthou.se land. This supports the hypothesis that 

 the Gregg sunxy of 1707 infringed on the courthouse 

 land, that Ballard's lot 19 on the Gregg sur\-ey over- 

 lapped it. and that Mercer's first two houses, and now 

 his mansion, were partly on land that rightfully 

 belonged to his ward, William Brent. Mercer 

 .ipparently had so built over all the lower part of 

 .Mailborough without regard to title of ownership, 

 and had so committed him.self to occupancy of the 

 courthouse site, that he was now in the cml)arra.ssing 

 position of having to look after William Brent's 

 interests when they were in conflict with his own. 

 Likely it is that he had depended too much on accept- 

 ance of the still-unauthorized .Savage suney to correct 

 the previous discrepancies by means of its extra row 

 of lots. 



Still further indication that the courthou.se land 

 was at issue is found in the proceedings that followed 

 the petition. In these, there are repeated references 



to Menci s haMMi; been called u[>oii to l<■^^ll\ .is 

 the Guardian of William Brent." C;learly, tlie 

 legislators were concerned with the effect the accept- 

 ance of the petition would have on Brcttt's interest*. 

 If Mercer, as seems likfK. was building hi.* mansion 

 on the courthouse land, the l)urges!«es had rcajK>n to 

 question him. In any case, the H' ■ ■ .v 



aflirmative "That the said Petii. 



This setback was only temporary, however. The 

 wider problems of Marlborough had at lea.st been 

 brought to light, so that by the time the next fall 

 session was held Mercer's 18-year-old .suit to have 

 Savage's designated the official sur\'ey finally was 

 acted upon: 



"At a General Court held at the Court House in 

 Williamsburg the 12th October 1749" the John 

 .Savage sur\'cy of 1731 was "Decreed & Ordered" 

 to be "the only Sur\'ey" of Marllxirough. The 

 problem of overlapping boundaries occasioned by the 

 conflicts between the first two surveys was solved 

 neatly. Mercer agreed to accept lots 1 through 9, 

 22 and 25, and 33, 34. 42, and 43, "instead of the 

 s** 17 lots so purchased." The new lots extended up 

 the Potomac River shore, while the "s"* 17 lots" were 

 those which he had originally purchased and had 

 built upon. Since he had "saved" these 17 lots by 

 building on them, according to the old laws for the 

 town, "it is further decreed & ordered that the said 

 Town of Marllx)rough grant & conve\- unto the s** 

 John Mercer in fee such & so many other Lotts in the 

 said Town as shall include the Houses & Iinprovm" 

 made by the said John Mercer according to the Rate 

 of 400 square feet of Housing for each Lot sa as the 

 Lots to be granted for any House of greater Dimen- 

 sions be contiguous & arc not separated from the 

 said House by any of the Streets of the said Town." '"' 



Thus, Mercer's original titles to 17 lots were made 

 secure by substituting new lots for the disputed ones 

 he had occupied. This device enabled the feoflTee* to 

 sell back the original lots at £182 per lot with 

 new deeds drawn on the basis of the Sax'age sur\'e>'. 

 The final provision that lots Ik" ■ i* when a 



house larger than the minimum 1' , • '' l<"et w.is 

 built on them, and that the house and lots should 

 not be .separated by streets fiDm each 

 teed the mlrfiil\ iif the in.iDMOii .itkI .' 



"' ////', / '■ «■'. pp. ril. .iixiii.nr II', pp. 



'•'John Mcrici'. UikJ Uouk, loe. oil. (footnote IJl 



