M.i|'' Hcciniiian's & rciutiiinn tlirowii out of ilu- 

 rh.iisc ^: vit\ much bruised." 



The demands of the war arc revealed in journal 

 entries made in June 1757. On the 20lh he wrote, 

 "to Court to jjrick .Soldiers & home," and on the 

 27th, "to t'ourt to draft Soldiers & home." As at 

 other times in the journal, hiith and death, in theii- 

 tratjic immediacy and repetitiveness, were juxtaposed 

 in September: on the 24th, "Son John born"; on 

 the 27th, "Brother James died at Albany"; on the 

 28th, "Son John died." 



In 1758 George Mason ran for the oflicc of burgess 

 trom both Stafford and Fairfax. On July 11, 

 Mcrcei- went to the .Stafford elections, where "Lee & 

 M.ison" were chosen. On the 15th, he went "to 

 \r Selden's & home bs- water to see NT Mason," 

 who evidently had come to Marlborough for a visit. 

 Four days later, he traveled to Alexandria for the 

 elections there and saw "Johnston & Mason" 

 elected. 



In the f.ill of 1758 he went, as usual, to Williams- 

 l)urt;. His route this time was long and devious, 

 taking him to both C'aroline and King William 

 County courthouses on the way, for a total of 121 

 miles in five days. We learn of one of the hazards 

 of protracted journeys in the 18th century from a 

 notation lepeated daily in his journal for four days 

 follow int; his arrival: "at Williamsburg Confined to 

 Bed with the Piles." 



On November 15, soon after his return to Marl- 

 lx)rouch, Mercer was sworn to the new commission 

 of Stafford justices. Five days previously his son 

 C^tcsby had been buried, but, as usually happened, 

 new life came to take the place of that which had 

 sur\ived so briefly. On May 17, 1 75'J, Mercer 

 recorded, "Son John Francis born at 7 in the Evening." 

 John Francis e\idcntly was ijivcn an auspicious start 

 in life by a christening of more than ordinary formality; 

 ".May 28. to C^l° Harrison's with the Gov"^ Son 

 christened." 



During 1759 the second edition of the Ahridgmrnl 

 was published in Glasgow, Scotland, this time with 

 neither public notice nor recrimination.''^ On No- 

 vember 25, .Mercer met the growing problem of his 

 indebtedness by deeding equal shares of some of his 

 properties, as well as whole amounts of others, to 

 (ieorije and James Mercer, M.irll)orough and a few 



'" "Journ.iU of ihc Ck>utH'il of VirKinia in Exrcutivc Sauoru, 

 I717-176;»," !«.»/( Richmond, 1907). vol. 14. p. 2H2(foo«no«c). 



other small holdings excepted. Fifty St-yrttfn wi-m- 

 included in the transaction. This action wm folluurd 

 immediately by the rclcaic of the properties under 

 their new titles to C'olonel John Taylor and C^ilonrl 

 Presles Thornton for a year, thus providing caah b\ 

 which George and James could pay £3000 of John 

 Mercer's debts.'" 



The Ohio Company was experiencing its difiicultics 

 also. Mercer's importance in it was dcmoivstratcd by 

 his appointment to "draw up a full " ' the 



Company's Case setting forth the 1 1 , \Vc 



labour under and the Reasons why the Lands have 

 not been settled and the Fort finished accordini; to 

 Royal Instructions . . . ." '*• This was his nu^it 

 responsible assigntnent during his activity in the 

 company. 



Indebtedness throughout these years lurked con- 

 stantly in the background, now and then breaking 

 through acutely. In 1760, for example, William 

 Tooke, a London merchant, brought suit to collect 

 £331 Is. (id. which Mercer owed him. Two years 

 later Capel Hanbury sued .Mercer for £31 lOs.'" 



In 1761 George Washington and George Mercer 

 ran for burgesses from Frederick County in the 

 .Shenandoah N'alley, and Ixjth were elected. John 

 Mercer, evidently anxious to l)e present for the elec- 

 tion, undertotjk the arduous journey to Winchester, 

 leavini? Marlborough on May 15. His itinerary- was 

 as follows; 



May 15 to Fredericksburg 15 



It) to Ncvill's Ordinary 37 



17 to .\shby"s Combe's & Winchester <' 



18 at Winchester (Frederick Election) 



(Geo \\ i Geo Mercer elected ; 



19 loM'l 18 



20 to Pikes M' XNormley'j Quarter 13 



21 to Snickers'* Little Ri\-cr Quarter- "^ 



Nevnll's 

 '22 to Fallmoulh & hoinr ' 



In the previous year .^nna li.iil Ijcen i 

 now, on I)eceml>er 14, I7(i|, Maria arrr i 



tween the 8th and the 20th of August, 1 762, entries 

 were made that sui{i;est th.it i! 

 of sorts at MaillK>rough: " > . 

 (Poll's) died / Daughter Elinor died Miss B. Roy 



:-r<rrr \fftn P*fni. op. cit. (foofnote 51 \ p. ISO. 

 "• I 



i» I ihc ViiTpnia Ounitunrcof C m r op ondencr 



I7yj'«7," i'HM (Kkhmond. 1905), \-ol. 12. p • 



53 



