The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia Part 7

[77] See pp. 25, 35-36, 46-47 and footnote 95 for further references to William Walker. Mercer's visit on this occasion probably relates to Walker's tentative appointment to rebuild Aquia Church.

[78] Mrs. Ann Spoore of Stafford County.

[79] Probably Mercer's sister-in-law, Mrs. Ann Mason, mother of George Mason of Gunston Hall.

[80] Dr. Henry Potter lived in Spotsylvania County. His estate was advertised for sale the following April 17 in the _Virginia Gazette_.

[81] George Hoomes was a justice of Caroline County court. He was appointed in 1735, the same year in which John Mercer qualified to practice law at the same court. "Extracts from the Records of Caroline County," _VHM_ (Richmond, 1912), vol.

20, p. 203.

[82] Probably Thomas Anderson (see p. 35 and footnote 93); William Gray was justice of New Kent County.

[83] Joseph Selden's estate pa.s.sed to his son Samuel, who married Mercer's eldest daughter, Sarah Ann Mason Mercer. See John Melville Jennings, ed., "Letters of James Mercer to John Francis Mercer," _VHM_ (Richmond, 1951), vol. 59, pp. 89-91.

[84] 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, 1707).

VEHICLES

During the 1740's Mercer's travels were often by chaise or chariot. We learn from Ledger G that he bought "a fourwheel Chaise" from Charles Carter[85] in September 1744, a significant step in emulating the manners and ways of Virginia's established aristocrats. Three years later he purchased "a Sett of Chaisewheels" from Francis Hogans, a Caroline County wheelwright, and in June 1748 he discounted as an overcharge the cost of "a Chaise worth nothing" in his account with the English mercantile firm of Sydenham & Hodgson.[86] A "chaise" could have been one of several types of vehicles, but it was probably "a carriage for traveling, having a closed body and seated for one to three persons," according to Murray's _A New Oxford Dictionary_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 7.--JOHN MERCER'S TOBACCO-CASK SYMBOLS, drawn in his Ledger G. The "home plantation" (Marlborough) is symbolized by the initial C, probably in honor of his wife Catherine. Sumner's quarters at Pa.s.sapatanzy is indicated by S, and Bull Run quarters by B. (_Courtesy of Bucks County Historical Society._)]

In 1749 Mercer bought a "chariot" from James Mills of Tappahannock for 80. Doubtless an elegant piece of equipage, this was, we learn from Murray, "a light four-wheeled carriage with only back seats, and differing from the post-chaise in having a coach-box." In November 1750 he paid John Simpson, a Fredericksburg wheelwright, 10 s.h.i.+llings for "wedging & hooping the Chariotwheels" and 9 s.h.i.+llings for "mending 3 fillys & 3 Spokes in D^o."[87]

At the same time he bought a "p^r Cartwheels" for 2 and a "Tumbling Cart" for 1 6s. from Simpson. Murray tells us that a "tumble cart" or a "tumbril cart" was a dung cart, designed to dump the load.

FOOTNOTES:

[85] 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 Carter lived at "Cleve" in King George County, near Port Royal, fronting on the Rappahannock. See FAIRFAX HARRISON, "The Will of Charles Carter of Cleve," _VHM_ (Richmond, 1923), vol. 31, pp. 42-43.

[86] Sydenham & Hodgson was a London mercantile firm, represented in Virginia by Jonathan Sydenham. Mercer identified the firm in Ledger G as "Merchants King George"

and noted in his journal on January 20, 1745, that he visited at "Mr. Sydenham's." In 1757 the two men were referred to elsewhere as "Messrs. Sydenham & Hodgson of London." See "Proceedings of the Virginia Committee of Correspondence, 1759-67," _VHM_ (Richmond, 1905), vol. 12, pp. 2-4.

[87] Extensive research has been conducted by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., on the forms of vehicles used by such Virginians as Mercer and his contemporaries.

TOBACCO CASK BRANDS

Hogsheads and casks of tobacco were branded with the symbols or initials of the original owners. Many of the brands are recorded explicitly in the ledger. Mercer, at the beginning of his career, used a symbol M. As his plantations multiplied, however, three symbols were adopted, based on his own two initials. Tobacco casks from Bull Run were marked I^[B.]M. Those from Sumner's Quarters bore the brand I^[S.]M, while the "Home Plantation" at Marlborough had casks marked I^[C.]M (fig. 8).

The interpretation of these symbols warrants some digression. In the 17th century, and indeed in the 18th century also, the triangular cipher to indicate the initials of man and wife was commonly used to mark silver, pewter, china, delftware, linens, and other objects needing owners' identifications. The common surname initial was placed at the top, the husband's first-name initial at the lower left, and the wife's at the lower right. This arrangement was used consistently in the 17th century. In the 18th century, however, variations began to appear in the colonies, although not, apparently, in England. Silver made in New York and Philadelphia during the 1700's presents the initials reading from left to right, with the husband's at the lower left, the wife's at top center, and the surname initial at the lower right. The large keystone of the Carlyle house in Alexandria, built in 1751, bears a triangular arrangement of John and Sarah Carlyle's initials: J^[S.]C.[88]

Like Carlyle, Mercer used initials in this fas.h.i.+on, but also, as we have seen, in two other combinations in which "J. M." remains constant, the upper center initial having a subordinate significance. "S" signifies Sumner's Quarters, and "B," Bull Run Quarters. "C" on seals and brands having to do with Marlborough apparently refers to Catherine, honoring her as Mercer's wife and mistress of the home plantation. The possibility that "C" stands for Cave's warehouse may be dismissed as being inconsistent with the other two marks, the tobacco from Sumner's Quarters having also been s.h.i.+pped through Cave's, and that from Bull Run Quarters having been stored at the Occaquan warehouse.[89]

John Withers also used the left-to-right arrangement, I^[H.]W, although Henry Tyler, a planter whose account is mentioned in Mercer's Ledger, used the conventional three-letter cipher, H^[T.]M. These marks occurred on casks transmitted to Mercer as payments, and are recorded in Ledger G (fig. 7).

FOOTNOTES:

[88] GAY MONTAGUE MOORE, _Seaport in Virginia_ (Richmond, 1949), p. 62.

[89] C. MALCOLM WATKINS, "The Three-initial Cipher: Exceptions to the Rule," _Antiques_ (June 1958), vol. 73, no.

6, pp. 564-565.

TOBACCO EXCHANGE

Tobacco, before being transferred to another owner, was examined by official inspectors. Mercer kept a special "Inspector's Notes" account where he kept track of fees due the inspectors. Direct payments of tobacco were made in transactions with William Hunter and Charles d.i.c.k, the Fredericksburg merchants from whom Mercer bought most of his goods and supplies. To others, however, payments were made in a complexity of tobacco notes, legal-fee payments, and plain barter. Tobacco s.h.i.+pped overseas was usually handled by Sydenham & Hodgson. Also involved with tobacco transactions in England were two Virginia merchants, Major John Champe, a distinguished resident of King George County who lived at Lamb's Creek plantation, and William Jordan, of Richmond County, both of whom arranged for purchases of books, furniture, and other English imports for Mercer.

The following are excerpts from Sydenham & Hodgson's account in Ledger G:

1745 s. d.

June To 8 hhds. tob^o consigned 63 5 5 you by the Pri[n]ce of Denmark November To 6 hhds by the 29 15 9 Harrington 1746 May To 5 hhds by Cap^n Lee LOST Feb To 10 hhds by Cap^t 51 14 8 Perry 1747 Septemb^r To 10 hhds by Cap^t 35 9 8 Perryman 1748 June To 10 hhds by Cap^n Donaldson LOST 1749 Septemb^r To 24 hhds tob^o sold 162 17 14 Mr. Jordan

Revealed in this account are the hazards of s.h.i.+pping goods overseas in the 18th century. A partners.h.i.+p apparently figured in the second loss at sea, however, as the following entry in Ledger G shows:

June 1747 By Profit & Loss for the half 75.15.3-3/4 of 20 hhds by Donaldson in the c.u.mberland & Lost By William Jordan for the other half.

Between 1747 and 1750 Mercer lost a total of 107 hogsheads of tobacco.

Over and above this, however, he s.h.i.+pped overseas tobacco to the amount of 385 11s. 7d., during the same period.

CLIENTS

Mercer's success was gained despite the failures of a great many persons to pay the fees they owed him. In 1745 he listed 303 "Insolvents, bad & doubtful debts." That matters were no worse may be attributed to a high average of responsible clients. Among them were such well-known Virginians as Daniel Dulaney, William and Henry Fitzhugh, William Randolph, Augustine, John, and Lawrence Was.h.i.+ngton, Gerard Fowke, Richard Taliaferro, John and Daniel Parke Custis, Andrew and Thomas Monroe, George Tayloe, George Lee, George Wythe, and William Ramsay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 8.--WINE-BOTTLE SEAL on bottle excavated at Marlborough, with same arrangement of initials used in the Marlborough tobacco seal.]

CLOTHING

By the early 1740's Mercer was in a position to surround himself with symbols of wealth and prestige. Clothes, a traditional measure of affluence, were now a growing concern for himself and his family.

Between 1741 and 1744, the ledger reveals, he purchased from William Hunter a greatcoat, women's stockings, women's calf shoes, morocco pumps, a "fine hat," three felt hats, two dozen "plaid hose," two pairs of men's shoes, one pair of "Women's Spanish Shoes," and "2 p^r Calf D^o." In 1744 and 1745 he bought from Charles d.i.c.k two pairs of "women's coll'^d lamb gloves," two pairs of silk stockings, "1 velvet laced hood," a "laced hat," a "Castor" (i.e., beaver) hat, "fine thread stockings," silk handkerchiefs, a "flower'd pettycoat," worsted stockings, and buckskin gloves. From Hugh MacLane, a Stafford tailor, he obtained a suit in 1745.

The rise in Mercer's wealth and prestige is reflected in his patronizing Williamsburg tailors, beginning in 1745 when he settled with George Charleston for a tailor's bill of 6 10s. In 1748 he paid Charleston four s.h.i.+llings for "Collar lining a Velvet Waistcoat." In 1749 he purchased a "full trimm'd velvet Suit" from Charles Jones, the work and materials totaling 7 7s. 4-1/4d., while in 1750 he spent 11 2s. 1-1/2d. on unitemized purchases from the same tailor. In that year he bought also from Robert Crichton, a Williamsburg merchant, "a flower'd Velvet Waistcoat, 5." As the decade advanced, Mercer played with increasing consciousness the role of wealthy gentleman, as his choice of tailors shows.

MATERIALS

Textile materials, as seen under "General Expenses" and in the accounts of Hunter and d.i.c.k, ran the gamut of the usual imported fabrics, as well as rare, expensive elegancies. An alphabetical list of the materials mentioned in these accounts, with definitions, is given in Appendix I.

From this list we gain an impression of great diversity and refinement in the materials used for clothing and interior decoration, as well as of a tremendous amount of sewing, embroidering, and making of clothes at home, probably typical of most of the great plantations in the middle of the century.

WEAVING

In addition to fine imported materials, there were needed blankets, work clothes for slaves, and fabrics for other practical purposes. To these ends Mercer employed several weavers in various parts of Virginia. In 1747 William Threlkeld wove 109 yards of woolen cloth at fourpence a yard. During that year and the next, John Booth of King George County wove an indeterminate amount for a total of 2 4d. In 1748 John Fitzpatrick wove 480 yards of cotton at fourpence a yard, and William Mills wove 30 yards of "cloath." Much of the work appears to have been done in payment for legal services.