 John
Francis Mercer, born on May 17, 1759, was the fifth of nine children
born to John and Ann Mercer of Stafford County, VA. He attended the
College of William and Mary, and in early 1776 he joined the 3d
Virginia Regiment. Mercer became Gen. Charles Lee's aide-decamp in
1778, but after General Lee's court-martial in October 1779, Mercer
resigned his commission. He spent the next year studying law at the
College of William and Mary and then rejoined the army, where he
served briefly under Lafayette.In
1782 Mercer was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. That
December he became one of Virginia's representatives to the
Continental Congress. He later returned to the House of Delegates in
1785 and 1786.
Mercer married Sophia Sprigg in 1785 and soon
after moved to Anne Arundel County, MD. He attended the
Constitutional Convention as part of Maryland's delegation when he
was only 28 years old, the second youngest delegate in Philadelphia.
Mercer was strongly opposed to centralization, and both spoke and
voted against the Constitution. He and fellow Marylander Luther
Martin left the proceedings before they ended.
After the convention, Mercer continued in
public service. He allied himself with the Republicans and served in
the Maryland House of Delegates in 1778-89, 1791-92, 1800-1801, and
1803-6. Between 1791 and 1794 he also sat in the U.S. House of
Representatives for Maryland and was chosen governor of the state
for two terms, 1801-3. During Thomas Jefferson's term as President,
Mercer broke with the Republicans and joined the Federalist camp.
Illness plagued him during his last years. In
1821 Mercer traveled to Philadelphia to seek medical attention, and
he died there on August 30. His remains lay temporarily in a vault
in St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia and were reinterred on his
estate, "Cedar Park" in Maryland. |
