The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia. C. Malcolm Watkins
his own records we know that he moved to Marlborough in 1726. He did so probably in the summer, since on June 11 he settled with Charles McClelland for “cleaning out ye house.” Unoccupied for years and small in size, it was a humble place in which to set up housekeeping, and indeed must have needed “cleaning out.” It also must have needed extensive repairs, since Mercer purchased 1500 tenpenny nails “used about it.”
Throughout 1726 Mercer acquired household furnishings, made repairs and improvements, and obtained the necessities of a plantation. On February 1 he acquired “3 Ironbacks” (cast-iron firebacks for fireplaces) for £8 4s. 2d., as well as “2 pr hand Irons” for 15s. 5d., from Edmund Bagge. From George Rust he bought “3 Cows & Calves” for £7 10s., a featherbed for £3 10s., and an “Iron pot” for 5s.
His reckoning with John Dogge opens with a poignant note, “By a Child’s Coffin”: Mercer’s first-born child had died. On the same account was “an Oven,” bought for 17 shillings. Dogge also was credited with “bringing over 10 sheep from Sumners” (a plantation at Passapatanzy, south of Potomac Creek). Rawleigh Chinn was paid for “plowing up & fencing in my yard” and for “fetching 3 horses over the Creek.” Also credited to Chinn was an item revealing Mercer’s sporting enthusiasm: “went on ye main race … 15/.”
From Alexander Buncle, Mercer acquired one dozen table knives, three chamber-door locks, two pairs of candle snuffers, and two broad axes. His account with Alexander McFarlane in 1726, the credit side of which is quoted here in part, is a further illustration of the variety of hardware and consumable goods that he required:
| £ | s. | d. | |
| 2 pr men’s Shooes | 9 | ||
| 1 Razor & penknife | 2 | 6 | |
| 2¼ gall Rum | 6 | 9 | |
| 9 gals. molasses | 13 | ||
| 121 brown Sugar | 6 | ||
| 6¼ double refined Do 20d | 10 | 5 | |
| 1 felt hat | 2 | 4 | |
| 1 qt Limejuice | 1 | ||
| 2 doz. Claret | 1 | 10 | |
| 2 lanthorns | 6 | ||
| 1 funnell | 7½ | ||
| 1 quart & 1 pint tin pot | 1 | 10½ | |
| * * * | |||
| By 2 doz & 8 bottles Claret | 2 | 8 | |
| By a woman’s horsewhip | 3 | ||
| By 1oz Gunpowder | |||
| By 10l Shot | |||
| By 1 woms bound felt [hat] |
Mercer’s comments, added three years later to this record, signify the complexities of credit accounting in the plantation economy: “In July 1729 I settled Accounts wth Mr McFarlane & paid him off & at the same time having Ed Barry’s note on him for 1412l Tobo (his goods being extravagantly dear) I paid him 1450l Tobo to Mr Thos Smith to ballns accts.”
Another of Mercer’s accounts was with Edward Simm. From Simm, Mercer acquired the following in 1726:
| £ | s. | d. | |
| 1 horsewhip | 4 | ||
| 1 fine hat | 12 | ||
| 9 yds bedtick ¾ | 1 | 10 | |
| 1 pr Spurs | 8 | ||
| 1 Curry Comb & brush | 2 | 9 | |
| 2 pr mens Shooes 5/ | 10 | ||
| 1 pr Chelloes | 1 | 10 | |
| 2 pr woms gloves 2/ | 4 | ||
| 2 pr Do thread hose | 9 |
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