Mercer, Charles Fenton, 1778-1858

U.S. representative from Virginia; president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company.

State legislator and U.S. representative from Virginia.

Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858), was the son of James Mercer, judge of the Court of Appeals in Virginia and Eleanor Dick, daughter of Major Charles Dick of Frederickburg, Virginia, and grandson of John Mercer, lawyer, of "Marlborough" Stafford Co., Virginia. He was educated at Princeton University, receiving a law degree in 1800. He served as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly from Loudoun Co. from 1810-1816, with service during the War of 1812 as aide-de-camp to the Governor, and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He served in Congress from 1817-1839, favoring free Negro colonization, suppression of the slave trade, internal improvements to the rivers and roads of Virginia, and popular education. Following his service in Congress, he spent time travelling in Europe to espouse the cause of abolishing the slave trade. Upon his return in 1853, he settled at the Epiropal High School of Virginia until his death. He never married. A recent biography, Charles Fenton Mercer and the Trail of National Conservatism, by Douglas R. Egerton, discusses his political contributions, (Jackson and London: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1989).

U.S. representative from Virginia, U.S. army officer, and canal official.

Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858), was the son of James Mercer, judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia and Eleanor Dick, daughter of Major Charles Dick of Fredericksburg, Va., and grandson of John Mercer, lawyer, of "Marlborough" Stafford Co., Va. He was educated at Princeton University, receiving a law degree in 1800. He served as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly from Loudoun Co. from 1810-1816, with service during the War of 1812 as aide-de-camp to the governor, and later, as Inspector General. He served in Congress from 1817-1839, favoring free Negro colonization, supression of the slave trade, internal improvements to the rivers and roads of Virginia, and popular education. Following his service in Congress, he spent time traveling in Europe to espouse the cause of abolishing the slave trade.

Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858), was the son of James Mercer, judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia and Eleanor Dick, daughter of Major Charles Dick of Fredericksburg, Va., and grandson of John Mercer, lawyer, of "Marlborough" Stafford Co., Va. He was educated at Princeton University, receiving a law degree in 1800. He served as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly from Loudoun Co. from 1810-1816, with service during the War of 1812 as aide-de-camp to the governor, and later, as Inspector General. He served in Congress from 1817-1839, favoring free Negro colonization, suppression of the slave trade, internal improvements to the rivers and roads of Virginia, and popular education. Following his service in Congress, he spent time traveling in Europe to espouse the cause of abolishing the slave trade.

Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858), son of James and Eleanor Dick Mercer, graduated from the College of New Jersey at Princeton in 1797 with an A.B. and an A.M. in 1800, after which he studied law. He was elected to the House of Delegates in 1810 from Loudoun County, Virginia. In the War of 1812, Mercer rose to the rank of brigadier-general. While in the legislature, he worked for popular education. Mercer was a vice-president of the Colonization Society of Virginia in 1836 and the first President of theChesapeake and Ohio Canal. He later moved first to Tallahassee, Florida as a bank cashier and then to Kentucky near Carrollton where he farmed, and finally, after a trip to Europe in 1853, he settled at the Episcopal High School of Virginia until his death. Mercer never married.

Charles Fenton Mercer, the son of James and Eleanor (Dick) Mercer, was born June 6, 1778 in Fredericksburg Virginia. He attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) where he received his undergraduate and masters degrees, 1797 and 1800 respectively. He went on to practice law in Aldie, Virginia. From 1810-1817, he served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In addition, during the War of 1812, he was aide to the governor and in command at Norfolk holding the rank of brigadier-general. While in the Virginia Assembly, 1812-1813, he sponsored legislation to organize the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company; he eventually served as its first president from 1828 to 1833. In 1816 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served in that office from March 4, 1817, until his resignation on December 26, 1839. In 1839, after resigning from Congress, Mercer became a cashier for the Union Bank of Florida at Tallahassee. He continued to pursue his personal interests and made several trips to Europe. Shortly before his death he returned to Virginia, where he died on May 4, 1858.

Virginia lawyer, state legislator, and U.S. congressman.

Mercer was an American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1817-1839), and lawyer from Virginia.

Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858) was a lawyer and congressman from Londoun County, Virginia. He served in the Virginia General Assembly from 1810-1816, with service during the War of 1812 as aide-de-camp to the Governor and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He served in Congress from 1817-1839.

Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858) son of James Mercer, judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and Eleanor Dick, daughter of Major Charles Dick of Fredericksburg, Va., and grandson of John Mercer, lawyer, of "Marlborough," Stafford County, Va., was educated at Princeton University, receiving a law degree in 1800. He was a delegate to the General Assembly from Loudoun Co. from 1810-1816, with service during the War of 1812 as aide-de-camp to the governor, and later, as Inspector General. He served in Congress from 1817-1839, favoring free Negro colonization, suppression of slave trade, and internal improvements to the rivers and roads of Virginia.

For three years Mercer devoted himself to procuring a territory in Africa to serve as an asylum for free Negroes who would be willing to relocate, as well as slaves whose owners might emancipate them. He was actively involved with the Virginia Colonization Society in this effort. On his last visit to Europe, his principal object was to unite the governments of Europe in putting an end to the African slave trade.

Mercer wrote an outline of his life ten years before he died and this was published as A Biographical Sketch of Hon. Charles Fenton Mercer, 1778-1853, (Richmond, Va., Whittet and Shepperson, 1911). The first biography of one of Virginia's leading antebellum politicians and reformers is the monograph. Charles Fenton Mercer and the Trial of National Conservatism by Douglas R. Egerton, (Jackson and London: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1979).

A privately printed biography, Biographical Sketch of Hon. Charles Fenton Mercer, by James Mercer Garnett, great nephew, was printed in Richmond, Va. in 1911 by Whittet and Shepperson.