Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>10/01/1810 MD District 2 Lost 43.61% (-12.77%)</li>
<li>11/08/1802 MD Governor Won 70.67% (+41.33%)</li>
<li>11/09/1801 MD Governor Won 69.41% (+38.82%)</li>
<li>10/01/1792 MD District 2 Won 56.95% (+14.84%)</li>
<li>10/26/1791 MD District 3 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>01/10/1789 MD District 3 Lost 29.93% (-40.14%)</li>
<li>12/31/1783 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1782 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>John Francis Mercer (May 17, 1759 – August 30, 1821) was an American lawyer, planter, and politician from Virginia and Maryland, who served as Maryland's governor, as well as terms in the Continental Congress (representing Virginia), U.S. House of Representatives (representing Maryland districts), Virginia House of Delegates, and Maryland State Assembly.</p>

<p>Mercer was born in 1759 at Marlborough plantation in Stafford County in the Colony of Virginia, to prominent lawyer, planter and investor in western lands John Mercer and his second wife, the former Ann Roy. His father John Mercer fathered 19 children by two wives, although many died before reaching adulthood. His namesake half-brother, Captain John Fenton Mercer (1735-1756)) was killed and scalped in western Virginia during the French and Indian War. His elder half brothers George Mercer and James Mercer served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and James also became a prominent lawyer and served in Virginia revolutionary conventions, the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress (1779-1780) before becoming a judge, ultimately of what later became the Virginia Supreme Court. Mercer also had several sisters and half-sisters who survived to adulthood, including Sarah Mercer who married Col. Samuel Selden of Stafford County, Mary Mercer who married Daniel McCarty Jr. of Westmoreland County, Grace Mercer who married Muscoe Garnett of Essex County, and Maria Mercer who married Richard Brooke of King and Queen County. His younger brother Robert Mercer (1764-1800) would marry Mildred Carter, daughter of prominent planter Landon Carter, and become a lawyer and editor of the "Genius of Liberty". Like all his brothers who lived to adulthood, Mercer attended the College of William and Mary, and graduated in 1775.</p>

<p>On February 3, 1785, he married heiress Sophia Sprigg, daughter of Richard Sprigg and Margaret Caile of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. They had at least four children, including Margaret Mercer, who became an abolitionist and freed all the slaves she inherited upon her father's death. His nephew, congressman Charles Fenton Mercer, also opposed slavery and was president of the American Colonization Society.</p>

MERCER, John Francis, (brother of James Mercer), a Delegate from Virginia and a Representative from Maryland; born at ``Marlborough,'' Stafford County, Va., on May 17, 1759; after receiving his education at home from private teachers was graduated from the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., in 1775; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Williamsburg, Va., in 1781; during the Revolutionary War served as lieutenant in the Third Virginia Regiment; promoted to captain in 1777, and was aide-de-camp to Gen. Charles Lee in 1778 and 1779; lieutenant colonel of Virginia Cavalry; Delegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress 1783-1784; moved to West River, Anne Arundel County, Md.; delegate from Maryland to the Federal Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 but withdrew before signing the Constitution; delegate to the state convention which ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788; member of the state house of delegates in 1788, 1789, 1791, and 1792; elected as an Anti-Administration candidate to the Second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Pinkney; reelected as an Anti-Administration candidate to the Third Congress and served from February 5, 1792, until his resignation April 13, 1794; again a member of the state house of delegates in 1800 and 1803-1806; governor of Maryland 1801-1803; retired to his estate ``Cedar Park,'' West River, Md.; died in Philadelphia, Pa., August 30, 1821; remains deposited in a vault at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, Pa.; subsequently interred in a private cemetery at ``Cedar Park,'' West River, Anne Arundel County, Md.