People of the Revolutionary War | The Founding Fathers - An Overview | John Francis Mercer
John Francis Mercer (1759-1821) - Maryland
Image: Courtesy of Independence National Historical Park
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.
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