George Mercer - the future holds no promise in 1760

George Washington had several high level performers, such as George Mercer and Robert Stewart, who could never get a comfortable situation for themselves. In a world with no social security, no 401k, and pensions mostly based on who you know, these men struggled for financial security in the years following their service to Colonel George Washington in the French and Indian War.

George Mercer was elected with Colonel George Washington to the House of Burgesses representing Frederick County 1758 to 1761.

Their political competition? Adam Stephen and Thomas Bullitt. These men also served in the Virginia Regiment under Colonel George Washington, but they rarely depended on him. They would ask him favor. But often they got their way without him.

Here is a letter by George Mercer who is in Winchester VA. He has been there since Nov 1759.

He writes to Colonel George Washington asking his help to stop Thomas Bullitt in Williamsburg.

Thomas Bullitt is claiming a lot of land. He has picked out the best land for himself. Adam Stephen is joining Bullitt on that matter.

But Adam Stephen is now Colonel and head of the Virginia Regiment. He is with Major "Paddy" Andrew Lewis. They are ready to fight the Cherokees if requested. They are defending Virginia's interest in this Cherokee War with the Carolinas and Georgia. But Virginia has not enterred the fighting fray. They are there to push a hard peace, maybe re-establish trade with the Cherokees. Their presence threatens the Cherokee nation. Their presence entered into the Cherokee calculations as they fought to defend their own interests against especially South Carolina.

Mercer cannot travel to Williamsburg. We are interested in his reasons why. He has a brother in the Hampshire County area. And he might be helping either his brothers or his Dad. Mercer does not say why he cannot leave Winchester for Williamsburg.. So he asks George Washington to defend their interests in this land grab by Thomas Bullitt and Adam Stephen.

The modern reader will find this writing style a little difficult, but reading this letter will be worth the effort.

Below is the letter.

Compiled by Jim Moyer 3/25/2025

To George Washington from George Mercer, 17 February 1760

From George Mercer

Winchester Feby 17th 1760

Dear Colonel

I have just received a Letter from Bullitt wrote in his own Style, concerning my Application for the Surveyor’s Place on the Ohio, affirming that I was told, “when I applyd thro. Washington to the Commissary, that the Place was engaged to him” this you know to be false, and I am sure he never heard so; you may well remember our Conversation on the Occasion, in going down to the Capitol, We both guessed, there had been some Kind of Promise, but agreed that it was right for Me to wait on the Commissary again next Day as he had directed Me.1

Bullitt has wrote Me the Place is to be divided and each of Us to have a District; he has already fixed on his, & writes Me for my Approbation of it, tho. at the same Time he says, “this I believe you may readily agree to, as I have got an Order entered by the Socioty of the College nigh to that Purpose”—I need write Nothing to convince you of the Modesty of a Man you know so well,

yet if youl give Me Leave I’ll beg your Patience to read the Proposal he has made Me in his own Words—

“&ca as prior in Application expect for my Department all the Lands from a Line run from the Head of the Potomack, to the Head Spring of the Cheat River thence down the Channel of said River to Pittsburg, including all the Land from said Line & River to the Bound of the Northern Neck, Maryland & Pennsylvania—and on the North Side of the Ohio, to go the Channel of said River down to the Wabash, thence up that, to Lake Erie, including all the Land between said River and New England, then youl have all the Land South West of Monongahela to Carolina and on the other Side the Wabash, as far as Virga extends, this I believe you may readily agree to, as I have got an Order entered by the Socioty of the College, nigh to that Purpose”

but by Way of Conclusion farther adds—

“In case the British Plantations are not extended over the Ohio, these are not to be the Bounds of our Division.”2

Now Dear Sir I woud beg the Favor of you to be my Friend on this Occasion, as Bullitt is to be down at the Assembly to direct them what to do, (Kennedy says) no Doubt he will endeavor to get the Affair settled as he thinks proper, indeed he has wrote Me that he expects Me down then for that Purpose 3

—My Business calls Me to Phila.,4

it is impossible I can attend, nay coud I, I woud still ask you for this Kindness on my Behalf—The least I think I can expect if the office is to be divided between Us, that I shoud have a Vote on the occasion, as well as Bullitt, for from the Acquaintance I have with that Man, I dont think his Abilities or any Thing else, entitle him to a Superiority over Me, indeed I shoud think myself capable of any Meanness, were I to submit to be under his Direction in any Particular—Stephen is to be down at the Assembly too, not only to direct Them, but also to back Bullitt—he rubs his Hands, shrugs his Shoulders, and says he knows if Tom gets the Place he will serve a Friend—Tho. I was once very easy about this Affair, I cant say now but it woud give Me the greatest Joy imaginable to disappoint these mighty Schemers—they are to have all the best Land on the Ohio &c. in Partnership—The Plan has been long concerted, and they already think Themselves absolute Proprietors—tho. Ill be crucified if they’ll leave the two Men to themselves, if ever they describe its Bounds and Situation by Chain & Compass.

I have wrote Bullitt that he may depend I’ll do all I can, to have at least a Refusal of a Place, as well as himself, & that I shoud beg the Favor of my Friend Washington’s Assistance—It woud vex Me much to be disappointed in any Thing I attempted by him & his Friend Stephens. I shall also write the Commissary on this Occasion.

I beg Pardon for using this Freedom with You, and after so much upon my own Affairs, allow Me Sir to assure you, that it will give Me Pleasure to oblige You, in every Particular, where my Situation in Life may afford an Opportunity. You may depend upon my utmost Care in executing the orders you have already favored Me with in Regard to your Man,5

I expect to be called from hence every Hour, and shall return again as soon as possible.

Do you not think it will be proper to put the Council in Mind of our Memorial concerning the Land? I coud wish the Point were settled.6

There is a Report here of Montreal being taken by Genl [William] Johnson with his Indians, it comes from Pittsburg, and as We are told here was brought there by a Mohawk Indian whom Johnson sent with the News to General Stanwix.

My best Compliments wait on Mrs Washington and I am Dear Sir Your obliged & obedient humble Servant

Go: Mercer

ALS, DLC:GW.

1. Thomas Dawson, commissary in Virginia for the bishop of London, was also president of the College of William and Mary. The college was the agency for licensing surveyors in the colony. It was probably during the meeting of the Virginia assembly in November 1759 that GW and Mercer were together in Williamsburg. For the likelihood of this and for GW’s and Mercer’s lively interest in the Ohio lands, see Mercer to GW, 16 Sept. 1759, and notes. Mercer was back in Winchester before the end of November 1759.

2. Thomas Bullitt was claiming as the territory for which he was to be surveyor what is now westernmost Pennsylvania and the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan (his line up the Wabash would take him to Lake Michigan, not Lake Erie), and he was leaving for Mercer bits and pieces of present Virginia and what are now the states of West Virginia and Kentucky. GW wrote in his diary on 23 Feb. 1760: “Captn. Bullet came here from Alexandria, and engagd to secure me some Lands on the Ohio being lately appointed Surveyor of a District there” (Diaries, 1:245). Mercer’s license from William and Mary as surveyor is dated 10 Dec. 1759.

3. The assembly met in Williamsburg 4–11 Mar., but GW was not there. See Stewart to GW, 8 Mar. 1760. Kennedy may be David Kennedy who became quartermaster of GW’s Virginia Regiment in October 1757.

4. Mercer, whose title was assistant deputy quartermaster general, wrote Col. Henry Bouquet from Winchester on 1 Mar.: “I have waited your Orders to repair to Philadelphia with great Impatience for some Weeks past, and the more so, as I cant possibly be of Service here till I see you; the Country People are daily applying to know the Com̃odities wanted at Pittsburg . . .” (Waddell, Bouquet Papers, 4:476–77).

5. This is a reference to Thomas Bishop. On 25 Jan. 1760 GW “wrote to my old Servt. Bishop to return to me again if he was not otherwise engagd. Directed for him in Phila.” On 31 Mar. GW learned from a letter from Bishop that he was “very desirous of returning but enlisted in the 44th. Regimt.” (Diaries, 1:229, 259). See also Stewart to GW, 14 April 1760, and John Mercer to GW, 16 June 1760.

6. The memorial concerning land may have been something GW and Mercer prepared in November 1759. See note 1. See also Mercer to GW, 16 Sept. 1759, and notes 5 and 6 of that document. The council does not record receiving any such document as the memorial.

Source:

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-06-02-0213

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More related notes:

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To George Washington from George Mercer, 16 September 1759

From George Mercer

Winchester Septr 16th 1759

Dear Sir

I know you will excuse Me for addressing you on so coarse so common Paper, when I assure you tis the best our Town affords.

Had your Favor reached my Hands a few Minutes later, I shoud have lost this Opportunity of acknowledging the Receipt of it; for my Express was already mounted.1

You are not the first Person that has been deceived by the Gentlemen in Black; but whoever gave you such Information must have done it with a premeditated Design to lye, or something as bad; for I really have not been at Prince William Court these three Years, nor have I even crossed the Blue Ridge since last June;2 but Sir I allow it a sufficient Apology for your not writing,3 as I coud say many Things to you that I can not put upon Paper, & in particular concerning the Land.

Your Proposal concerning an Entry on the Ohio I am fully of Opinion will answer: indeed it is what I had before determined upon, and am much rejoiced that you propose to be a Partner in the Scheme. I had obtained Leave to be at Williamsburg on the Meeting of the Assembly in November, with no other View, than that of securing to myself so much Land, as I was entitled to by the Governor’s Proclamation; which allowed Us such Terms that We cant possibly lose by it—and as I determine to go to England this Year, I thought it proper to settle that Point before I embarked it must be of Service in Time to come—Lands on the Ohio will be valuable.4 You may bid Me do any Thing you think necessary till We meet at Williamsburg, no Doubt you will be there on the Assembly, then We may surely secure it to ourselves.5 Gist I believe knows the Country well, therefore woud be a good Partner. I have the Copy of all our Entries We made with Gist now by Me—he told Me, he had entered Them for Us: but I know not whether it woud be of any Advantage to Us, if he has done it.6 As We shall meet at Williamsburg, we will leave no Stone unturned to secure to ourselves this Land. I cant think of any previous Step that will be necessary, but shoud any occur to You, that I can execute pray inform Me of Them. As to News—

All is well and quiet on the Ohio—Single Persons come from Pittsburg down. The Savages come in to the General in great Numbers begging Remission of their Sins, and Forgiveness for past Offences. The General told Me, there were sometimes 1000 there at once—The French, you certainly must have heard, have evacuated and burnt their Forts at Venango—Presque Isle, and Le Bœufe, and retired to Detroit.7

We are going to build a very respectable Fort at Pittsburg, of Brick, to contain 4000 Men on an Emergency, and capable of holding out against Shells as ’tis to be covered.

Bullitt is immediately to appear before 12 & a President—as tis generally supposed poor Tom was intimidated (to use his own Word) when his Party was attacked—God knows whether he was or not but he made his Escape—with a Guard for his sacred Person, in a most precipitate Manner, consisting of about 60 of his Men—The Remainder were almost cut to Pieces—there were only 60 of the Enemy, and Bullitts Command consisted of 100 Rank & File—but he took Care of 60 of Them—21 or 22 of the remaining 40 were killed, & tho. they were so hotly engaged, Bullitt never returned to the Charge—notwithstanding the most earnest Entreaties of his Men—Thus the Story is told by the two Officers whom Bullitt left in the Scrape—I hope it will turn out better, but I always supposed Bullitt more capable of being commanded, than commanding—I have thought him brave—but this Tale tells badly.8

I am much obliged to Mr & Mrs C—for their good Wishes,9 tho. I must confess I am not sorry they were disappointed in their Expectations—I can, as Affairs have turned out, and I am safely recovered, offer no other Apology to Them for not being so complaisant as they expected—than as one of the Family had once deceived Me, I thought it was my Turn then to take the Advantage—tho. I really cant charge myself with ever promising either of Them that I woud die—therefore they have nothing to object to Me upon the Occasion.

Pray Sir dont think for what I have said concerning them, that my Acknowledgements to you on this Head are less sincere for I really am obliged to you here, as well as for your Compliments on my late Appointment10—You wish Me much, when you desire I may derive as much Honor & Profit, as Fatigue and Anxiety from my Office. I shall do my utmost that the General may not be deceived in the Confidence he has reposed in Me—but no Profit I can make, can equal the Trouble I am obliged to go thro.—tis true I coud not be deceived in the Affair, as I well knew the Duty—and I say ’twas against my Inclination that I entered upon ⟨it⟩ but I found a Refusal woud disoblige the General &c. s⟨o⟩ I acquiesed, but never did my Mind war more against ⟨mutilated⟩ Hands, than when I received the Commission—As I have got it tho., I must do the best—I’ll take Care not to err thro. Neglect. Indeed I found if I woud not concern myself that no Part of the Trade woud come to this Colony, and I believe it was in Consequence of some Letters I had take⟨n⟩ upon Me to write the General concerning the Roads Tra⟨mutilated⟩ that I was ordered up to have a Conference with him.11

If you have Wheat Rye Corn or Oats, Cattle, Sheep or Hogs to dispose of there is a Ready & great Market for Them here, and will continue for two or three Weeks—till we lay in our Winter’s Stock.

While I was on the So. Branch a Man brought in your grey Horse, and upon my Return here Yesterday, waited on Me & offered to swear he was mine, nay even reminded of the Place & Time I bought him, and that I had paid so many Pieces of Money which I took out of my left Pocket with my right Hand for him; indeed I coud scarce persuade him I had Transferred my Right & Title of him to you—I wanted him to take him down, but he woud not, so I tipped the Fellow a Crown, & shall send him down to your Quarter to Day by a soldier.12

Capt. Waggener is here in his Way to Williamsburg, from whence he expects to return a Field Officer.13

If I shoud write you often, & such long Letters, I believe you woud soon desire a Stop to Them, but I have wrote on many Points the next shall be shorter. Even here tho. I must add one Line ⟨mutilated⟩ beg youl present your Lady with my ⟨mutilated⟩ and assure you as I have often before that I am Dear Colonel Your Friend & very hble Servant

G. Mercer

ALS, DLC:GW.

1. GW’s letter has not been found.

2. When the 2d Virginia Regiment was disbanded in December 1758, its lieutenant colonel, George Mercer, continued with the Virginia forces at Winchester as a volunteer until Maj. Gen. John Stanwix made him assistant deputy quarter master general for Virginia and Maryland. Stanwix succeeded Forbes after Forbes’s death in March 1759 as commander of the British forces in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies.

3. No evidence of any communication until now between GW and Mercer after GW’s departure from Winchester in December 1758 has been found, except that GW records on 10 Feb. 1759 receiving from Mercer £21.10 for a horse (General Ledger A, folio 52).

4. The departure of the French from the Forks of the Ohio in late 1758 opened the way for the veterans of Virginia’s campaign in 1754 to begin to stake out claims to land on the Ohio to which they were entitled under the terms of Lt. Gov. Robert Dinwiddie’s proclamation setting aside 200,000 acres of land on the Ohio to “be divided amongst them immediately after the Performance of the said Service [against the French and their Indian allies in 1754], in a Proportion due to their respective Merit, as shall be represented to me by their Officers” (Pennsylvania Gazette [Philadelphia], 12 Mar. 1754). Because the British government closed the Ohio country to settlement in 1763 at the end of the war, it was not until December 1769 that GW petitioned the colonial governor and council for the land to which the officers and men of the Virginia Regiment of 1754 were entitled, and it was not until November 1772 that GW and his old comrades received their first allotments of land under Dinwiddie’s proclamation (see Exec. Journals of Virginia Council, 6:337–38).

5. That GW and Mercer did confer in Williamsburg while GW was attending the assembly, which met 1–21 Nov. 1759, seems likely. See Mercer to GW, 17 Feb. 1760.

6. Apparently GW, Mercer, and Robert Stewart had entered an agreement with Capt. Christopher Gist to have Gist lay claim for them to land along the Ohio to which they were entitled under Dinwiddie’s proclamation of 1754. On 28 Sept. 1759 Robert Stewart wrote GW from Pittsburgh: “. . . the more I see of this Charming Country, the more I’m enamour’d with it, which leads me to enquire after what Steps have been taken, in secureing to us, those Lands which poor Capn Gist was to have enter’d for us, I hope the needful is done, they surely will soon be very valueable.” As all three men were aware, Christopher Gist had died of smallpox in July (on 25 July 1759) while returning to Winchester from Williamsburg. It would appear, therefore, that when Mercer speaks of Gist as a likely partner he is speaking of the son, Lt. Nathaniel Gist, who acted as a guide for GW’s brigade when it marched toward Fort Duquesne in November 1758. On the other hand, it would appear that he is referring to the elder Gist when he speaks of the claims or “Entries” that Gist made for them.

7. News of the burning of “Venango LeBeuff & Priscile” reached Pittsburgh by 12 Aug. (Hugh Mercer to Stanwix, 15 Aug. 1759, in Stevens, Bouquet Papers, 3:568).

8. Right after the event, Lt. Col. Thomas Lloyd wrote General Stanwix from Fort Ligonier (Loyalhanna) on 23 May: “Captain Bullet on his March from Bedford [Pa.] with a Convoy of Fifteen Waggons and Fifteen Thousand Weight of Pork, his Party consisting off one Hundred Virginians was this Day defeated within Four Miles of Ligonier by a Party off the Enemy. . . . Five of the Waggons (Four of them off Pork) were burn’t all the Horses kiled or taken. . . . this happen’d about three in the Afternoon at a Time when the most violent Tornado of Rain Thunder & Lightning that I ever experiencd” (ibid., 309–11). Bullitt estimated that there were 150 Indians in the attack, and Lloyd reported that Lt. Larkin Chew of the Virginians was badly wounded in the arm and that 36 soldiers were missing, 8 of whom were found dead on the field. On 25 May, Lloyd wrote from Ligonier giving further details to Stanwix: “Capt Bullet was attackd by the Enemy at about 3 Miles Distance from this Place. I orderd Capt [Henry] Woodward with a hundred Virginians to his Support, but before he had march’d out of Sight Capt Bullet was arrivd wth about 50 men, Lts [Joseph] Feint & [Larkin] Chew the latter wounded thro the Arm in a half an Hour afterwards arrivd Lt Mingies [Alexander Menzie] of the Virgin: who belong’d to Capt Bulletts Party. he had been posted in the Right at the Commencement of the Action was repuls’d by the Enemy to an Eminence which he Maintaind with great Bravery . . . 17 only surviving out of Thirty” (ibid., 315–17). Also on the twenty-fifth Lt. Col. Adam Stephen wrote to Stanwix from Bedford about Bullitt’s defeat, noting that Bullitt’s party consisted of 3 subalterns, 4 sergeants, 2 drummers, and 100 rank and file (ibid., 318–19). Robert Stewart alludes in his letter to GW of 28 Sept. to the talk in the army of Bullitt’s supposed cowardly performance in the May action, but on 30 Nov. 1759 Col. William Byrd published in Hunter’s Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg) a letter dated 26 Oct. 1759 and sent from Pittsburgh in which he stated that Gen. John Stanwix at Byrd’s request convened a court of inquiry to investigate Captain Bullitt’s conduct. The court decided unanimously “that Captain Bullet behaved like a good Officer, and did every Thing in his Power to repulse the Enemy, and save the Convoy.”

9. Mercer may be referring to the Alexandria merchant John Carlyle and his wife Sarah Fairfax Carlyle.

10. The warrant appointing Mercer assistant deputy quartermaster general of the army for Maryland and Virginia is dated 19 Aug. 1759 and printed in Stevens, Bouquet Papers, 3:583–84.

11. General Stanwix was in Philadelphia until 14 July when he left for Carlisle and Bedford, Pennsylvania.

12. Mercer wrote Bouquet from Fort Pleasant on the South Branch of the Potomac in Virginia on 13 Sept., saying that he had “been to every little Fort, and Plantation for 10 or 15 Miles round” in the past three days and was now returning to Winchester (Stevens, Bouquet Papers, 4:91–93). This may have been the “White Grey Phlea bitten [horse that GW] bought at Publick Vendue of Captn Geo: Mercer” (Papers, Colonial Series, 4:405).