The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia Part 10

[102] GEORGE E. ELAND, _The Purefoy Letters_ (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 1931), vol. 1, pp. 98, 107, 111, 177, and pl. 11.

LIGHTING DEVICES

Artificial lighting for the manor house receives spa.r.s.e mention. The four candlesticks bought in 1744 for a penny each were probably of iron or tin for kitchen use. Candlesticks purchased earlier probably remained in use, sufficing for most illumination. It is a modern misconception that colonial houses were ablaze at night with lamplight and candlelight. Candles were expensive to buy and time-consuming to make, while lamps rarely were used before the end of the century in the more refined areas of households. The princ.i.p.al use of candles was in guiding one's way to bed or in providing the minimum necessary light to carry on an evening's conversation. During cold weather, fireplaces were a satisfactory supplement. In general, early to bed and early to rise was the rule, as William Byrd has shown us, and artificial light was only a minor necessity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 13.--TABLE-DESK made in 1749 for Henry Purefoy of Shalstone Manor in Buckinghams.h.i.+re by John Belchier of London. In the following year, John Mercer received 43 13s. worth of "Cabinet Ware"

from that noted cabinetmaker. (_Reproduced from_ Purefoy Letters, 1735-1753, _G. Bland, ed., Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd., London, 1931, by courteous permission of the publisher_.)]

Nevertheless, some illumination was needed in the halls and great rooms of colonial plantation houses, especially when guests were present--as they usually were. The three sconce gla.s.ses which Captain Lyndon delivered to Mercer in 1748 were doubtless elegant answers to this requirement. These gla.s.ses were mirrors with one or more candle branches, arranged so that the light would be reflected and multiplied.

On special occasions, these, and perhaps some candelabra and a scattering of candlesticks to supplement them, provided concentrations of light; for such affairs the use of ordinary tallow candles, with their drippings and smoke, was out of the question. A pleasant alternative is indicated by the purchase in April 1749 of "11-1/2 lib.

Myrtle Wax att 5d ... 14.4-1/2" and "4 lib Beeswax 6/" from Thomas Jones of the Eastern Sh.o.r.e. Similar purchases also are recorded. Myrtle wax came from what the Virginians called the myrtle bush, better known today as the bayberry bush. Its gray berries yielded a fragrant aromatic wax much favored in the colonies. In making candles it was usually mixed with beeswax, as was evidently the case here. A clean-burning, superior light source, it was nonetheless an expensive one. Burning in the brackets of the sconce gla.s.ses at Marlborough, heightening the shadows of the Palladian woodwork and, when snuffed, emitting its faint but delicious fragrance, it must have been a delight to the eyes and the nostrils alike.

NEGROES

Negroes played an increasingly important part in the life of Marlborough, particularly after the manor house was built. Between 1731 and 1750 Mercer purchased 89 Negroes. Most of these are listed by name in the ledger accounts. Forty-six died in this period, while 25 were born, leaving a total of 66 Negroes on his staff in 1750. In 1746 he bought 6 men and 14 women at 21 10s. from Harmer & King in Williamsburg. The new house and the expanded needs for service were perhaps the reasons for this largest single purchase of slaves.

There is no indication that Mercer treated his slaves other than well, or that they caused him any serious difficulties. On the other hand, his frequent reference to them by name, the recording of their children's names and birth dates in his ledger, and the mention in his journal of new births among his slave population all attest to an essentially paternalistic att.i.tude that was characteristic of most Virginia planters during the 18th century. Good physical care of the Negroes was motivated perhaps as much by self-interest in protecting an investment as by humane considerations, but, nonetheless, we find such items in the ledger as "To Cash p^d Doctor Lynn for delivering Deborah."

That discipline served for the Negroes as it usually did for all colonials, whether the lawbreaker were slave, bondsman, or free citizen, is indicated by an entry in the d.i.c.k account: "2 thongs w^{th} Silk lashes 1/3." One must bear in mind that corporal punishment was accepted universally in the 18th century. Its application to slaves, however, usually was left to the discretion of the slave owner, so that the restraint with which it was administered depended largely upon the humanity and wisdom of the master.

The use of the lash was more often than not delegated to the overseer, who was hired to run, or help run, the plantation. It was the overseer who had a direct interest in eliciting production from the field hands; a s.a.d.i.s.tic overseer, therefore, might create a h.e.l.l for the slaves under him. It is clear from Mercer's records that some of his overseers caused problems for him and that at least one was a brutal man. For October 1747 a chilling entry appears in the account of William Graham, an overseer at Bull Run Quarters: "To Negroes for one you made hang himself. 35." Entered in the "Negroes" account, it reappears, somewhat differently: "To William Graham for Frank (Hanged) 35 Sterling. 50.

15." This is one of several instances on record of Negroes driven to suicide as the only alternative to enduring cruelties.[103] In this case, Graham was fined 50 s.h.i.+llings and 1293 pounds of tobacco.

We do not know, of course, whether other Negroes listed as dead in Mercer's account died of natural causes or whether cruel treatment contributed to their deaths. In the case of a homesick Negro named Joe, who ran away for the third time in 1745, Mercer seems reluctantly to have resorted to an offer of reward and an appeal to the law. Even so, he declined to place all the blame on Joe. Joe had been "Coachman to Mr. Belfield of Richmond County" and in the reward offer Mercer states that Joe

... was for some time after he first ran away lurking about the Widow Belfield's Plantation.... He is a short, well-set Fellow, about 26 Years of Age, and took with him several cloaths, among the rest a Suit of Blue, lined and faced with Red, with White Metal b.u.t.tons, Whoever will secure and bring home the said Negroe, shall receive Two Pistoles Reward, besides what the Law allows: And as I have a great Reason to believe, that he is privately encouraged to run away, and then harboured and concealed, so that the Person or Persons so harbouring him may be thereof convicted, I will pay to such Discoverer Ten Pistoles upon Conviction. This being the third Trip he has made since I bought him in _January_ last, I desire he may receive such Correction in his Way home as the Law directs, when apprehended.[104]

Whether Joe received the harsh punishment his offense called for is not recorded. However, in 1748 Mercer accounted for cash paid for "Joe's Lodging & burial 3. 10.," suggesting that Joe enjoyed death-bed care and a decent burial, even though he may have succ.u.mbed to "such correction ... as the law directs."

As has already been suggested, his overseers seem to have given Mercer more trouble than his slaves. One was Booth Jones of Stafford, about whom Mercer confided in his ledger, "By allowed him as Overseer tho he ran away about 5 weeks before his time was out by w^{ch} I suffered more damage than his whole wages. 3. 11." Meanwhile, in 1746 William Wheeland, an overseer at Bull Run Quarters, "imbezilled" 40 barrels of corn.

James Savage was one of the princ.i.p.al overseers and seems to have been in charge first at Sumner's Quarters and then at Bull Run Quarters. John Ferguson succeeded him at the former place. William Torb.u.t.t was also at Bull Run, while Mark Canton and Nicholas Seward were overseers at Marlborough.

The outfitting of slaves with proper clothes, blankets, and coats was an important matter. It called for such purchases as 121 ells of "ozenbrigs" from Hunter in 1742. "Ozenbrigs" was a coa.r.s.e cloth of a type made originally in Oznabruck, Germany,[105] and was traditionally the Negro field hand's raiment. Many purchases of indigo point to the dying of "Virginia" cloth, woven either on the plantation or by the weavers mentioned earlier. Presumably, shoes for the Negroes were made at Marlborough, judging from a purchase from d.i.c.k of 3-1/4 pounds of shoe thread. The domestic servants were liveried, at least after the mansion was occupied. William Thomson, a Fredericksburg tailor, made "a Coat & Breeches [for] Bob, 11/." Bob was apparently Mercer's personal manservant, who had served him since 1732. Thomson also was paid 4 16s.

2d. for "Making Liveries." The listing of such materials as "scarlet duffel" and "scarlet b.u.t.tons" points to colorful outfitting of slaves.

FOOTNOTES:

[103] _Virginia Gazette_, July 10, 1752; BRUCE, op. cit.

(footnote 5), vol. 2, pp. 107-108; ULRICH BONNELL PHILLIPS, _American Negro Slavery_ (New York & London: D. Appleton, 1918), pp. 271, 272, 381.

[104] _Virginia Gazette_, September 12, 1745.

[105] GEORGE FRANCIS DOW, _Everyday Life in the Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Colony_ (Boston: The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 1935), p. 78.

SAILING, FIs.h.i.+NG, HUNTING

Water transportation was essential to all the planters, most of whom owned sloops. We have seen that Mercer used a sloop for his earliest trading activities before he settled at Marlborough, and it is apparent that in the 1740's either this same sloop or another which may have replaced it still was operated by him. Hauling tobacco to Cave's warehouse, picking up a barrel of rum in Norfolk or a load of lumber on the Eastern Sh.o.r.e were vital to the success of the plantation. To equip the sloop, 14 yards of topsail, s.h.i.+p's twine, and a barrel of tar were purchased in 1747. Mercer had two Negroes named "Captain" and "Boatswain," and we may suppose that they had charge of the vessel. Such an arrangement would not have been unique, for many years after this, in 1768, Mercer wrote that "a sloop of M^r Ritchie's that came around from Rapp^a for a load of tobacco stopped at my landing; his negro skipper brought me a letter from M^r Mills...."[106]

That there was considerable hunting at Marlborough is borne out by repeated references to powder, shot, gunpowder, and gunflints. Fis.h.i.+ng may have been carried on from the sloop and also in trap-nets of the same sort still used in Potomac Creek off the Marlborough Point sh.o.r.e.

In 1742 purchases were made of a 40-fathom seine and 3 perch lines, and in 1744 of 75 fishhooks and 2 drumlines.

FOOTNOTES:

[106] _George Mercer Papers_, op. cit. (footnote 51), p. 208.

BOOKS

In Ledger G, Mercer listed all the books of his library before 1746. He then listed additions as they occurred through 1750 (Appendix K). This astonis.h.i.+ng catalog, disclosing one of the largest libraries in Virginia at that time, reveals the catholicity of Mercer's tastes and the inquiring mind that lay behind them. Included in the catalog are the t.i.tles of perhaps the most important law library in the colony.

The names of all sorts of books on husbandry and agriculture are to be found in the list: "Practice of farming," "Houghton's Husbandry,"

"Monarchy of the Bees," "Flax," "Gra.s.s," and Evelyn's "A Discourse of Sallets." Mercer's interest in brewing, which later was to launch a full-scale, if abortive, commercial enterprise is reflected in "London Brewer," "Scott's Distilling and Fermentation," "Hops," and the "Hop Gardin," while "The Craftsman," "Woollen Manufacture," and "New Improvements" indicate his concern with the efficiency of other plantation activities.

He displayed an interest in nature and science typical of an 18th-century man: "Bacon's Natural History," "Gordon's Cosmography,"

"Gordon's Geography," "Atkinson's Epitome of Navigation," "Ozamun's Mathematical Recreations," "Keill's Astronomy," and "Newton's Opticks."

Two others were "Baker's Microscope" and "Description of the Microscope &c." It may be significant that in 1747 Mercer bought three microscopes from one "Doctor Spencer" of Fredericksburg, the books on the subject and the instruments themselves possibly having been intended for the education of the three boys.

"150 Prints of Ovid's Metamorphosis" appears, in addition to "Ovid's Metamorphosis and 25 Sins," for which Mercer paid 8 6s. to William Parks in 1746. "Catalog of Plants" and "Merian of Insects" are other t.i.tles related to natural science.

Many books on history and biography are listed--for example, "Life of Oliver Cromwell," "Lives of the Popes," "Life of the Duke of Argyle,"

"Hughes History of Barbadoes," "Catholick History," "History of Virginia," "Dr. Holde's History of China," "The English Acquisitions in Guinea," "Purchas's Pilgrimage."

There are 25 t.i.tles under "Physick & Surgery," reflecting the planter's need to know the rudiments of medical care for his slaves and family.

Art, architecture, and travel interested him also, and we find such t.i.tles as "n.o.blemen's Seats by Kip," "Willis's Survey of the Cathedrals," "8 Views of Scotland," "Perrier's Statues," "Pozzo's Perspective," "100 Views of Brabant & Flanders," "History of Amphitheatres." There was but one t.i.tle on music--"The Musical Miscellany," mentioned previously. "Report about Silver Coins" was probably an English report on the exchange rate of silver coinage in the various British colonies.

Mercer kept abreast of English literature of his own and preceding generations: "Swift's Sermons," the "Spectator" and the "Tatler,"

"Pope's Works," "Turkish Spy," "Tom Brown's Letters from the Dead to the Living," "Pamela," "David Simple," "Joseph Andrews," "Shakespeare's Plays," "Ben Jonson's Works," "Wycherley's Plays," "Prior's Works,"

"Savage's Poems," "Cowley's Works," and "Select Plays" (in 16 volumes), to mention but a few. The cla.s.sics are well represented--"Lauderdale's Virgil," "Ovid's Art of Love," "Martial" (in Greek), as well as a Greek grammar and a Greek testament. There were the usual sermons and religious books, along with such diverse subjects as "Alian's Tacticks of War," "Weston's Treatise of Shorthand" and "Weston's Shorthand Copybook," and "Greave's Origin of Weights, &c." He subscribed to the _London Magazine_ and the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and received regularly the _Virginia Gazette_.

While most of Mercer's books were for intellectual edification or factual reference, a few must have served the purpose of sheer visual pleasure. Such was Merian's magnificent quarto volume of hand-colored engraved plates of Surinam insects, with descriptive texts in Dutch. The 18th-century gentleman's taste for the elegant, the "curious," and the aesthetically delightful were all satisfied in this luxurious book, which would have been placed appropriately on a table for the pleasure of Mercer's guests.[107]

FOOTNOTES:

[107] MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN, _Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium efte Veranderung Surinaamsche Insecten_ (Antwerp, 1705).

THE PEt.i.tION

Although overseeing the construction of his mansion, buying the furniture for it, and a.s.sembling a splendid library would have been sufficient to keep lesser men busy, Mercer was absorbed in other activities as well. On May 10, 1748, for example, he recorded in his journal that he went "to Raceground by James Taylor's & Wid^o Taliaferro's,"[108] traveling 50 miles to do so. On December 13, 1748, he went "to Stafford Court & home. Swore to the Commission of the Peace," thus becoming a justice of the peace for Stafford County.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 14.--ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY PLAN superimposed over detail of 1691 plat, showing southwest corner of town developed by Mercer. It can be seen that the mansion foundation was in the area near the change of course "by the Gutt between Geo. Andrew's & the Court house," hence in the vicinity of the courthouse site.]

In the meanwhile, years had gone by, and no action had been taken on the suit in chancery brought in the 1730's to establish Savage's survey of Marlborough as the official one. During this time, Mercer had continued to build on various lots other than those he owned, "relying on the Lease and Consent of [the feoffees], at the Expense of above Fifteen Hundred Pounds, which Improvements would have saved forty lots."

Finally, "judging the only effectual way to secure his t.i.tle would be to procure an Act of General a.s.sembly for that purpose,"[109] Mercer applied to the Stafford court to purchase the county's interest in the town, to which the court agreed on August 11, 1747, the price to be 10,000 pounds of tobacco. Since this transaction required legislative approval, Mercer filed with the House of Burgesses the pet.i.tion which has served so often in these pages to tell the history of Marlborough.