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Henry Chapman Mercer 2 t
AN ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY by Linda F. Dyke
Introduction
In August of 1921, at age sixty-five, Henry Mercer (HCM) wrote, “My subjects are Archaeology and History with a little Art thrown in.” He used these three terms as umbrellas to cover rather broad areas of scholarship and effort. The current pedagogical emphasis on the early selection of a field of concentration, and demand for an ever-narrowing focus of specialization would have frustrated and annoyed him. For Mercer, his interest in “archaeology" and “history” included active work and publication in the fields of anthropology and ethnology and also underlay his antiquarian pursuits and his work as a museologist. “Art” served him often as a way to communicate his findings from his historical researches; subsumed under it were not only his drawings but his architecture, and also the designs of the tiles which he manufactured in his thriving pottery and tile business.
A brief description of Henry Mercer’s family cast of characters will serve to set the context for the chronological summary of his life which follows and to suggest some of the sources for the interests which he developed.
Henry’s Family, the Mercer Side
Grandfather, Major John Mercer (1788-1848):
Major Mercer was a member of the second generation of his family to be born in America; his relatives, based in Virginia and Maryland, included distinguished lawyers, soldiers and statesmen. Bom in Annapolis, Maryland, where he was educated at St. John’s College, Major Mercer received his commission from President Monroe and accompanied General Winfield Scott on an inspection tour of European fortifications, followingthe warof 1812. Hewastheson of one governor of Maryland, and brother-in-law of another, and himself served in the state legislature. In 1818, Mercer wed Mary Scott Swann, a direct descendant of George Mason, author of the Bill of Rights. Although his birthday, June 24, was the same as his grandson’s, he died before Henry was born. (Henry’s Mercer grandmother died when he was eight.)
Henry Mercer
Father, William Robert Mercer (1827-1917):
Born at a family estate, “Cedar Park,” near Annapolis, Maryland, William Mercer was the fifth of ten children of John and Mary Swann Mercer. Well-bred but without means, he was educated at the (then) Naval School in Annapolis, and commissioned in the U.S. Navy. “Willie’s” interests included horticulture, genealogy, and history. He is largely responsible for planning and creating a garden at Aldie. It became one of the more renowned Philadelphia-area gardens of its day.
HENRY CHAPMAN MERCER: AN ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY 1