In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of May, 1788.
Mary Washington.
Witness John Ferneyhough.
Signed, sealed and published in our presence, and signed by us in the presence of the said Mary Washington, and at her desire.
J. Mercer,
Joseph Walker.”
The will was written by Judge James Mercer, first President of the Court of Appeals, or “Chief-Justice of the General Court.”
THE MERCER MONUMENT.
In the year 1906 the government of the United States erected a monument to General Hugh Mercer, who was mortally wounded at Princeton, N. J., while gallantly leading his men in a charge against the British in 1777. He lived one week in great suffering, when he died and was buried near where he fell, but afterwards removed to Philadelphia, Pa., where he now sleeps. Gen. Mercer was born in Scotland, studied medicine at Aberdeen and graduated with high honors. After graduating he soon rose to distinction as a surgeon and physician and did much service in the army. He was at the battle of Culloden Moor, Scotland, where his party was badly defeated, and those not taken prisoners fled to other countries to save their lives. Gen. Mercer came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania. He was with Gen. Braddock, who was killed at Fort Duquesne, and, being thrown with Gen. Washington, became attached to him and came to Fredericksburg “to be near him,” landing here in 1763. He practised medicine and established a drug store at the corner of Main and Amelia streets.[60] Gen. Mercer married Isabella Wallace and lived at the “Sentry Box” with Geo. Weedon, who married his wife’s sister, until the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Soon after his death Congress appropriated $5,000 for the erection of a monument in this place to his memory, but the matter was overlooked and the gratitude of the government for his services was not exhibited to the extent of a memorial until the year 1906, one hundred and twenty-nine years after his death. In 1905 a bill was passed by Congress appropriating $25,000 to erect a monument to perpetuate the memory of the grand hero—two-thirds of the interest of the amount appropriated in 1777—and he now appears in heroic size, on his pedestal, on Washington avenue, in the attitude of a patriot, drawn sword in hand, ready to strike for Home and Country—Liberty and Independence.
We naturally uncover our heads while we “behold this friend of Washington—this heroic defender of America!”
