Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Charles Fenton Mercer Papers, 1807-1866. Accession 21120, Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from J. Mercer Garnett, Baltimore, Maryland, 14 December 1936.

Biographical Information

Charles Fenton Mercer was born 16 June 1778 in Fredericksburg, Virginia to James Mercer (1736-1793) and Eleanor Dick Mercer (d. 1780). He attended the College of New Jersey (Princeton University), and received a Bachelor's of Arts in 1797, and a Master's in 1800. Mercer was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, representing Loudoun County, Virginia, from 1810 to 1817. During the War of 1812, he served in the Virginia militia, rising to the rank of general. After the war, Mercer was elected to the United States Congress in 1817 and remained until 1839. Mercer founded the American Colonization Society in 1817 along with Francis Scott Key. An advocate of internal improvements, he was named president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828. Mercer attended the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830 as a reform delegate. After his retirement from Congress, Mercer continued to travel and work for the American Colonization Society. He died 4 May 1858 in Loudoun County.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1807-1866, of Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858) of Loudoun County, Virginia, consisting of a letter, 5 April 1843, from Charles Fenton Mercer to his niece Eliza Lucinda Garnett (1815-1847) of Essex County, Virginia, describing his life in Tallahassee, Florida, and letters, 1853-1854, from Mercer to his nephew Theodore S. Garnett (1812-1885) describing his travels in Italy and in Switzerland, discussing his land holdings in Texas and Kentucky. Papers also contain a prayer, n.d., possibly written by Mercer. Papers also consist of a letter, 1 November 1807, from James Mercer Garnett (1770-1843) to his wife Mary Garnett (1774-1837) concerning her health; a deed, 17 June 1840, for 1411 acres in Mason County, Virginia, from John James Chew, for the heirs of Thomas Sedden, to Theodore S. Garnett; and a letter, 15 June 1866, from R. M. T. Hunter (1809-1887) to the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia recommending James M. Garnett (1840-1916) for assistant professor of ancient languages.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Related Material

Charles Fenton Mercer Autobiographical sketch, 1849. Accession 20452. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Charles Fenton Mercer Journals, 1853-1858. Accession 21119. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Charles Fenton Mercer Letter, 29 April 1813. Accession 21490. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Charles Fenton Mercer Letters, 1854-1857. Accession 21778. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Adjunct Descriptive Data