Oil on canvas, by David Silvette, 1978. Location: courtroom foyer, right.
Born February 26, 1736 in Stafford, Virginia.
Died October 31, 1793 in Richmond, Virginia.
Elected by the General Assembly to the General Court on November 30, 1781 to fill the vacancy created by the death of John Tazewell and became a member, ex-officio, of the Court of Appeals. Retired on March 5, 1789.
Elected to the reorganized Court of Appeals on November 12, 1789 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of John Blair and began his service on the same day. Service terminated by death.
Education:
College of William and Mary, graduated circa 1755.
Other judicial service:
Judge, General Court, 1781-1789.
Professional career:
Private practice of law in Hampshire County, 1757-1781, circa.
Burgess, Virginia House of Burgesses, 1762-1776.
Delegate, Virginia Conventions, 1774-1776.
Virginia Committee of Safety, 1775.
Virginia state delegate, 1776.
Virginia representative, Continental Congress, 1779-1780.
Trustee and president, Fredericksburg Academy, 1786-1790.
Military service:
French and Indian War.
Further reading/Research collections
Sources:
Elected, Journal of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly Session Beginning October 1, 1781, 23; elected and qualified in 1789, Court of Appeals Order Book, 1, 148, cited in David J. Mays, Edmund Pendleton, 1721-1803, A Biography, (Harvard University Press, 1952; reprint, Richmond, Va., Virginia State Library, 1984), v. 2, 299, note 40; graduated from William and Mary “about 1755,” “William and Mary College: Notes Collected by E.G. Swem,” William and Mary Quarterly, v. 17, 90, and A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia From 1693-1888 (Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1941), 28; birth, death, and career, J. Elliott Drinard, “James Mercer, 1736-1793,” Proceedings of the Thirty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar Association (August 1928), 423-435; see also, Mercer, James (1736-1793), Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, retrieved on March 21, 2014; portrait, transcript of memorial and portrait presentation on April 20, 1978, published in 218 Va., xxv-xxx. The Silvette portrait was donated by the Fredericksburg Masonic lodge in 1978.