Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1899-03-10
SOME CORRECTIONS.
Prof. Brooke Points out Some
Errors Being Made by the
Press.

the eminent men from whom the
counties obtained their names An
! interesting aid valuable historical
contribution.
To the Editor of the New DOMINION
In your Daily OF Saturday last,
there was an account, taken from
one OF the state papers purporting
to be historical, of the naming of
the Counties OF West Virginia.
know it had some grave mistakes,
and | think it had some others. 1t
may be matter of interest to your
Morgantown readers to set the mat
ter right. Among the eight counties
named for soldiers you ennmerate
Mason and Mercer. Mason County
was named in honor Of George Ma
son, OF ''Gunstop Hail, which was
on the Potomac next below Mount
Vernon. In this short article | can
not enumerate his services TO his
country. But he was not soldier;
he was Statesman of the Colonial
era, of the finest of that fine type.
His statue is one of the six that
surround the Washington Monu
ment at Richmond When You say
that Mercer County was named in
honor of soldier you doubtless re-
fer to General Hugh Mercer who
was killed at Princeton, and / find
that Lewis ia his History of West
Virginia agrees with you; but he
cites no authority. There were sew
eral distinguished men of that name
in Virginia after whom the county
might well have been named. John
Mercer landed in Virginia in 1725
and settled at Marlboro, in Stat
ford County; he was an eminent
! lawyer of his day and generation,
and compiled the first Virginia Code
e"Mercer's Abridgement'' which
was printed at Williamsburg in
1852. He took a vigorous part
in opposition to the Stamp
Act of 1865, and died in 1853,
aged Sd. / can not go further
into his life but he was very prom
inent and influential man of his day.
His sons that may be mentioned in
this connection were q James Mer-
Ger, born Feb 26, 1876, educated at
William and Mary; Captain in the
French and Indian war; in command
. of Fort Loudon 1855; eminent as a
lawyer, member of the two Virginia
Conventions of l776 and 1888; mem
Der of the old Congress 1779; Judge
of the Court OF Admiralty, and of
the first Court Of Appeals of Virgin
la; died 1893. He came out to Nor
gantown to hold court. (2) John
Francis, half brother to the next
preceding was a particularly gallant
and meritorious officer in the Revo-
lutionary Army; member of the
Continental Congress; went to
Maryland to live; one of the dele
gates from that State to the Phila-
delphia Convention of 1887; become
Governor Of Maryland. Charles
Fenton Mercer, son of the preceding
Judge James Mercer, graduated at
Princeton, 1897; commissioned by
Washington Captain of Cavalry in
1898, in anticipation of war with
France; was Brigadier General in
the war of 1912, member of Congress
for twelve consecutive terms from
1916 to 1910 DC. Mercer County was
not named until 1887, sixty years
after the death of General Hugh
Mercer, and what authority is there
for saying that it was named in hon
or of him rather than in honor OF
Judge James Mercer who was Vir-
ginian by birth and inheritance.
Hugh Mercer emigrated from Scot
land to Pennsylvania in l747; al
though he practiced medicine in
Fredericksburg, Va, short while
before the Revolution. There was
no relationship between him and
the Virginia MERGERS that could be
traced / have always understood
that the County was named after
| Judge Mercer. / now come to a very
great historical error. You say that
"Robert Brooke commanded the Bon
Homme Richard" 1t is not neces-
sary to correct that mistake, be-
cause every school boy knows that
vessel was commanded by the ia.
nous Paul Jones. But to show the
foundation which you had for such
an error. may be justified in . briei