The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1899-03-15

obtained the subject OF MS remarks
Morgantown has known several of
the eminent men from whom the
counties obtained their names-AD
interesting and 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. l
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 enumerate
Mason and Mercer. Mason County
was named in honor of George Ma
son, of s'Gunstop Hail. which was
on the Potomac next below Mount
Vernon. In this short article l 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 in 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 1925
and settled at Marlboro" in Stat
ford County; he was an eminent
lawyer Of his day and generation,
and compiled the first Virginia Code
("Mercer's Abridgementa) which
was printed at Williamsburg in
1852. He took vigorous part
in opposition to the Stamp
Act OF 1865, and died in 176S,
aged "a. | 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 & James Mer-
Ger, born Feb 26, 1876, educated at
William and Mary; Captain in the
French and Indian war; In command
of Fort Loudon 1856; eminent as a
lawyer, member of the two Virginia
Conventions of 1776 and l7SS; mem
Der of the old Congress 1873; Judge
of the Court OF Admiralty. and of
the first Court of Appeals of Virgin
ia, 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 proceeding
Judge James Mercer, graduated at
Princeton, 1897; commissioned by
Washington Captain of Cavalry in
1913, 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 1747; 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 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. l may bejustified in brief
sketch of four brothers. in honor of
any one of whom the State might
well have named Brooke County,
for all four threw themselves into
the Revolutionary Army and Navy
with all the ardor of their youthful
souls, and fought the war through
to the end. Before The Revolution,
Robert and his brother Lawrence
Taliaferro Brooke had been sent hs
their father from Virginia to Edin
burg to he educated, Robert as IA
lawyer, and Lawrence as a physi
clan When the war broke ont,
Robert succeeded in making his es
cape from the British Island, re-
turned to Virginia, entered the army
because Captain OF Cavalry, was
wounded in a Cava " fight at West
ham (near Richmond) returned to
the Armv as soon as he had recor
cred and served to the end Of the
war. He then l,raetioed law, be
came Governor OF the State in 1914,
defeating lsushrod Washington
nephew of General George, and
subsequently a Justice of the Su-
preme Court Of U. 81 discovered
impecunious young Henry Clay,
took him into his office, taught him
law aud started him on his Illus
trious career, and afterwards become
Attorney General of the State. 1t
was in honor of him that Brooke
County was named You see he had
nothing to do with the Bon Homme
Richard. Young Dir. Lawrence Tai
iaferro Brooke above mentioned sue
I.ceeded with difficulty in making his
way to Paris where Paul Jones and
Benjamin Franklin both We're at
that time. With the influence of
Benjamin Franklin, Paul Jones ap-
pointed young DR.. Brooke Surgeon
of the Bon Homme Richard, and he
was on board of that vessel in the
celebrated battle with the. English
vessel, ''the Serapis," off the coast Of
Scotland. He continued in the
A m oa.ix,ar Noxrxr nnfil La daatl. :. 4