Byron Mercer

**Byron Mercer** was Penelope and Sophie's late father, who ran the family business prior to his death.

## Biography

### Early life

Byron was married to an unnamed woman, with whom he married and had three daughters: Penelope, Sophie, and Nadine. His wife died when the girls were young, which essentially forced Penelope to raise her sisters, as Byron was too consumed by his failing business. In fear that Mercer Steele would fall under, Penelope reluctantly married Samuel Blake, who in turn agreed to bring business to Mercer Steele. And though he never asked Penelope to do this, he was completely aware of her actions.

### A Deal with the mayor

Byron meets with Mayor Blake and Buckley to discuss how he's losing money while waiting for Mayor Blake's order. And every day the order doesn't come, he incurs large warehouse costs, as well as carrying costs and interested. He made those purchases based on the assurance that he would be awarded the exclusive contract to lay cable-car tracks across the city. If Mayor Blake doesn't come through with the order soon, Byron will be ruined. Byron suspects that they intend to pull the rug from under him, but Mayor Blake insists that isn't true and that it's just taking them a bit longer than expected to get the funding approved.

### An agreement with Leary

Byron's' breakfast is interrupted by Leary, who has learned that he's been assured exclusive city contracts to lay tracks for the new cable car lines. When construction begins, Byron will be in need of a small army of workers, approximately 100 laborers, and he agrees to hire on Leary's recommendations, and in return, he'll help keep salaries manageable.

### Pressuring Penny to have sex with Blake

Byron has dinner with Penny, but he is a bit distracted with the cable car commission. Mayor Blake promised Byron the contract, who staked his entire business on the mayor's word. If it doesn't come soon, he'll be forced to declare bankruptcy and lose the house. Penny offers to talk to him, but Byron replies that talking isn't what he's after. Penny is in disbelief that her father is pushing her to have sex with Samuel in order to further the family business.

Byron learns that his bid for the cable car track has been approved and that there will be no more delays moving forward. Blake has vouched for Byron, and if he comes through, there will be plenty of work to come. Once those tracks are laid, they will be on the forefront of modernity. Blake then invites Byron to a dinner he's hosting tomorrow evening for Senator Crestwood, which he happily attends and agrees with Crestwood that American labor is the only way to go, and in doing this, they'll also being saving the working class.

The following day, Byron arrives outside the Banshee with good news. He reports to Leary that they begin excavation on the cable car track immediately. Leary introduces Byron to the crew and informs them that Mercer will be using Irish labor to lay the cable car track. With people like Byron at their side, they're going to take back their jobs and city.

### Double-crossing Leary

Byron is paid an unexpected visit from Buckley, who informs him that a late bidder is coming, and his pricing is hard to ignore. Byron argues that they can't pull the contract from up under him, but Buckley informs him that he was merely awarded the first purchase order, of which there will be many. This mysterious second vendor must be cutting down on their cost by using Chinese labor, which Byron can't compete with, unless he does so himself, which he reluctantly does, meaning he has to renege on his agreement with Leary.

Byron is confronted by Leary after learning that he's employed Chinese labor. He made promises based on Byron's promises, and now Mercer's made a liar out of him, but Byron reveals that the mayor's office kept grinding him until he had no choice. Leary warns Byron to fix this and reminds him that they shook hands. Penny then stops by and offers her assistance with handling the balances, because if he continues to do so, the business will go under and her sister will be on the street, and she didn't make the sacrifices she did just for her father to squander the opportunity. Byron retorts that he never asked Penny to do anything, to which she replies that he didn't stop her either.

As promised, Leary returns, but this time with a vengeance. Armed with rifles and blunt weapons, Leary leads an Irish band of thugs into Mercer's building and begins attacking coolies. When Byron notices the attack, he locks himself in his office and goes for his gun. However, the entire ordeal causes him to have a heart attack and die on the floor of his office.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* There's No China in the Bible
* John Chinaman
* The Tiger and the Fox
* They Don't Pay Us Enough to Think
* Chinese Boxing
* If You're Going to Bow, Bow Low

## References

1. ↑ Season 1, episode 4: ***The White Mountain***
2. ↑ Season 1, episode 2: ***There's No China in the Bible***
3. ↑ Season 1, episode 3: ***John Chinaman***
4. ↑ Season 1, episode 7: ***The Tiger and the Fox***
5. ↑ Season 1, episode 8: ***They Don't Pay Us Enough to Think***
6. ↑ Season 1, episode 9: ***Chinese Boxing***
7. ↑ Season 1, episode 10: ***If You're Going to Bow, Bow Low***