15 Facts About Thomas Mercer

Judge Thomas Mercer was a pioneer associated with the early history of Seattle.

Thomas Mercer was born in Harrison County, Ohio on March 11,1813, and was the eldest son of Aaron and Jane Thomas Mercer, themselves born in Virginia and Pennsylvania, respectively.

Aaron Thomas Mercer moved to Ohio in boyhood, being among the pioneers of that country.

Thomas Mercer learned the process of manufacturing woolen cloths and blankets and then operated his own factory very successfully for a number of years.

The eldest of fourteen, Thomas Mercer's education was chiefly in the school of necessity.

Thomas Mercer's boyhood was passed in the factory of his father, and with his systematic methods and recognized ability he became foreman at the age of fourteen and operated the factory up to 1834, when the family removed to Illinois and engaged in farming.

In 1830 young Thomas Mercer started a store in a little, old log cabin in Princeton, pursuing this enterprise for a year, before abandoning it because of the close confinement it entailed.

Thomas Mercer was married in Princeton in 1838 to Nancy Brigham, who was from New Hampshire.

Thomas Mercer then continued farming up to 1851, when he sold out, settled up his affairs, and in April 1852, with his wife and four children, left his Illinois home, and with horse teams crossed the plains to Oregon.

On this trip, Mrs Thomas Mercer fell ill in The Dalles and died in the Cascade Range, leaving a bereaved husband and four small children, the eldest being not quite 14.

Thomas Mercer brought to the primitive town the same team of horses which had transported him safely across the plains, and his was the first wagon brought to the town.

Thomas Mercer's claim being situated back from the water, the young men turned out and assisted in cutting a trail wide enough for his wagon to pass through to his ranch, and for a number of years he did the teaming for the town.

Thomas Mercer was a hard worker and was progressive in his ideas, and soon became the leading farmer of the community.

In 1859, Mercer was married, in Salem, Oregon, to Loretta H Ward, of Kentucky, daughter of Jesse Ward, a pioneer of 1853; and returning to Seattle he continued his agricultural life.

In 1994 what was left of Thomas Mercer's estate was spread among his descendants.