James Mercer (1735–1793), a younger brother of Lt. Col. George Mercer but no relation of Hugh Mercer, was a prominent Fredericksburg lawyer. Educated at the College of William and Mary, he served 1762–76 as a burgess from Hampshire County, where he owned land (garnett [1] description begins James Mercer Garnett. “James Mercer.” William and Mary Quarterly, 1st ser., 17 (1908–9): 85–99, 204–23. description ends , 90). During 1769 he had bought five lots in Fredericksburg: two from GW, and three, including the ones on which his house and his study stood, from Fielding Lewis (deed of Lewis to Mercer, 4 Sept. 1769, and deed of GW to Mercer, 13 Oct. 1769, crozier [2] description begins William Armstrong Crozier, ed. Spotsylvania County, 1721–1800: Being Transcriptions, from the Original Files at the County Court House, of Wills, Deeds, Administrators’ and Guardians’ Bonds, Marriage Licenses, and Lists of Revolutionary Pensioners. New York, 1905. description ends , 268–70). James Mercer had probably attended the meeting at Weedon’s tavern on 2 Aug., because although he had not been a member of the original Virginia Regiment, he was now handling the affairs of his brother George, who had joined the regiment in 1754 and was now living in England.