Jesse Mercer Papers

Collection

Identifier: MU-PP-0080

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of papers of Jesse Mercer from 1813-1841. The papers contain mostly correspondence to and from Mercer discussing the business of the Georgia Baptist Association, Baptist education, the establishment of the Hickory Log School in the Cherokee Nation for the education of Indians, Columbian College, and Mercer Institute at Penfield (Georgia). Correspondents include David Benedict, Lucius Bolles, Thomas Curtis, Wilson Lumpkin, Basil Manly, Littleton Meeks, Henry J. Ripley, Billington M. Sanders, and Adiel Sherwood.

Dates

Creation: 1813-1911
Creation: Majority of material found within 1813-1841

Creator

Mercer, Jesse, 1769-1841 (Person)
Sanders, Billington McCarty, 1789-1852 (Person)
Sherwood, T. Adiel (Thomas Adiel), 1791-1879 (Person)
Janes, Absalom, 1796-1847 (Person)

Rights Statement

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Biographical / Historical

Mercer University is named after Jesse Mercer, an eminent Georgian, a distinguished Baptist clergyman, and a principal organizer of the Georgia Baptist Convention. His leadership and vision played a key role in the founding of Mercer University.

Jesse Mercer was born in Halifax County, North Carolina. At the age of 20, Mercer was ordained as a minister. Following his father’s death, Mercer moved back to the family home in Wilkes County, Georgia, and became principal of Salem Academy, which his father had founded. He was also pastor of four churches (formerly pastored by his father): Sardis (Hutton’s Fork), Phillips’ Mill, Wheatley’s Mill (later Bethesda), and Powelton.

At the age of 19, Mercer married Sabrina Chivers, who was his wife for nearly 40 years. In addition to serving as pastor of several churches, he was an itinerant volunteer missionary. For many years Mercer was the recognized leader of the Georgia Baptist Association and in the Georgia Baptist Convention. He was president of the Georgia Baptist Convention for 19 years (1822-1841).

Mercer was an able advocate and a liberal patron of education, particularly ministerial education. He was a trustee of Columbian College in Washington, DC, and the first president of the board of trustees of Mercer University. For several years Jesse Mercer published the Christian Index, which he gave to Georgia Baptists as a tool for publicity and promotion.

(Source: The Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists, Vol. II, p. 848, 1953. Excerpted from article written by Spright Dowell.)