Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 841 - 842

JAMES H. MERCER has the reputation of a strictly first-class business man, reliable and energetic, and is a citizen of whom Wichita may be justly proud. He is the offspring of excellent stock of stanch German ancestry, his great-grandfather having come from the Fatherland. Settling in Kentucky during the early days of the Blue Grass regions, the latter was one of the first pioneers and a contemporary of Daniel Boone, the first white man who ever trod Kentucky soil.

            Joseph Mercer, son of the above and grandfather of our subject, was born in Kentucky during the latter part of the last century, and was a relative of Gen. Mercer, of Revolutionary fame. Joseph married Miss Jennie West, of Kentucky, and carried on agriculture as a livelihood. His household in due time embraced six children, namely: James, Felix, Margaret, Caroline, Jennie and Alfred. Joseph Mercer was a typical backwoodsman and lived to be an old man. A short time before his death he could shoot a squirrel with his rifle from a tall tree. In the meantime he had left Kentucky and migrated to Indiana, where he assisted to clear the heavy timber from the ground now occupied by the present site of the city of Bloomington, and where the court-house stands. He regarded his ax and rifle with almost paternal affection, sleeping with them on a shelf over his bed. Politically, he was an old-line Whig, and religiously, a member of the Baptist Church. After farming for a number of years, he moved into Bloomington and operated as a general speculator. He died at the age of seventy-eight years, retaining his faculties and strength to the last. His faithful partner survived him, living until ninety-two years old, and also retained her mental and physical endowments to a remarkable degree.

             Alfred S. Mercer, the father of our subject, was born in Kentucky in 1816, and was but six years of age when taken by his parents to Indiana. He developed into manhood, and sought for his wife among the maidens of that region Miss Eliza Harderly, who was born in 1822, in Indiana. She was born on the same day, April 29, that Gen. Grant was. The mother of our subject was the daughter of Thomas Harderly, who with his wife spent their last days in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred S. Mercer became the parents of nine children, six of whom - William, James, Edward, Martha, Lucy and Hattie - lived to mature years. The other three died in childhood. Mr. Mercer first followed harness-making, at which be had served an apprenticeship, but several years later engaged in general merchandising, and built up a prosperous trade. In 1869 he changed his residence to Brazil, Ind., and did mercantile business there. Subsequently he retired from active life, and is spending his declining years at the home of his son, our subject, in Wichita. He is a strict Democrat, politically, and a Methodist in religious belief.

             James H. Mercer, of our sketch, was born in Monroe County, Ind., April 15, 1849, and learned harness-making of his father. When about twenty-five years old he was married, March 5, 1874, to Miss Sarah Easter, who is a native of Indiana, and was born March 2, 1853. Mrs. Mercer is the daughter of Daniel and Martha (Pennington) Easter, who were natives of Ohio, and are now deceased. The four children of our subject and his wife bear the names of Alfred, Edith, Roscoe and Winnifred.

            In 1877 Mr. Mercer left harness-making and engaged in the livery business at Brazil, Ind., but subsequently resumed his old business in connection with the new venture. As a man of intelligence, energy and integrity he was called to the various local offices, and remained a resident of that town for a period of six years. The spring of 1883 found him with an eye upon the growing city of Wichita, and he determined to establish in business here. This resolution was not long afterward carried into effect, and the well-known Empire stable is the result of his successful operations. This structure, which Mr. Mercer himself erected, is one of the finest of its kind in the city, and his imposing residence on Laura avenue still further attests to the reception which has been granted him by the people of this community. In addition to the affairs of his stable his transactions have been quite extensive in the buying and selling of horses. He has dealt considerably in real estate, and has become owner of eleven lots and four houses within the city. He differs with his honored father in politics, being a Republican, but coincides with the latter in religious views as a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Socially, he belongs to the Red Men and Foresters, having passed through all the Chairs. Personally and in a business sense he is popular among his townsmen, and considered a valued addition to the community.

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