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United States in search of single women to work in
Seattle as teachers. On May 16, 1864, he returned to Seattle with eleven women who all found employment as teachers in Seattle. Of these, eight eventually married and settled in the area. This and a subsequent trip introduced dozens of women to the Pacific Northwest, most of whom eventually married local men. The descendants of the Mercer Girls still represent a significant portion of Seattle's citizenry. The Mercer Girls story formed the basis of the television show
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The young town of
Seattle was attracting hordes of men to work in the timber and fishing industries, but few marriageable women were willing to make the trip to the remote northwest corner of the United States. In March 1864, with public support and private funding, Mercer traveled to the eastern
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as a special deputy collector for the customs service. His employment ended in 1867 when he was suspected of being involved in alcohol smuggling, although charges against him were dismissed when key witnesses went missing.
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During their time in Oregon, the
Mercers purchased three hundred lots in Astoria. Although the real estate endeavor was not lucrative for Mercer, his descendants sold the Astoria properties in 1970 for a substantial sum.
354:, on July 15, 1866. They had two daughters and six sons; three of their children died in infancy and another as a teenager. Annie Mercer died on October 16, 1900. Asa Mercer died on August 10, 1917, from
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Fernandez Greene, Vanessa (February 2022). "Mercer's Belles and
Sarmiento's Teachers: Female Pedagogues within Two Transcontinental Emigration Projects of the Nineteenth Century".
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Following the events of the
Johnson County War, which included destruction of his newspaper office by arson, Mercer settled into the quiet life of a rancher in
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in his childhood and claimed that
Lincoln encouraged him to travel. Mercer's first trip west was in 1852 at age thirteen. In 1860, he attended
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Besides helping with the foundations of the university, Mercer, being the only college graduate in town, was hired by
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331:(1894), which was suppressed in its day and is still difficult to find in public libraries in some parts of the
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252:, a young Asa Mercer assisted his brothers in clearing stumps to make way for the new territorial university.
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Seattle Public
Schools operates Asa Mercer International Middle School in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood.
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He is remembered primarily for his role in three milestones of the old
American West: the founding of the
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Soon after his marriage, Mercer moved to Oregon where he worked for the federal government in
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as the university's sole instructor and president. However, Mercer did not receive a salary.
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Mercer became well known throughout the West as a publisher and eventually found his way to
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Object: Matrimony: The Risky
Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier
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Mercer married Annie
Elizabeth Stephens, a 26-year-old Irish-Catholic from
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224:. He had twelve older siblings. According to Mercer, he spent time with
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435:. Seattle: Nettle Creek Publishing Company. pp. 95–96, 107–109.
377:"Seattle at 150: Mercer brothers imprinted family name on the city"
170:(June 6, 1839 – August 10, 1917) was the first president of the
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In 1861, as a member of one of the founding families of
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President of the Territorial University of Washington
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755:Pound sign (#) denotes acting or interim president
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479:"Handbook of Texas Online: Mercer, Asa Shinn"
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611:Charles Francis Reeves # (1897–1898)
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172:Territorial University of Washington
691:Philip W. Cartwright # (1973–1974)
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580:Alexander Jay Anderson (1877–1882)
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325:. His account is told in his book
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800:19th-century American legislators
790:Washington (state) state senators
375:Warren, James (October 9, 2001).
805:People from Washington Territory
624:Thomas Franklin Kane (1902–1914)
655:Hugo Winkenwerder # (1933–1934)
606:William Franklin Edwards (1897)
562:Eugene Kincaid Hill (1872–1874)
448:History of Education Quarterly
382:The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
318:Northwestern Livestock Journal
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567:Mary W. (May) Thayer # (1874)
668:Raymond B. Allen (1946–1951)
240:The University of Washington
717:Lee L. Huntsman (2003–2004)
696:John R. Hogness (1974–1979)
642:David Thomson # (1926–1927)
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328:The Banditti of the Plains
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785:Politicians from Seattle
183:University of Washington
617:Frank Pierrepont Graves
176:Washington State Senate
599:Mark Walrod Harrington
301:The Johnson County War
89:William Edward Barnard
702:William P. Gerberding
673:H.P. Everest # (1952)
573:George Fred Whitworth
550:George Fred Whitworth
201:and Mercer Street in
710:Richard L. McCormick
648:Matthew Lyle Spencer
403:Enss, Chris (2012).
277:Here Come the Brides
174:and a member of the
78:Position established
684:Charles E. Odegaard
591:Thomas Milton Gatch
433:Sons of the Profits
340:Hyattville, Wyoming
222:Princeton, Illinois
220:Mercer was born in
27:American politician
460:10.1017/heq2021.57
307:Johnson County War
191:Johnson County War
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414:978-0-7627-9072-2
313:Cheyenne, Wyoming
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135:(1917-08-10)
117:June 6, 1839
85:Succeeded by
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780:1917 deaths
775:1839 births
741:(2011–2015)
725:(2004–2010)
723:Mark Emmert
712:(1995–2003)
704:(1979–1995)
686:(1958–1973)
663:(1934–1946)
650:(1927–1933)
637:(1915–1926)
619:(1898-1902)
601:(1895–1897)
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575:(1874–1876)
552:(1866–1867)
539:(1861–1863)
333:Western U.S
73:Preceded by
769:Categories
537:Asa Mercer
484:2008-06-07
362:References
323:open range
250:Washington
234:New Athens
216:Early life
189:, and the
151:Alma mater
113:1839-06-06
34:Asa Mercer
356:dysentery
352:Baltimore
120:Princeton
67:1861–1863
63:In office
749:(2015– )
124:Illinois
53:1st
290:Astoria
246:Seattle
203:Seattle
144:Wyoming
140:Buffalo
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207:Thomas
185:, the
409:ISBN
130:Died
103:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
