My Genealogy Hound

JOHN SCOTT BUCHANAN MERCER, house and sign painter, Pittsburgh, was born in that city Aug. 13, 1848. His paternal grandparents were Scotch, and his maternal grandparents Irish. His parents, James (a painter by trade) and Margaret (Scott) Mercer, were also natives of Pittsburgh. The father died of cholera in 1854, the mother surviving him five years. John S. B. attended the city schools till the death of his mother, which occurred when he was eleven years of age, and he was then sent to the country to live with Alexander Stevenson (now deceased), in Moon township, this county. In 1866 he went to learn his trade in the city, and four years later engaged in business for himself. He is now located at 57 Ninth street, where he does an extensive business in house and sign painting and as maker of brass signs, being the only one between Philadelphia and Chicago who makes copper letters on brass. In 1884 he built his handsome home in Wilkinsburg, corner of North and Center streets. He attends the M. E. Church, is a Royal Arch Mason and a stanch republican. In 1878 Mr. Mercer married Edith S., daughter of Richard and Priscilla Crawford, Quaker residents of Washington county, where Mrs. Mercer was born. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mercer: Velma M., Edith Leila and Mabel.