Henry Chapman Mercer Fact Sheet

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Henry Chapman Mercer Fact Sheet Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930) a noted tile-maker, archaeologist, antiquarian, artist and writer, was a leader in the turn-of-the-century Arts and Crafts Movement. ● Henry Chapman Mercer was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1856 and died at his home, Fonthill, in Doylestown in 1930. ● After graduating from Harvard in 1879, he was one of the founding members of The Bucks County Historical Society in 1880. ● He studied law at The University of Pennsylvania and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. Mercer never practiced law but turned his interests towards a career in pre-historic archaeology. ● From 1894 to 1897, Mercer was Curator of American and Pre-historic Archaeology at The University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. ● As an archaeologist, he conducted site excavations in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and in the Ohio, Delaware, and Tennessee River valleys. ● In 1897, Mercer became interested in and began collecting "above ground" archaeological evidence of pre-industrial America. ● In searching out old Pennsylvania German pottery for his collection, Mercer developed a keen interest in the craft. By 1899 he was producing architectural tiles that became world famous. ● At fifty-two Mercer began building the first of three concrete structures: Fonthill, 1908-10, his home; the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, 1910-12, his tile factory; and The Mercer Museum, 1913-16, which housed his collection of early American artifacts. ● Mercer authored Ancient Carpenters Tools and The Bible In Iron. ● Fond of animals and birds, Mercer developed a large arboretum with plants native to Pennsylvania on the grounds of Fonthill. ● Mercer received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, in 1916, and an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, in 1929. .

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