To the Editor,
I’d like to draw attention to a persistent myth concerning the famous Mercer Oak.
The Mercer Oak was a very old tree and may even be a “witness tree” to the battle — but General Hugh Mercer fell under a different tree at a location nearer the hill upon where the William Clarke House stood.
John Johnston (1778-1855), a student at the College of New Jersey and later a trustee, wrote, “I have frequently seated myself under the tree, and, after it was cut down, on the stump, where General Mercer was reported to lie mortally wounded, at the battle of Princeton.” The story was published in 1856 in Johnston’s autobiography.
The story was repeated in The Continental Monthly of 1862, in an article entitled “The Graveyard at Princeton.” The author states that the spot where Mercer fell was “formerly marked by a large tree, but a few years ago … was cut down and removed by heartless barbarians.”
By 1868, the spot where Mercer fell was marked by an American flag. In later years a small stone monument was placed near the spot for the benefit of travelers on the Trenton-Princeton Turnpike, but it was placed closer to the turnpike than the actual location. This was later replaced by a pyramid of cannonballs, and after these were removed, signs were placed to mark the spot.
The Mercer Oak was not associated with Mercer until the 20th century, by which time it had assumed the role of a misplaced substitute for the actual tree near which Mercer was mortally wounded.
William Myers