Thomas Mercer was born November 30, 1824, in Columbiana County, Ohio. He was married to Catherine Stevens. Young Mercer was a surveyor by profession and came to Iowa in 1853. The state was then in its seventh year of existence. Mr. Mercer was ambitious to assist in the pioneer work in progress at that early period. Men of his profession were needed to aid in laying out the towns of the state and establishing county and township lines. Mercer first settled in Muscatine. In 1855 he decided to move on to Marshall county, where he was told the garden spot of Iowa was located. Thomas Mercer was the representative for Marshall County for the Ninth General Assembly. The Journal of Muscatine thus speaks of him: “A more high minded and trustworthy man could not be selected for the position.” The first issue of the weekly Marshall Republican, its name designating its politics, appeared July 1, 1871, with Thomas Mercer and Thomas E. McCracken as co-owners and publishers. Mercer wrote the editorials and internal revenue for the district, devoted what time he could to writing local news. The struggle proved too much for Mercer, who pulled out Nov. 13, 1873. Tom Mercer left Marshalltown in 1874 for California. In 1880, Mercer was elected as a justice of the peace for San Jose township in Los Angeles county. He died in Pasadena in 1881. He was a botanist of great scientific attainments and had unrivalled taste in flowers.