Andrew Le Mercier (1692-1764) was French-born Protestant

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

leader in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in the 18th century and author. Le Mercier was born in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1692, completing clerical studies in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

at the then

Geneva Academy Geneva Academy is a private classical Christian education, classical Christian school located in Lincoln, Delaware. The school was founded in 2007 by a group of homeschool parents, taking inspiration from Dorothy Sayers essay "The Lost Tools of ...

in 1715 and arrived in Boston (then in the English colony of

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

) in 1716 recruited by André Faneuil as pastor of the

Boston French Church Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

(now 24 School Street) and remained there until 1741 when the church closed. Le Mercier was a respected leader amongst the small Huguenot community that existed in New England for almost three decades.

Personal

His son Andrew Le Mercier Jr would serve in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial forces during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

Shipwreck Relief

Sometime in 1737-1738 he built a house for the relief of shipwrecked mariners on

Sable Island Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island i ...

. There is belief that the

Sable Island horse The Sable Island horse is a small feral horse found on Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a horse phenotype and horse ancestors, and usually dark in colour. The first horses were released on the island in the late 1700s, ...

s were introduced by him.

Later years and death

Le Mercier retired after the closure of the Boston church to a farm in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for n ...

and died there in 1764.

Books

Le Mercier is credited to two books: * "The Church History of Geneva, in Five Books, with a Political and Geographical Account of that Republic" (Boston, 1732) * "Treatise against Detraction" (1733)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Mercier, Andrew 1692 births 1764 deaths American people of French descent American Protestants People from Roxbury, Boston American people of Norman descent