Talk:Charles F. Mercer

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Charles F. Mercer article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Biography: Military / Politics and Government

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as Low-importance).

U.S. Congress

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject U.S. Congress, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United States Congress on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.U.S. CongressWikipedia:WikiProject U.S. CongressTemplate:WikiProject U.S. CongressU.S. Congress articles
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.
	This article is about one (or many) person(s).

Military history: Biography / North America / United States / Napoleonic era

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion not met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military biography task force
	North American military history task force
	United States military history task force
	Napoleonic era task force (c. 1792 – 1815)

Virginia Mid‑importance

	Virginia portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Virginia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the U.S. state of Virginia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.VirginiaWikipedia:WikiProject VirginiaTemplate:WikiProject VirginiaVirginia articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States: State Legislatures / Government Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. State Legislatures (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. Government (assessed as Low-importance).

A fact from Charles F. Mercer appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 9 October 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Virginia politician Charles F. Mercer switched between five different political parties during his 22-year service in the United States Congress?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2006/October.

Wikipedia

Unsourced/POV Edits - September 2008

Recent edits have asserted these without providing a source, reliable or otherwise: claiming that legislative debates in the wake of Gabriel Prosser's conspiracy were secret, giving specifics on Mercer's political inclinations (beyond or modifying the NPOV text already present in the topic) and commenting on personal attacks on Mercer. The latest edit provides only unveriable/obscure sources. Some of the existing data in the topic is removed, no editing rationale has been provided. Looks like either (a) original research or (b) cut/paste from some third-party unspecified source. Tedickey (talk) 11:00, 25 September 2008 (UTC

The fact that sources appear obscure to Tedickey hardly makes the "obscure." One of those labeled as such by Ted, Mercer's 1845 book, may be purchased on amazon. Or the fact that the Virginia legislature held the post-Gabriel conspiracy behind closed doors and then kept the debates out of most copies of their official record is hardly news and first appeared in P.J. Staudenraus's 1961 book on colonization and Liberia. This is the problem with wikipedia; people who have no clue what they are saying can seize control of an entry. Ted needs to spend more time reading early national history and less vandalizing entries. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Egertondr (talk • contribs) 20:59, 26 September 2008

Well, then you could start by sourcing it properly. So far it doesn't look as if you're doing more than making assertions. Tedickey (talk) 21:37, 26 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For instance, if you are indeed "Douglas R. Egerton", I'd have expected a better presentation than something which appears to have been written by a high school student. Presumably the edits yesterday were not your work, so let's see your edits. Have a nice day. Tedickey (talk) 21:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The book's available (actually not all that good - too much opinion as I recall it). But a more constructive approach would be to add reliably-sourced material. So far, no progress. Tedickey (talk) 22:41, 5 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Confederate generals

Neither of the first cousins mentioned in this article, Robert S. Garnett (congressman) or James M. Garnett, was a Confederate general. A quick glance at the linked articles will show that both died before the American Civil War.

Apparently, back in 2007, a well-meaning editor confused Robert S. with another Robert S. Garnett, possibly the son of the first, who was in fact in the Confederate Army. He in turn had a cousin and West Point classmate, Richard B. Garnett, who was killed in Pickett's Charge. Once the two Roberts were confused, it was a quick and hasty step to mistake James F. for Richard B.

What this all shows is that the Garnett family articles need more work. Rklear (talk) 21:26, 31 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

more work needed

I cleaned this up using the standard Leonard directory of Virginia General Assembly as well as the Appleton's Cyclopedia entry on ancestry.com (which didn't list a volume number). I could not locate him in the 1840 and 1850 census, and also could not find any indicia of marriage. Also, I was unable to the consult article or book cited in the bibliography, which I downgraded to "See also" because the article before I started did not make sense chronologically or in terms of topics. Though many in the ACS had what now seems racist attitudes, I cut material attributing such to him without citing any source.Jweaver28 (talk) 21:27, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]