James Arthur "Jimmie" Mercer was born in
England on August 12, 1871, and was the eldest child of Andrew Valentine Mercer and Isabella Katherine Newton. Jimmie was named after Andrew's father, James Arthur Mercer (1812–1878). In 1883, Jimmie and his parents emigrated to the United States and settled down in
Tubac, Arizona, where Andrew's elder brother, T. Lillie Mercer, had previously settled. Andrew and Isabella divorced when Jimmie was twelve-years-old, after which he was raised by a family friend named Pete Kitchen. According to Jimmie's nephew, Art Mercer: "Jimmie lived with Pete and his family until he was 14 or 15 years old.... Pete was quite a
desperado. When some
squaws tried to steal his horses, Jimmie killed two of the women." Jimmie's first marriage was to Bessie Pearl McKinney, who was born in 1883, in
Uvalde, Texas, and was the daughter of a well known and respected pioneer rancher. The two were married in
Mammoth, Arizona, on July 16, 1898. Jimmie was popular and respected. He worked as a
Pima County deputy sheriff and later a county ranger. The Mercers had three sons: Arthur Virgil Mercer, who was born on January 3, 1900, Caddell Newton Mercer, who was born on April 21, 1903, and Edgar Leslie Mercer, born on February 10, 1906. With his second wife, Harriett Ann Brown, Jimmie had a fourth son named James Arthur Mercer, Jr. just before his death on December 10, 1914. On December 2, 1914, Mercer and a local rancher named Robert Fenton were out investigating a police report for some stolen cattle. According to the report, a
Mexican rancher named J. Padilla was in possession of a stolen calf, so the two men headed for Padilla's ranch, which was located just north of what is now the
ghost town of Pantano. As Mercer and Fenton approached the little ranch, Padilla began walking towards them. However, when about seventy yards away from Mercer, Padilla raised his rifle and fired once at him. The bullet struck Mercer in the left leg, just above the knee. As Mercer fell to the ground, Padilla turned around and fled into a nearby canyon. Mercer was then taken back to Pantano, where he was put on a train and sent to Rogers Hospital in Tucson. An obituary for Jimmie was printed in the
Arizona Daily Star on December 11, 1914: ==See also==