Lloyd Mercer
Privacy Level: Public (Green)

Roscoe Lloyd Mercer (1908 - 1994)

Roscoe Lloyd (Lloyd) Mercer
Born in Dewey Township, Hyde, South Dakota, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of
Husband of — married 20 Jun 1933 in Tulare, Spink, South Dakota, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Father of and
Died at age 86 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 5 Nov 2020
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Biography

Lloyd (his full name was Roscoe Lloyd, his wife always called him Lloyd) was born 26 Feb 1908 on the family homestead in Dewey Township, Hyde County, South Dakota, several miles south of Highmore, South Dakota [1]. The homestead his father patented in August of 1908, was the south west quarter of section 5, township 110 north, Range 72 west of the 5th prime meridian [2].

Childhood
He was the first born child of Roscoe Conkling Mercer and Louisa Alice Morgan (her profile bio not cleaned up yet). He lived on the farm with his parents[3]. His mother passed away in 1914 when he was only 6. By the time of his mother's death there were 3 children, Lloyd, his sister Dorthy Fay Mercer (no known profile created for her) and his baby brother Carroll. His father's mother, Lucy A. Cass Mercer came to help take care of the children. He remembered that his grandmother wouldn't let him call little Dorothy "sister" and insisted they call her Dorothy. By November 1915 his father had remarried Ruth B. Hopkins. In 1920 they are on the homestead in Hyde County, South Dakota[4].

Young Adulthood
When Lloyd finished high school his father sent him to college at South Dakota State College at Brookings, South Dakota. This would be about the time his portrait was taken. It is believed he studied Agriculture while there. He said it was the first time he had ever been away from home without his family. There is a State Census for South Dakota for the year 1925 unfortunately what can be seen of it doesn't specify where Lloyd is then, only "South Dakota."

By 1930 he is back on the farm working for his father[5]. Within a couple of years of this time his father hired a young lady to help out on the farm, her name was Bertha Etta Rodman. Lloyd's father told him he should "marry that girl, she really knows how to work" he might have thought that was a compliment.

Adulthood
On 20 June 1933 he married that "good worker"[6] in a small ceremony on the family farm in Dewey Township, Hyde County, South Dakota. In 1934 their first child was born Joyce Ann she was named for a cousin of Lloyd's that had died when she was a baby, he said he always liked that name. In 1937 their first son was born, Marvin Lee. Bertha said he had to have a name that would sound good when he became President.

In 1940 the little family is still on the farm in South Dakota[7] though times are getting harder and harder for the farmers in the mid-west. The depression was in its 11th year and Lloyd and his neighbors were forced to work on a WPA project to build a dam near the farm instead of growing crops to feed the people that were going hungry because they had no money. Bertha and Lloyd hated F.D.R. until the day they died because of this. In 1941 their youngest son was born in Highmore, South Dakota.

Life in Washington State
They finally lost the farm in 1941 or 1942 and having received glowing reports of Washington State from the some of Bertha's family who had relocated there they decided to give it shot. We find them in an apartment at 1010 SW 134th St Apt 8, Burien, Washington a suburb of Seattle in 1942[8]. Lloyd found work at International Harvester as a parts man, he worked there until he retired. By 1951 they have purchased the property on 150th and are listed in the Seattle phone directory as being at 2636 S. 150th, in Burien, Washington[9].

Retirement in Arizona
Sometime in the 1970's after both Lloyd and Bertha had retired, Lloyd had a serious heart attack and the children thought they should move to Arizona where their youngest son lived. They confessed they were tired of the rain in Seattle and so the move was effected. They settled in Mesa, Arizona a suburb of Phoenix. Lloyd enjoyed retirement in a retirement village where they purchased a luxurious mobile home (it wasn't actually mobile I just don't know what else to call it.) They had many activities including lawn bowling, a nice swimming pool and many recreational activities.

Death and Burial
His heart finally gave out and he passed away on 15 November 1994 in probably Mesa, Arizona but surely in Maricopa County, Arizona [10]. He is buried at Green Acres Mortuary and Cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona[11].

Note: There are additional residence sources for the South Dakota State Censuses at the bottom of this biography. I didn't find them very enlightening and they are on Ancestry, so I decided not to use them in the biography. I left them here so they could be looked at by someone with an Ancestry Account.

Sources

  1. ↑ Source: #S1 South Dakota Department of Health; Pierre, South Dakota; South Dakota, Birth Index, 1856-1917
  2. ↑ Source: #S2 US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records
  3. ↑ Source: #S3 1910 United States Federal Census
  4. ↑ Source: #S4 1920 United States Federal Census
  5. ↑ Source: #S5 1930 United States Federal Census
  6. ↑ Source: #S6 South Dakota Marriages, 1905-1949
  7. ↑ Source: #S7 1940 United States Federal Census
  8. ↑ Source: #S8 Public Records listing for Bertha
  9. ↑ Source: #S9 Seattle Washington Phone Directory 1951
  10. ↑ Source: #S10 Social Security Death Index
  11. ↑ Source: #S11 Billion Graves Index
  • Personal knowledge
  • Source: South Dakota, Department of Health, Index to Births 1843-1914 and Marriages 1950-2016, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKD8-XW6G : 11 February 2018), Roscoe Mercer, 26 Feb 1908; citing Birth, Hyde, South Dakota, United States, South Dakota Department of Health, Pierre.
  • Source: 1910 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the Unit Record Collection 7884 Repository: Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com
  • Source: South Dakota Marriages, 1905-1949 Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - South Dakota Department of Health. South Dakota Marriage Index, 1905-1914 and South Dakota Marriage Certificates, 1905-1949. Pierre, SD, USA: South Dakota Department of Health https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8561/images/SDVR_M_29-1256?pId=176071 Note: I can not find this at family search a more through search may need to be done.
  • Source: U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data - Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Collection 1788 Repository: Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com 1942 Name: Bertha E Mercer Birth Date: 4 Jun 1910 Address: 1010 SW 134th St Apt 8 Residence Place: Burien, Washington, USA Zip Code: 98146-3188
  • Source: United States Social Security Death Index, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J54K-6PN : 22 August 2020), Roscoe L Mercer, 15 Nov 1994; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

Additional unreferenced Sources





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R.L. Mercer Portrait
R.L. Mercer Portrait


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