Who, then, was the "poor potter," and how wide of the mark was Gooch in so designating him? The first clue was found in a ledger kept between 1725 and 1732 by John Mercer, who was to become master of the plantation Marlborough in Stafford County as well as an influential colonial lawyer. In 1725, at the age of 21, Mercer was making his way in the world by trading up and down the rivers of Virginia, buying imported goods in towns like Yorktown, where he had a large account with the wealthy merchant Richard Ambler, and exchanging these imports for raw materials at upstream plantations. Included in John Mercer's ledger is an account with one William Rogers having the following entry: "By Earthen Ware amounting to by Invoice 12. 3. 6."[201] So large an amount implies a wholesale purchase from a potter. Was William Rogers, then, the "poor potter" of Yorktown? Scattered throughout the records are references to several William Rogerses from 17th-and 18th-century Virginia (see Appendix I), but none seems likely to refer to the "poor potter" until one reaches Yorktown. There a deed is recorded from the "Trustees to the Port Land in Yorktown," granting two lots of land on May 19, 1711, to "William Rogers aforesaid Brewer."[202] That he was a brewer admittedly is a weak clue to his being a potter. But, despite this, it is necessary to pursue this William Rogers further. These two lots were granted to Rogers by the Trustees in accordance with previous acts for establishing port towns. Yorktown had been established according to the Act for Ports and Towns in 1691, and Rogers' lots were numbers 51 and 55 (see plat, fig. 1), lying contiguously on the northern border of the town between Read and Nelson Streets. To this day they continue to bear the same numbers. [Illustration: Figure 2.--MAJOR LAWRENCE SMITH'S ORIGINAL SURVEY PLAT of Yorktown, Virginia, made according to the Virginia Port Act of 1691, which set up a port town for each county. This plat, still in the York County records, bears the names of successive lot holders from 1691 on into the 18th century. William Rogers' name appears on lots 51 and 55. He was granted this property by the town feoffees in 1711. Additional properties he acquired are mentioned in his will as lots 59, 74, and 75.]