Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Ulysses Mercur ki Towanda, Pennsylvania. I puta ia i te Whare Wānanga o Jefferson i Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, i te tau 1842. I ako ia i te ture, i whakaaetia ia ki te kaari me te tiimata i te mahi i Towanda i te 1843. He mema ia ki te
1856 Te Huihuinga ā-Motu o te Rōpū Reipa. Ko ia te kaiwhakawa perehitini o te rohe whakawa tekau ma toru o Pennsylvania mai i te 1861 tae noa ki te Poutu-te-rangi 4, 1865, i tana wehenga atu ki te uru ki te Kaunihera.