JOHAN HEINRICH MERTZ AND HIS DESCENDANTS

Transcription

1 H JOHAN HEINRICH MERTZ AND HIS DESCENDANTS This is one of eight original ancestor books that comprise the Mærtz Hierarchical Project. Mærtz is used to encompass persons named Mertz and Martz (and occasional other spelling variations). Hierarchical Project describes a designation system wherein immigrants of this name are given one letter designations Johan Heinrich is H and each male descendant of up to possibly six generations is given a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 character designation code which indicates the exact way in which that descendant relates back to the original ancestor. For example: H2a4b1 would be the first son (1) of the second son (b) of the fourth son (4) of the first son (a) of the second son (2) of Henry (H). A project like this needs to have some limits and the general limits in this project are it covers males born before 1850 who then appeared by 1880 as head of household in their own right in Census. The persons so designated are covered in this book sequentially that is to say all persons whose designation is or starts with H1 follow H and come before H2. All persons whose designation is or starts with H2 come before H3. And so forth. For more information on the Mærtz Hierarchical Project or to learn more about the other seven original ancestors, go to: mertzgenealogy.com/mertz_mhp.html Please feel free to build on anything you learn from my work. Please do not cut and paste my full narrative on individuals covered herein. Copyright 1 Jan 2018 by Oakey Mertz, All rights reserved. 1

2 Name: John Henry (Johan Heinrich) Mertz (H) 1,2,3,4 Birth: 3 Dec 1709 Germany Birth Memo: (Baptized 3 Dec 1709 likely very soon after his birth, cenotaph says 1708) Death: 1788 Northampton Co, PA 5 Death Memo: (Will written 20 Jun 1786, proved 31 Mar 1788) Father: Johan Henrich Mertz ( ) Mother: Gretlies Poth (1676-) Johan Heinrich Mertz (hereinafter John Henry) was an important man. We know a lot about him from American records. He arrived America in 1737, settled in Rockland Township, Berks County and founded, gave the land for and was the namesake of Mertz Church. He had many descendants, now widespread across America, but including some of whom to this day still live in Berks County. But now, after much work and assistance from many different persons, I am convinced that we can definitively say where he came from in Germany and that we know a good deal about his German family and ancestors. John Henry Mertz, founder of Mertz Church, was the son of Johan Henrich Mertz of Frankenhausen, Germany. Frankenhausen can be considered John Henry s ancestral home. Descendants of his father still live there today. The evidence for all of this started out as circumstantial but has been solidified over time piece by piece. A large, modern cenotaph that honors John Henry Mertz can be found at Mertz Church. It says he was born in 1708, though I have never seen any basis for how anyone could know that from American records. Perhaps there was some document someone once found that I m not aware of that stated his age at some point in time. From the time I first began to research the life of John Henry Mertz in about 2001, I have always wondered whether he was possibly related to Jost Mertz and/or Johannes Mertz, two other Berks County immigrants with the same surname. Those two came to America a decade or so later than John Henry but fairly quickly made their way directly to Mertz Church. Jost in particular died young and soon after it seemed that his surviving family and John Henry and his sons became quite close. From American ship passenger lists, Jost came in But that was nothing but speculation on my part, until, in 2009, I heard from a German woman named Christiane Mertz who told me that Jost Mertz was a long lost family member of the large Mertz family that now lives in Frankenhausen and a key thing the German family knew about him was that he emigrated to America in It sure seemed that their long lost Jost must indeed be Jost of Mertz Church. Additional circumstantial evidence was that Jost, according to those same German records, had an older brother named Johan Heinrich, born in The German records said nothing more about him. For some of his brothers, they knew who they married and when and could track their children as they lived their life in Germany, for Jost they knew only he went to America and about John Henry, nothing. It was easy to guess therefore that John Henry and Jost were brothers. DNA has now provided even more evidence of this speculation. The y-chromosone DNA (which passes from father to son) of known descendants of John Henry matches that of a 2

3 known descendant of Jost. The match is close enough that, scientifically, there is a high probability they these modern persons shared a common male Mertz ancestor within less than, say, 10 generations. In other words, the DNA strongly suggests that John Henry and Jost were closely related and combined with the American evidence and the German evidence of what we know about these two men, the conclusion that they were brothers is inescapable. And then final proof of all of this came in 2017 when a man named Dan Goebel wrote me to say he had found the baptism records of both Johan Heinrich and Johan Jost Mertz both sons of Johan Heinrich Merz (or Mertz) in the records of the Ober-Ramstadt church that served Frankenhausen at the time. Johan Jost was baptized the same day he was born. That may or may not be true of Johan Henirch but all we really know is he was baptized 3 Dec But I strongly suspect he was born not very long at all before that date. John Henry was an original American ancestor of many people and he is designated H. This book is devoted to his descendants. A separate book is devoted to his brother Jost (designated Y) and his descendants. And a third book is devoted to Johannes (designated J) who, we now know, was not a brother but it is yet unknown whether he was more distantly related to John Henry and Jost or whether he was totally unrelated and his appearance at Mertz Church was simply coincidence. For more information on the ancestors of John Henry and Jost, see either my full database or a white paper on the Frankenhausen family both on my website: Discrepancies Because of the totally erroneous research of early genealogists about the origins of their Mertz or Martz ancestors who came from Berks County to Northumberland County in the late 1780 s, many people believe ERRONEOUSLY that they descend from John Henry. If their ancestry traces to a Mertz or Martz present in Northumberland County before about 1830, they absolutely do not. The fact that so many people erroneously believe they descend from him even though they in fact descend from John David Mertz was not John Henry s fault. So it is appropriate that he was honored with the large monument erected at Mertz Church naming him as the founder and identifying the names of his wife and children. My only question is: who paid for that monument, who was the driving force behind it? I truly believe it was some of the Northumberland Mertzes, perhaps my line, none of whom were actually descendants of John Henry. They had the mistaken belief that they were his descendants and were quite active in genealogy. I think they erected that big monument for him. In any event, everything on the monument is accurate. His sons are named but there is no indication that they mistakenly believed several had gone to Northumberland County. All narrative and commentary 2017 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. Relocated and Census Tracking IMMIGRANT. John Henry Mertz arrived America on the ship St Andrew Galley 26 Sep

4 He died just a little before the 1790 Census. He was mentioned on Berks County tax records in Rockland Township. On a 1773 deed, though, whereby he passed his land, including that reserved for Mertz Church and its cemetery, to son Jacob, he said he was a resident of Salisbury Township, Northampton County. When he wrote his will in 1786, he said he was a resident of Rockland Township, Berks County but then when he died his will was probated in Northampton County. He seemed to have been moving back and forth between those two places. Several of his sons, as well as several of Jost s, were also in Northampton County by the 1780 s. Death and Find-a-Grave The will of Henry Mertz, dated 20 Jun 1786 proved 31 Mar 1788 in Northampton County, says at the time of writing it he was a resident of Rockland Township, Berks County. He mentioned son Henry who was to only get 20 shillings and then, as transcribed in the registrar s book, it says his estate was to be divided among his nine other children: Philip, William, J George, George Henry, John Jacob and Catharina intermarried to Conrad Repp and Maria intermarried to Peter Fink. That s seven named children not nine. Patty Mertz wrote the Registrar of Northampton Wills and got the actual will. That sentence actually reads "Remainder of estate shall be equally divided to and among my children hereinafter named in equal shares to wit: Philip Mertz, William Mertz, John Jacob Mertz, Catharina Roerig Widdow, Rosina Intermarried to Jacob Seib, Eva Catharina Intermarried to Conrad Repp, J. George Mertz, George Henry Mertz, and Maria Intermarried to Peter Fink. In nine equal shares and portions share and share alike. That explains everything. There is a memorial for John Henry on find-a-grave. It is not totally accurate but nothing too egregious is said there. Known Daughters Anna Rosina was listed as Anna Rosina on the Mertz Church monument that honors John Henry and his family and named in her father s will as Rosina intermarried with Jacob Seib. Eva Catharina was listed on the Mertz Church monument that honors John Henry and his family and named in her father s will as Eve Catharina intermarried with Conrad Repp. She and Conrad moved to Pottsville, Schuylkill County. Maria Elisabetha was listed on the Mertz Church monument that honors John Henry and his family and also named in her father s will, though she was named simply Maria. She married Peter Fink. They moved to Northampton County and worshipped at the Jerusalem Church where her brother George Henry and his family also worshipped. Maria Catharina Mertz was listed on the Mertz Church monument that honors John Henry and his family. She was the widow named Catharina Roerig in her father s will. I believe her husband was Conrad Roerig. Known Sons I have worked with several descendants of John Henry Mertz to establish the names of his children. There are three lists to work from: the monument erected long after his death at Mertz Church, fairly complete church records of the Mertz Church relating to baptisms, and John Henry s will. Each list varies slightly in how certain children were named, but we believe we have sorted things out. 4

5 His sons were: H1 John Philip born 1738 H2 John Wilhelm born 1739 H3 John Jacob born 1741 H4 Heinrich born 1749 H5 John George born 1752 H6 George Heinrich born 1755 Spouse: Anna Maria Rosemann 4 Birth: 1715 Birth Memo: (Dan Goebel, consistent with Alfred Schafer?) Death: aft 5 Nov 1780 Father: George Rosemann Mother: Anna Sabina Winterstein Parent-Proof In his biography of my ancestor, Philip Mertz of Freeburg, (now) Snyder County, PA, Charles A Fisher (a noted local genealogist) says that Philip was the son of John Henry and Anna Maria (Rossman) Mertz and that Anna Maria was the daughter of Jacob and Anna Magdalena (Scheur) Rossman. But there are two huge errors in that one sentence! 1. Philip Mertz of Freeburg was NOT the son of John Henry Mertz of Rockland Township, Berks County, he was in fact the son of Peter Mertz of Longswamp Township, Berks County. John Henry did have a son named Philip, but he never lived anywhere but Berks County. I have known for a long time that the two Philip s had been confused by many early genealogists. I was actually one of the first people to document how it could be known which was which. 2. And it turns out Anna Maria Rossman (or Rosemann) was not the daughter of Jacob and Magdalena, though I mistakenly believed she was for a long time. It also turns out I had assembled the right facts but I made a bad assumption along the way in part, I think, because what Charles Fisher said about Anna Maria s parents seemed to fit the facts. The facts show that Anna Maria was not the only Rosemann to be named in the records of Mertz Church or to be named in other records which suggest an association with John Henry Mertz. Consider: A man named Jacob Rosemann arrived America on the same ship as John Henry in Jacob Rosemann was a named sponsor at Mertz Church in 1741 at the baptism of Johann Jacob Mertz, son of John Henry and Anna Maria. The other sponsor at this baptism was Magdalena Scheur(in). At Oley Church in 1755, Jacob Rosemann and Anna Appolonia baptized daughter Anna Elisabetha Margaretha. She was born 7 Dec 1755 and baptized 16 Apr The will of Jacob Roseman of Berks County was written 9 Sep 1756 and proved 12 Oct He mentioned brother-in-law Henry Mertz. He mentioned son Jacob, wife 5

6 Annapolia and brother-in-law Henry Mertz. brother of Anna Maria (Rosemann) Mertz.] [So, Jacob who died in 1756 was the Jacob Rosemann with wife, Sybilla, baptized several children at Mertz Church starting in So I always believed that there was evidence of three men named Jacob Rosemann father, son, grandson known by the names of their three wives: Magdalena Scheur, Anna Appolonia and Sybilla, respectively. I believed the elder Jacob was the ship passenger in 1737 and that he came with his wife Magdalena and children including son Jacob and daughter Anna Maria who would marry John Henry Mertz. Dan Goebel has convinced me, though, there were only two (relevant) men named Jacob Rosemann, that the ship passenger was in fact Anna Maria s brother. It caused me to reexamine the records of Mertz Church and I realized my mistake. Often in those records, the parents of a child were named in the form husband s name, wife s maiden name. So we find the names Johan Henrich Mertz and Ana Maria Rossman(in) quite often as a married couple as they baptized their many children. But not so the names of sponsors. In the case of sponsors, the format was, for example, Johan Henrich Mertz and wife Anna Maria. And if it was two single people, then the names would be given, as they were in one instance, Jacob Rosemann and Magdalena Scheur(in). The point is that Jacob Rosemann (Anna Maria s brother) never married Magdalena Scheur, he only was once listed as a baptism sponsor with her. He did marry Anna Appolonia. Dan Goebel s research shows that both Jacob and Anna Maria were children of Johann Georg Roßmann ( ) and Anna Sabina Winterstein ( ). Jacob was born in 1702, Anna Maria in When Dan told me that, I realized I already knew George Rosemann as the father of Anna Catharina Rosemann who married Johan Nicholas Mertz and the greatgrandfather of Anna Benigna Rosemann who married Johan Adam Mertz. I had learned about all these other people from my work on John Henry s ancestral family of Frankenhausen, Germany. What is clear is that the Rosemann family of Mertz Church came from the exact same area of Germany as the Mertz family of Mertz Church and the two families obviously knew each other well. In fact, I now think we can rule out that John Henry and Anna Maria just happened to meet on the ship they most certainly all knew each other back in Frankenhausen. And now the question is: Did they marry in Germany prior to their departure, or did they leave Germany with the intent to marry upon arrival in America and travelled together for that reason? Dan Goebel believes they married once in America but likely had every intent to do so when they left Germany. I have no argument with that belief. All narrative and commentary 2017 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. Find-a-Grave Evelyn Guldner points out that the last mention of Anna Maria was 5 Nov 1780 at the baptism of her granddaughter Anna Maria, daughter of Jacob and Catharina. She was not 6

7 mentioned in her husband s 1786 will so we can bracket her date of death as between 1780 and There is a memorial for her on find-a-grave. 1. Published Book. Author: IBID. Strassburger. PA German Pioneers. John Henry Mertz on board 26 Sep 1737, St Andrew Galley. 2. Published Family Histories. The History of a Martz Family in America, Author: Evelyn Martz Guldner, Repository: DAR, Evelyn was very thorough, much of what I show in my database about JHM s descendants comes from her, but she did make some mistakes. 3. Published Family Histories. Die Familie Schafer - Mertz, Author: Alfred Schafer, Repository: LDS Film , Written 1977, Based on the work of Dr. Wendell Mertz, Documents ancestors of Marie Mertz ( ) back to Antonius, including Johan Henrich ( ) father of emigrants John Henry and Jost Mertz. 4. Church Records: IBID. Moselem Lutheran, John Henry Mertz ux Ana Maria sponsor a baptism 28 Sep Specific LDS Film , Wills, Books 1-3, Northampton County, Henry Mertz will written 20 Jun 1786 proved 31 Mar

8 Name: Johann Philip Mertz (H1) 1,2,3,4 Birth: 14 Oct 1738 Rockland Twp, Berks Co, PA Birth Memo: (Mertz Church baptism) Death: abt 1815 Maxatawny Twp, Berks Co, PA Death Memo: (last named at Mertz Church in 1812) Father: John Henry (Johan Heinrich) Mertz (H) (3 Dec ) Mother: Anna Maria Rosemann (~1715-> 5 Nov 1780) Johann Philip Mertz born 14 Oct 1738 was baptized at Mertz Church 25 Oct son of Johann Heinrich and Ana Maria (Rosemann) Mertz. He was listed on the Mertz Church monument that honors John Henry and his family and he was also named in his father s will. Philip is designated H1, the oldest son of the immigrant John Henry (H). Discrepancies A man named Philip Mertz died in Northumberland County, PA in late From his will, it was clear that he had grown children, suggesting he was, say years of age. Local genealogists also knew that he had come to Northumberland County from Berks County in about And so decades ago, before anyone had access to all the computerized church, tax and other genealogical records that exist now, the first place they thought to look in Berks County for record of this man was Mertz Church. And there they found this man, John Philip born 14 Oct 1738, son of John Henry Mertz. And so they, and subsequently hundreds of other so called genealogists who have merely copied their work without any thought as to its accuracy, give that birth date and that father to Philip of Northumberland County. POPPYCOCK. With a little work, anyone who now does have access to all those computerized records can easily determine that John Philip Mertz born 1738 son of John Henry lived his life in Berks County, never far from Mertz Church. He married Catharina Quirin and with her baptized many children there in the 1760 s to 1780 s and was still there to stand as sponsor, with Catharina, at baptisms of grandchildren in 1796, 1803 and He can be found on tax records and in the 1790, 1800 and 1810 Census in Maxatawny Township. It is also easy to find record of a different man, also named Philip Mertz, who was named with wife Eva many times at the Longswamp Reformed Church in Longswamp Township. They baptized children there in the 1770 s and early 1780 s and he was named in early tax records of Longswamp Township. And then he disappeared from those records only to pop up in Northumberland County with wife Eva and children whose names matched the ones they baptized together. John Philip Mertz never lived anywhere but Berks County. All narrative and commentary 2017 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. Relocated and Census Tracking Pennsylvania Septennial Census. Philip Mertz, Maxatawny Township. (Philip Mertz was also listed in Richmond Township, probably this one owned some land there too.) 8

9 In , Philip was consistently listed in Maxatawny Township. In 1790, he was Phil Merz and the headcount of his household included four older males and one younger. In 1800, he was indexed as Philip Martz. And in 1810 as Philip Merk. And then he disappeared. Death and Find-a-Grave I don t know exactly when Philip died. It was after the 1810 Census. At Mertz Church, on 19 January 1812, Philip Mertz and Catharine were sponsors for Benjamin Mertz, born to Philip Mertz, Jr. and his wife Sarah. This was the last mention of Philip and I think he died soon thereafter. Catharina too died, I think, about the same time. Those early years after 1810 also mark the departure of two of Philip s sons from Berks County. I do not think that was a coincidence. I created a find-a-grave memorial for John Philip and placed him at Mertz Church. He may be buried there or he may be on his nearby farm. But I wanted a memorial for him to set forth the truth and distinguish him from the other Philip Mertz. Known Daughters I have reviewed the Mertz Church records to identify Philip s daughters and compared it to s from Louis Flackler and Patty Mertz who had a list based on Pennsylvania Births, Berks County, , by John T. Humphrey. There were a few inconsistencies between the various sources, so here is my consolidated list as best I can construct it. 1. Catharina was born 2 Apr 1765 and baptized at Mertz Church 14 Apr There is record of Henry Hartmann & Catharina, nee Merz, who had a daughter Catharina, born 25 Dec 1800, baptized 24 May 1801 in church at Gnadenhütten on the Mahoning, by Nills Tillofson. I don t know who the Catharina nee Mertz was, possibly Philip s daughter. 2. Maria Elisabeth was born on 12 Aug 1766 and baptized at Mertz Church 30 Aug Anna Maria was born on 25 Aug 1769 and baptized at Mertz Church 17 Sep Christina was born on 16 Jun 1776 and baptized at Mertz Church 26 Jun Hana was born on 15 Dec 1783 and baptized at Mertz Church 4 Apr Ester, according to one record, was born 31 Jul 1776 and baptized 16 Mar But since her birth date was just 45 days before her sister, Christina, the record must be wrong for one or the other. A different record suggests Ester was baptized 31 Aug 1788, so I think that may be the better record and a later birth date for her is suggested, perhaps a decade later. Known Sons From their baptisms, we know of two sons for sure: Jacob born 17 Dec 1770 and Philip born 19 Oct Yet, in the 1790 Census, Philip had four other males living with him and also four in 1800 one age and three Through the research and hard work of Louis Fackler, we first theorized and then basically proved that another son was Daniel born A summary of the analysis that led to this conclusion is given as part of my discussion of Daniel. Daniel moved to Dauphin County, PA just after

10 I have also come to the conclusion that the fourth son was William born 1767 who moved to Columbia County, PA also just after The evidence for my conclusion that William was Philip s son is that DNA of a descendant of William indicates conclusively he was closely related to the Mertz Church family of Mertzes (John Henry and Jost). Moreover, when William and his wife Elisabeth baptized their son Johannes in 1796, Philip and Catharina stood as sponsors. Finally, from all the work I have done on all the Mertzes of Berks County, Philip is logically the only one who could have had this son born Notice, in fact, the gap in the birth years of all the other known children between Maria Elisabeth 12 Aug 1766 and Anna Maria 25 Aug There is one other possible son I need to mention. In the 1790, 1800 and 1810 Census, we find in Maxatawny Township a John Mertz and I am not 100% certain who he was. He was age in 1800 so born between 1755 and Geography would suggest he may have been a son of Philip, the only other Mertz in Maxatawny. I believe this John of Maxatawny had a son John in 1791 so that pushes his likely birth date back to the late 1760 s. And that is the rub could Philip and Catharina have possibly had yet another son born in the 1766 to 1769 gap. It can t be ruled out but for now my theory is that John of Maxatawny was John (J1), son of Johannes the immigrant (designated J) and that is my best current guess. So here is my list of Philip s sons: H1a William born 1767 H1b John Jacob born 1771 H1c Philip Heinrich born 1772 H1d Daniel born 1779 Spouse: Catharina Quierin Marriage: 29 May 1764 Marr Memo: (Mertz Church record of marriage) Father: Nickel Quierin ( ) Mother: Anna Margaretha Bauer Parent-Proof The wife of John Philip Mertz, according to the records of Mertz Church, was Catharina Quierin. But who was she? A clue to her origins can be found in Annette Burgert s book Eighteenth Century Emigrants from Northern Alsace to America. It is one of several books authored (or co-authored) by Burgert. Each book focuses on a specific geographic area of German Europe and Burgert s methodology was to try to identify a specific person or family who could be documented: 1.) in European church and/or other records, 2.) on passenger lists of German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania and 3.) in American church and/or other American records. The idea is that this person or family could be tracked directly from their point of origin in Europe to the place they settled once in America and includes evidence of when they emigrated. And so in her Alsace book, Burgert cites records of the Wolfskirchen Lutheran and Diedendorf Lutheran churches, both in Alsace. At Wolfskirchen, the records show that a Pritius Quirin died in 1719 at age 71. His wife was Rosina (died 1712) and they had at least 10

11 three children: Daniel who married in 1693, Johannes and Nickel who it said ist ins Neue Land gezogen which I assume means went to the New Land. Also at Wolfskirchen, she documents that Nickel Quirin, son of Briccius married 27 Jan 1711 Maria Magdalena, daughter of Daniel Fisher of Pistorff and they had seven children: Johann Mathias b.1712, Maria Louisa b.1714, Maria Elisabetha b.1716, Anna Christina b.1718, Catharina Margaretha b.1721, Margaretha b.1723 and Maria Magdalena b And at Diedendorf, Nickel Quirin and wife Magdalena Fischer had Catharina Elisabetha b.1729 and Johann Heinrich b Burgert then documents that Nickel Quirin arrived Philadelphia on the ship Halifax in 1752 and that Nickel Quierin and wife Margaretha nee Bauer had several children baptized at Mertz Church starting in Then, also at Mertz Church, Philip Mertz married 29 May 1764 Catharina Quierin. Now I have a lot of respect for the work Burgert has done. She has been especially valuable to me as she absolutely tracked my immigrant ancestor David Mertz and his family from Alsace to Longswamp Township, Berks County and another of my immigrant ancestors Peter Hülpüsch and his family from Wiedt, Germany to Montgomery County, PA. The strong implication from Burgert, given her typical format, is that Nickel Quirin of Wolfskirchen and Diedendorf whose wife was Magdalena Fischer was the 1752 immigrant on the Halifax and he also was the Nickel Quierin named in Mertz Church records. And she doesn t specifically state that Catharina who married Philip Mertz was his daughter, but since he did baptize a daughter named Catharina (two of them actually), the clear implication is she was. But in the case of Nickel and Catharina Quirin, I think there is a little more to the story. It s not that simple. Consider that Nickel s daughters named Catharina were born in 1721 and 1729, respectively. But Philip Mertz was born in 1738 and he married Catharina in 1764 and they had children in the years It seems a stretch to believe that Catharina was much older than Philip. It should also be noted that Catharina never has a middle name in any American records, she was always just Catharina. Moreover, Nickel Quirin of Alsace married in 1711 and had children in the years Even if he married a second time, he seems too old to have been having children in America from 1757 into the 1760 s. It seems more likely that Nickel Quirin whose wife was Magdalena Fischer was a different man than Nickel Quierin whose wife was Margaretha Bauer. It should also be noted that besides Catharina and Nickel there were several additional persons named Quierin named in Mertz Church records. All were listed as baptism sponsors for a child of Philip and Catharina at Mertz Church. All were instances where two presumed single people, one name Quierin and one named Mertz were the named sponsors. In my experience, this often was a case of the two sponsors perhaps being in a dating relationship and I have seen many examples where the two named sponsors later married. So we find: Heinrich Mertz and Anna Maria Quierin sponsored the baptism of Anna Maria, daughter of Philip and Catharina Mertz and later of their son Philip Heinrich. Anna Mertz and Henrich Quierin sponsored two additional baptisms of daughters of Philip and Catharina. 11

12 Jacob Mertz and Susanna Margaretha Quierin sponsored the baptism of Johann Jacob, son of Philip and Catharina. Wilhelm Mertz and Maria Elisabetha Quierin sponsored the baptism of another daughter of Philip and Catharina. Jacob Mertz and Maria Elisabetha Quierin sponsored the baptism of yet another daughter of Philip and Catharina. Wow, that looks like a lot of dating among Philip s siblings Anna, Jacob and Heinrich Mertz and what we might guess were Catharina s siblings Anna Maria, Heinrich, Susanna Margaretha and Maria Elisabetha Quierin. Note that some of these Quierins have names matching or similar to the children baptized by Nickel and Magdalena in Alsace, but it is not a perfect match. And so I kept digging for some additional information to perhaps explain the possible discordant notes. And I found something that I think explains everything. I found a biography of Nickel Quirin in the Rastatter-Schimmels Family Tree on genealogy.com. It seems to be quoting directly the work of Patrick Pearsey, another genealogist whose work I respect a lot, so I ll credit him. Pearsey says that Nickel Quirin of Mertz Church whose wife was Margaretha Bauer was indeed of the Wolfskirchen family but in fact was the son Hans Jacob, another son of Pritius. This Nickel was born in 1714 and was the Nickel who arrived America in 1752 on the Halifax. He marred Anna Margaretha Bauer in Pearsey seems to be citing Wolfskirchen records for most of his facts. In addition, Pearsey cites the will of Nicholas Query who died in Montgomery County, MD. It was written 13 Oct 1788 and proved 15 Dec He mentioned two sons: Daniel and Henry. And he named their five sisters: Mary Ann March, Christine Schindler, Catherine March, Elizabeth Humbert and Susannah Tice. I believe that Catherine March was none other than the wife of Philip Mertz. The name Mertz, derived originally it is thought from the name of the third German month März, was sometimes (rarely but it did happen) Americanized as March. So I would assume the husband of Mary Ann also was named Mertz. And based on a lot of analysis I won t go into here, I think it may have been George Mertz (another brother of Philip s) who married Mary Ann, or Anna Maria, Quierin. They never were listed as a couple at any of those baptisms but I have other evidence of this theory. Though it is far from proven. So, I think the truth of the matter is this: Pearsey is right that Nickel of Mertz Church who died in Montgomery County, MD was not Nickel, son of Pritius. In fact, he was Pritius grandson. This younger Nickel was the 1752 immigrant and he came with his wife Anna Margaretha and some of their children born in the 1740 s in Alsace and then he proceeded to have even more children once in America. Arguably, all of the Quierins named as baptismal sponsors at Mertz Church were Nickel s children, all named in his will. 12

13 Heinrich, the baptism sponsor, was the son Heinrich named by Nickel in his will. Mary Ann in the will (who had married a Mertz) was Anna Maria, Elizabeth in the will was Maria Elisabetha and Susanna of the will was Susanna Margaretha. And, of course, Catharine March of the will was Catharina nee Quierin, wife of Philip Mertz. I think any suggestion that Catharina was either Catharina Elisabetha or Catharina Margaretha is false. Her name was Catharina, she was the daughter of Nickel and Margaretha (Bauer) Quirin. All narrative and commentary 2017 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. 1. Church Records: Mertz Church, Rockland Twp, Berks Co, PA, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, Repository: Summary Printout from Church Archives, Johann Philip b. 14 Oct 1738 bp. 25 Oct s/o Johann Heinrich and Ana Maria (Rosemann) Mertz Census, (HOH, Place, M > 15, M < 16, F), Phil Merz, Maxatawny Twp, Berks Co, PA, 1,4, Census, (HOH, Place, 0-9 M/F, M/F, M/F, M/F, 45+ M/F), Philip Martz, Maxatawny Twp, Berks Co, PA, 0/0, 1/2, 3/0, 1/1, 1/ Census, (HOH, Place, 0-9 M/F, M/F, M/F, M/F, 45+ M/F), Philip Merk, Maxatawny Twp, Berks Co, PA, 0/2, 0/2, 0/1, 1/1, 1/1. 13

14 Name: William Martz (H1a) 1,2,3,4,5,6 Birth: 12 Nov 1767 Birth Memo: (tombstone) Death: 9 Mar 1854 Death Memo: (tombstone) Briar Creek Union Cemetery, Columbia Co, PA Father: Johann Philip Mertz (H1) (1738-~1815) Mother: Catharina Elisabetha Quierin A man named William Martz showed up in Columbia County, PA in about From his tombstone, he was born in His wife was Elizabeth Boehm. DNA of a known descendant proves that William was closely related to the known Mertz Church lines of John Henry and/or Jost. In fact, there is no question that William was associated with Mertz Church prior to his move. William and Elizabeth baptized three children at Mertz Church: Susan born 11 Jun 1794 sponsored by George Boehm and Eva (Elizabeth s parents), John born 19 Aug 1796 sponsored by Philip Mertz and Catharina and Catherine born 25 Mar 1804 also sponsored by Philip and Catharina. It is also noteworthy that when George Boehm and Eva baptized their daughter Lea in 1796, the sponsors were Philip Mertz and Catharina. This is clearly the family that moved to Columbia County where, at Briar Creek Church, in 1813, Johannes, Susanna and Catharina were confirmed. (Johannes was 17, Susanna but Catherine would only have been 9 -- but that is what the records show.) George and Eva Boehm were also listed at Briar Creek Church, in their case a few years earlier than William and Elizabeth. John is buried in Martzville (a town named for this family) and the birth date on his tombstone closely matches (two days off) the Mertz Church record. The question is: who was William s father? I strongly suspect it was John Philip. For one thing, he and wife Catharina stood as sponsors at the baptisms of two of William s children. But the baptism of William himself went unrecorded and there are no probate records for John Philip which tell us the names of his children. So it cannot be proven using the usual source documents a genealogist looks for. While it is true that William was referred to as William Jr. in one record (Susan s baptism), in those days that did not always mean son of, it often meant younger versus someone else of the same place of the same name that was older. The older William was John Philip's brother. Some people believe he was William s father but my argument is that William Sr. moved to Somerset County, PA in the 1780 s and I would think any son born in 1767 would have gone along. Moreover, there is one more interesting mention of William at Mertz Church. In 1808, Wilhelm Maerz and wife sponsored the baptism of Wilhelm Maerz, son of Jacob & Elisabeth. I believe William the sponsor was Jacob s brother, as a sibling was the most oft-chosen baptism sponsor in those early days. I also note that John Philip had four younger males in his household in the 1790 Census and I only know the names of three. Finally I note too that there is a four year gap in the births of John Philip s children between 1766 and 1769 and William drops into that slot perfectly. 14

15 The father of 1767 William would likely have been born before William, from DNA analysis, was not of the Longswamp Mertz family so that leaves very few candidates. There are John Henry s sons: Philip, Wilhelm and Jacob. I have already dismissed Wilhelm since he left the area. I can rule out Jacob too because I know the names of all his children. The two other Mertz Church lines were Jost who is ruled out by his 1764 death and Johannes. We don t know if Johannes has matching DNA to John Henry and Jost. If William did in fact descend from Johannes, then we d know, but for now we only know for sure that William matches John Henry and Jost. And there is one other point to consider. William moved to Columbia County, we think, in about Daniel, his brother I think, moved to Dauphin County in about The last known mention of John Philip was as a sponsor at the baptism of his grandson Benjamin in Could either the death or the impending death of Philip possibly have been the catalyst for several of his sons moving on? (I can document that the sons of my ancestor Peter also moved westward about the time of his death, some a year or two preceding his death and the others just after.) Considering everything, I strongly believe William was the son of John Philip. designated H1a. He is Discrepancies Some descendants of William s, and you can find this in many on-line family trees, refer to him as William Henry Martz. I know of no record ever referring to him by that name. He had a grandson named William Henry but I believe the man I have designated H1a was named William, not William Henry. Relocated and Census Tracking I would expect to find William in the 1800 and 1810 Census living somewhere in or near Berks County There was a man listed as William Mortz by Ancestry.com in Richmond Township but I can see it as Mertz and I otherwise don t know where this William was Wilhelm Martz was listed in Salisbury Township, Northampton County. I also don t know who we was if not this William, but one problem with believing he was is that among his known sons were John born 1797 and Abraham born But only one son was reported. Curiously, a neighbor in Salisbury was John Mertz, they being the only two persons in Salisbury whose name begins with the letter M. Who was John? In 1820 through 1850 William was reported in Briar Creek Township, Columbia County. All narrative and commentary 2016 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. Death and Find-a-Grave Ralph Fraley Mertz in Martzes of Maryland has a chapter where he reprinted many letters written in the 1880 s to Rev. George Jacob Mertz in response to what must have been a widely circulated newspaper story back then that a man named Wilhelm Mertz had died in Germany with a large fortune and the German government was trying to locate this man s American heirs. I found the letters fascinating. They demonstrated how little Mertzes of that day actually knew about their ancestry yet how interested they were in collecting a share of that legacy. 15

16 And so, most all of the letter writers were able to describe some vague recollection about an ancestor of theirs named William or Wilhelm. One such letter writer was D W Martz of Martzville (near Berwick), PA. He said his father was Abraham born April 1800 who was the son of William who came from Rockland Township, Berks County in 1810 at the age of 90. D W was clearly talking about the namesake family of the town of Martzville in Columbia County. William lived to the age of 86 1/2 and I think he was referring to the fact that he lived to (near) 90, not that he relocated at the age of 90. There is a memorial on find-a-grave for William Martz. It has come under my management and I have corrected it in several ways. His name was given there as William Henry Martz and an incorrect tombstone of William s grandson William Henry was there. I uploaded the correct tombstone photo, on which his name was William, and I created a separate memorial for his grandson. The memorial also said in his bio that he was the son of Wilhelm and Christina and I wrote a better bio explaining my logic that he was not and in fact was the son of Philip and Catharina. Known Daughters We know Susan and Catherine from their baptisms at Mertz Church. Linked to William on find-a-grave are: Elizabeth Shellhammer, Hannah Fester, Catherine Hetler and Mary Martz. Known Sons William was the progenitor of the quite extensive Martz family of Briar Creek Township, Columbia County. I know of no interlopers i.e. someone from another Martz family who relocated to Briar Creek at least through Every Martz there in my opinion was either a direct descendant of William s or their spouse. I know Johannes was a son of William s from his baptism and then his geographic presence in Briar Creek. I am sure that Abraham was also the son of William from the D W Martz letter as well his geographic presence in Briar Creek and his age. And Daniel was still living with his parents (or maybe they with him) in I have less direct evidence for Henry G but again from his age and his presence in Briar Creek, I am willing to assume that Henry G was also William s son. All of the others, except, Henry G are linked to William on find-a-grave. In addition, there is a William ( ) linked to him as well. A family history report on this family sent to me by a descendant shows this extra son William and cites his tombstone at Briar Creek Cemetery as saying he was in fact the son of William. His baptism at Briar Creek Church is also cited. So I am convinced there was this son, but I have no need to designate him as such since he died young without a wife or children or appearance on his own in Census. William s designated sons are: H1a1 Johannes born 1797 H1a2 Abraham born 1800 H1a3 Daniel born 1814 H1a4 Henry G born 1817 Spouse: Elizabeth Boehm 16

17 Birth: 20 Mar 1778 Marriage: 22 Nov 1791 Marr Memo: (Rev Hellfrich) Death: 6 Jul 1854 Briar Creek Union Cemetery, Columbia Co, PA Father: George Boehm Mother: Eva Yoxshine Parent-Proof One of the sources I have relied on over the years is one I call RMR, the initials of a woman who compiled every instance of a Mertz mention in all of the records of eastern Pennsylvania. She did this many years ago, but even today, I still refer to it. RMR uncovered a list of marriages by Rev. Helffrich which included the marriage of Wilh Mertz in Unfortunately, in the very earliest years, Helffrich only stated the groom s name and that was the case here. I believe, though, this was the marriage of William to Elizabeth. Many sources say that Elizabeth was the daughter of George and Eva Boehm and I am convinced they are correct. She and husband William were associated with the Boehms as baptism sponsors at Mertz Church and later at Briar Creek Church. They are all buried basically next to each other in a row. It is from George s tombstone that I learned the maiden name of his wife, Yoxshine Census, (HOH, Place, 0-9 M/F, M/F, M/F, M/F, 45+ M/F), William Mortz, Richmond Twp, Berks Co, PA, 2/2, 1/0, 0/0, 1/1, 0/ Census, (HOH, Place, 0-9 M/F, M/F, M/F, M/F, 45+ M/F), Wilhelm Mertz, Salisbury Twp, Northampton Co, 1/4, 0/0, 0/0, 1/1, 0/ Census, (HOH, Place, 0-9 M/F, M/F, M, M/F, M/F, 45+ M/F), Willim Mertz, Briar Creek Twp, Columbia Co, PA, 3/0, 0/2, 2/2, 0, 0/0, 1/ Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age Bracket Males/Females), William Mortis, Briar Creek Twp, Columbia Co, PA, 10-14M, 15-19M (3), 20-29M, 50-59M, 20-29F, 50-59F Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age Bracket Males/Females), William Martz, Briar Creek Twp, Columbia Co, PA, 20-29M (2), 70-79M, 20-29F, 60-69F Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age, Birthplace, Additional Persons), William Martz, 83, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Elizabeth 72, Daniel 34, Leah Fowler

18 Name: Johannes Martz (H1a1) 1,2,3,4 Birth: 19 Aug 1796 Rockland Twp, Berks Co, PA Birth Memo: (Mertz Church baptism, find-a-grave says 17 Aug 1796) Death: 6 May 1876 Martzville Cemetery, Columbia Co, PA Father: William Martz (H1a) ( ) Mother: Elizabeth Boehm ( ) John, son of William and Elizabeth, was baptized at Mertz Church. He was born 19 Aug 1796 and baptized 17 Sep. The sponsors were John Philip and wife Catharina. He moved with his father to Columbia County and lived out his life there. He is designated H1a1. Relocated and Census Tracking Johannes was born in Berks County, moved its his parents to Columbia County in about 1811, was first listed on his own in the 1740 Census and lived his entire adult life in Briar Creek Township. Death and Find-a-Grave John is on find-a-grave. All narrative and commentary 2016 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. I have management responsibility for his memorial so I visited the Martzville Cemetery and uploaded a photo of his tombstone. It gives his date of death and states his age at death. The arithmetic computes to a date of birth of either either 17 or 18 Aug 1796, close enough for me to the 19 Aug 1796 as transcribed in the Mertz Church records. Despite this one day discrepancy, I believe it is John s connection to William which proves that it was indeed the same William named in Mertz Church records who moved to Columbia County. Known Daughters There is a PA death certificate for Rebecca (Martz) Bower born in 1838, daughter of John Martz and Lydia Hagenbuch. She was the Rebecca age 12 living with her parents in the 1850 Census. She is linked to her parents on find-a-grave. From Census, there was also a Mary E born about 1841 but I don t know what happened to her. Known Sons There is a PA death certificate for Isaac Martz born in 1846, son of John Martz and Lydia Hagenbauch. He is the Isaac age 4 living with his parents in the 1850 Census. That Census also shows a son Lahman age 14. Both Lahman and Isaac are linked to Johannes on find-agrave. There may possibly have been other sons but I don t know of any. H1a1a Lahman born 1837 H1a1b Isaac born

19 Spouse: Lydia Hagenbuch Death: Apr 1871 Parent-Proof Her maiden name comes from the death certificates of two of their children. 1. Church Records: Mertz Church, Rockland Twp, Berks Co, PA, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, Repository: Summary Printout from Church Archives, Johannes Mertz s/o Wilhelm & Elisabeth b. 19 Aug 1796 bp. 17 Sep sp. Philip & Catharine Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age Bracket Males/Females), John Martz, Briar Creek Twp, Columbia Co, PA, <5M, 20-29M, 40-49M, <5F, 15-19F, 30-39F Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age, Birthplace, Additional Persons), John Martz, 53, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Lydia 46, Lamon 14, Rebecca 12, Mary E 9, Isaac Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age, Birthplace, Additional Persons), John Martz, 64, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, L(ydia) 54, Salmon 24, M C 20, Isaac 15, Lydia Hagenbuch Census, (HOH, Place, Occ, Age, Prop $, Birthplace, Father Foreign-born, Mother Foreign-born, Additional Persons), Jno Martz, 73, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Lydia 68 lives with Isaac and family. 19

20 Name: Lahman Martz (H1a1a) 1,2 Birth: 3 Aug 1837 Birth Memo: (find-a-grave, age 60y 7m 24d) Death: 27 Mar 1897 Martzville Cemetery, Columbia Co, PA Father: Johannes Martz (H1a1) ( ) Mother: Lydia Hagenbuch (-1871) We know Lahman from the 1850 Census, he was age 14, living with his parents. designated H1a1a. He is Relocated and Census Tracking In the 1860 Census, his wife Celestia, listed as Celestia Martz, was living in the household of Reuben and Sarah Miller, her parents I would guess. There was no sign of Lahman, anywhere. All narrative and commentary 2016 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. Death and Find-a-Grave Lahman is on find-a-grave. As of summer 2015, there are two memorials for him, I will try to get the erroneous one deleted. Spouse: Celestia Miller 3 Birth: 25 Feb 1841 Birth Memo: (find-a-grave, age 59y 6m 19d) Death: 13 Sep 1900 Martzville Cemetery, Columbia Co, PA Parent-Proof The death certificate of Kathryn (Martz) Seybert gives the names of her parents as Lahman Martz and Celesti Miller. Find-a-Grave She is on find-a-grave Census, (HOH, Place, Occ, Age, Prop $, Birthplace, Father Foreign-born, Mother Foreign-born, Additional Persons), Lokman Martz, 34, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Lecestia 29, Chas 10, Kate 8, Ella 6, Grant 5, Clara Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age, Birthplace, Father s BP, Mother s BP, Additional Persons), Lahman Martz, 43, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Celestial 39, Charles F 20, Kate 18, Ella 16, Grant 15, Clara 13, Maggie Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age, Birthplace, Additional Persons), Celestia Martz, 19, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, lives in household of Reuben (43) and Sarah (38) Miller. 20

21 Name: Isaac Martz (H1a1b) 1,2 Birth: 1846 Birth Memo: (PA death certificate) Death: 17 Nov 1907 Death Memo: (PA death certificate) Father: Johannes Martz (H1a1) ( ) Mother: Lydia Hagenbuch (-1871) His death certificate says he was the son John Martz and Lydia Hagenbauch. We also know that because he lived with them in He is designated H1a1b. Relocated and Census Tracking In 1870, Isaac was married, his wife was Samantha and they had two young children. Either they were living with his parents or them with him. In 1880, his wife was Janette. I don t know if Janette and Samantha are the same person, they were the same age. All narrative and commentary 2016 Oakey Mertz. All rights reserved. Death and Find-a-Grave As of summer 2015, he is not on find-a-grave. buried in Martzville. His death certificate says he was to be Census, (HOH, Place, Occ, Age, Prop $, Birthplace, Father Foreign-born, Mother Foreign-born, Additional Persons), Jno Martz 73, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Lydia 68, Isaac 25, Samantha 24, Mattie 4, Lydia Census, (HOH, Place, Occupation, Age, Birthplace, Father s BP, Mother s BP, Additional Persons), Isaac Martz, 34, Briar Creek, Columbia, PA, Janette 33, Mattie 14, Lydia 12, John F 9, Aaron 1. 21