Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Birth, Parent-Proof, Designation notes for Daniel Martz (P1b)
Daniel was baptized at Longswamp Reformed in 1779. I believe he was Peter’s second son. He is designated P1b.
Relocated and Census Tracking notes for Daniel Martz (P1b)
Daniel is easy to track in Census in Northumberland County as his name was unique there in the time he lived. In 1810, he was found in Chillisquaque Township and in 1820 in Northumberland Borough. Daniel then disappeared after the 1820 Census. There is no record he died then (though that is true for many people of his era who did in fact die).
There is a very curious notation on the Northumberland County Tax list in the year Daniel disappeared from that list — it says “gone to Milton.” But I can find no evidence that a Daniel Martz in fact showed up in Milton.
However, a Daniel Martz (different spellings) showed up in York County starting in 1830 and he was in the right age bracket to be this Daniel. Finally, in 1850, his age was clarified as age 67 — this Daniel would have been 70 — but a three year age reporting error in Census is not all that unusual.
It may be that Daniel of York County was none other than Daniel, son of Peter. I don’t know what happened to one Daniel and I have no idea who the other Daniel could possibly be.
But I often say that the biggest mistake amateur genealogists make is assuming that a person in one place is the same person in a different place of the same name. My rule is there needs to be a connection, a carry-though, from one place to the next. The carry-though can take different forms, the name of a wife or child for example. But in this case, I have no carry-through.
One discordant note suggesting that they were not the same Daniel is that the Census-taker in York County in 1850 asked for the county where someone was born and Daniel answered York County. His Census page is so full of ditto marks, it’s not clear how careful the Census taker was to emphasize the question, but that is what it says. So I would guess it is 25% likely it is the same Daniel and 75% it is not.
Daniel of York County goes on my Unknown list.
There is a very curious notation on the Northumberland County Tax list in the year Daniel disappeared from that list — it says “gone to Milton.” But I can find no evidence that a Daniel Martz in fact showed up in Milton.
However, a Daniel Martz (different spellings) showed up in York County starting in 1830 and he was in the right age bracket to be this Daniel. Finally, in 1850, his age was clarified as age 67 — this Daniel would have been 70 — but a three year age reporting error in Census is not all that unusual.
It may be that Daniel of York County was none other than Daniel, son of Peter. I don’t know what happened to one Daniel and I have no idea who the other Daniel could possibly be.
But I often say that the biggest mistake amateur genealogists make is assuming that a person in one place is the same person in a different place of the same name. My rule is there needs to be a connection, a carry-though, from one place to the next. The carry-though can take different forms, the name of a wife or child for example. But in this case, I have no carry-through.
One discordant note suggesting that they were not the same Daniel is that the Census-taker in York County in 1850 asked for the county where someone was born and Daniel answered York County. His Census page is so full of ditto marks, it’s not clear how careful the Census taker was to emphasize the question, but that is what it says. So I would guess it is 25% likely it is the same Daniel and 75% it is not.
Daniel of York County goes on my Unknown list.
Death and Find-a-Grave notes for Daniel Martz (P1b)
My guess is that Daniel died in Northumberland County sometime in the 1820’s but there is no record of that and he may well have moved to York County and lived into the 1850’s.
As of 2015, he is not on find-a-grave.
As of 2015, he is not on find-a-grave.
Known Sons notes for Daniel Martz (P1b)
Daniel appeared to have a family in the 1820 Census. Not only did he disappear, there was no extra widow in the 1830 Census, no remnant family not in or near Northumberland or in Milton. What happened to his family? So I know of no sons of Daniel but he may have had sons and they may have survived and had other sons. I just don’t know.