This is the man that I think Jack Mertz referred to as John Henry 1809-1890, but I can find no record of such a person. The History of Mifflin County says Peter had a son named John P and since John P was buried at St Peters Union, I’m going with John P as the name of Peter's second son.

He was named in his father’s will who left him his tanyard. He is designated P4a2.

John P stayed local. He was always in Freeburg or Washington Township in Census. It does not appear from Census that John P and Elizabeth had any children at all but there was always a young woman or girl, not related to either of them, living with them.

As of summer 2015, he is not on find-a-grave.

The will of John P Mertz of Freeburg written 14 Feb 1881 left everything to his wife Elizabeth and then after her death to distribute as follows: $300 to Elizabeth Zechman wife of Reuben, a piece of property he owns jointly with Philip Moyer all to him, a piece of property he owns jointly with William P Moyer all to him and the residue of his estate to Lydia Krause.

I have no idea what was special about the Moyers mentioned in the will, but perhaps they were brothers of his wife Elizabeth, maybe she inherited property jointly with them(?). And the mention of Elizabeth Zechman and Lydia Krouse, the two women who lived with John and his wife when they were young girls, makes the point, I think, that John P had no children.

WHO WERE ELIZABETH WITTENMYER AND LYDIA KRAUSE? Starting in 1850, there was always a younger woman (well, girl, in 1850) living with John P and his wife Elizabeth. In 1850, it was Elizabeth Wittenmyer age 5, in 1860 the same girl now 15 and described as servant. In 1870, Elizabeth was gone (she married Reuben Zechman on 12 Oct 1862) and now Lydia age 16 appeared in the household, reported as if her name was Lydia Mertz. In 1880, Lydia was said to be Lydia Krause age 26 and also said to be the adopted daughter of John P Mertz. Finally in 1900, Elizabeth Mertz was head of household and living with her was Lydia (reported as her daughter and once again reported as if she was Mertz).

My first thought, especially regarding the presence of Elizabeth Wittenmyer in 1850 was that John P’s wife Elizabeth was a second marriage and she brought her daughter Elizabeth by a previous marriage into the household with her. But then I heard from Teresa (Wittenmyer) Cavin and she can document with no room for doubt that Elizabeth Wittenmyer, who married Reuben Zechman, was the daughter of Frankin Wittenmyer and wife Mariah (Schlotterer) Wittenmyer. Elizabeth had three siblings who continued to live with their mother after she went to live with the Mertzes.

This story is very parallel to what my own research had shown about Lydia Krause. Once I knew that as her name, I found her in the 1850 Census and she was the daughter of Lucy Krause. Next I found Lydia’s will, which she wrote as Lydia Krause Mertz. She had a sister Amelia (who married a Hummel) that she referred to in her will and she also referred to a half brother Henry Riegle and half sister Emma Spangle (?) -- and that led me to find her mother remarried by the 1880 Census to Benjamin Riegle of Washington Township and living with them were daughter Emma 12 and Amelia Krause, described as servant. So, like Elizabeth before her, why did she go live with the Mertzes when, at least her mother, was still alive and supporting her other children?

When John P Mertz died, he left his estate to wife Elizabeth but upon her decease bequests were made to both Elizabeth Zechman and Lydia Krause.

It all is one very big mystery. My best guess -- and it is only that -- is that maybe John or his wife Elizabeth needed some assistance in living and they took in a young woman of a certain age to help, having made some arrangement with the young woman’s widowed mother perhaps with too many children to take care of on her own. The obvious flaw in this explanation is that Elizabeth Wittenmyer came into their household no later than the age of 5. What help could she have provided at the age of 5?

All these connections to the Moyers made me search for Elizabeth and I found her on an Internet tree with her exact birth date. That tree said she married J Mertz. It did not have a date of death, meaning, I would think, they did not get her birth date from her tombstone. The tree shows a brother Philip who had a son William P Moyer.

John Moyer who died in 1843 had a son named Philip and a daughter named Elizabeth so I believe Elizabeth was indeed a Moyer and the daughter of John.