One of the reasons for me to make the effort to make everything I know -- and even more importantly suspect -- available for all to peruse and study on my website is to encourage others to contact me with what they know or suspect.

And indeed, one day Gregory Mertz of Lincoln, NE and his brother Walt (Skip) of Omaha made contact with me to share what they know. They sent me the obituary of Joseph W Mertz who died in 1903 in Iowa and who was born, according to his obituary, in 1817 in Sparta, NY then lived for awhile in Erie County, PA and later moved to Iowa. They also sent images of pages from Joseph's bible indicating he was the son of Jacob Mertz Sr. who had been born 15 May 1777 -- based on this bible.

I immediately concluded that there had to be a connection to John Jacob who had moved from Berks to Northumberland to Sparta because of the so very few Mertzes that ever lived in Sparta and that two were named Jacob. The first question was whether Jacob born 1777 was the son of John Jacob or perhaps a grandson. I believe he was a son. For one thing, I think John Jacob's other sons were too young to have had a son in 1777. To believe that John Jacob, though, had a son in 1777, may suggest I should re-assess my thinking on his birth year. It suggests a somewhat later birth, perhaps early 1740's. But note, 1738 is certainly not ruled out.

THE ERIE COUNTY AND IOWA MERTZES. I have tracked this Jacob through Census listings from Sparta, NY in 1820 and 1830 to Wayne Township, Erie County in 1840. This move is well documented since on 12 Jan 1832, Jacob and Sophia of Wayne Township sold 55 acres of land in Sparta, NY.

Not only did Jacob have a son Joseph W -- the one who started my inquiry into the Erie County Mertzes -- but by studying Census listings of Erie County in the relevant timeframe, there is evidence I believe that he also had sons Jacob H and Martin as well as daughters Julia and Susan. There may have been other children too of course.

1820. He is indexed as Jacob Steets living in Sparta, Ontario County, NY by Ancestry.com and I would never have found him except for the Heritage Quest index. But it is him.

1830. Jacob Marts lived in Sparta, Livingston County.

1840. Jacob Marks lived in Wayne Township, Erie County, PA. A neighbor was Jacob H Marks. Since this man is the right age, his wife the right age and in the right places, I am certain it is in fact Jacob Mertz or Martz/Marts.

Jacob is on find-a-grave with a one year discrepancy on his date of birth which was computed from his age as given on his tombstone. Once again, a discrepancy with no obvious way to explain it, the tombstone simply does not agree with the family bible.

I’m not sure how many daughters he had but I know of Julia and Susan.

I know Joseph W (N1c3) from the family bible and then from their residence in Wayne Township and their age, I also believe Jacob H (N1c1) and Martin (N1c2) were additional sons.

I discovered the given name of this woman as part of my discussions with Greg Mertz. But her surname seems to be common knowledge among other researchers of this line. The curious thing is I never got that detail from my earlier discussions with Gerard Karcher about this family. I assume he knew it which may be why his interest in this family in the first place, it just never came up.

Sophia survived her husband and was listed as age 63 in Wayne Township in 1850 in the household of A D Moffitt and wife Julia Ann, age 26 — she being Sophia’s daughter. She was also with that family in 1870, maybe they forgot to report her in 1860.