His baptism was recorded at Mertz Church. I have a transcription which says he was born 12 Jul 1755 but then there was an addenda with corrections and the corrected date was 5 Sep 1755. The actual record says born 5 7bris 1755 baptized 12 7bris 1755. July of course is the seventh month now but the notion regarding his birth is no doubt in the style of the old calendar in which Sep-tember was the 7th month.

He was listed on the Mertz Church monument that honors John Henry and his family and also named in his father’s will.

George Heinrich is designated H6.

A biography of General Henry Mertz (H6a) and his descendants is given in Charles Rhoads Roberts History of Lehigh County published in 1914. It says that the General was the son of George Henry Mertz.

Now I always advise caution about accepting anything stated in these “county histories” — a genre of books popular about 1900. When they discuss contemporary people, or perhaps in this case, well known people, they are generally factual. But the further they delve into someone’s ancestry, the more suspect the information becomes.

Case in point. What it says about George Henry has some errors I believe. It says he was born 1 Sep 1755, that he married Eva B Good and died on 23 Jul 1827. So far, so good! But then also says that he was the son of Peter Mertz who emigrated from Alsace in 1730 and married a Miss Sheridan who had relatives living in Maxatawny Township. NO!

They are talking about my ancestor Hans Peter who did emigrate (with his father) from Alsace in 1733. Many people say he married Johanetta Sheridan but there is no real evidence of that and I consider it basically just rumor, probably myth.

But regardless of the name of Peter’s wife, I totally disagree that George Henry was his son. There is simply no mention of anyone named George Henry in Longswamp Township or at Longswamp Reformed Church where Peter and his family lived and worshipped. On the other hand there is a baptism at Mertz Church of a George Heinrich son of Johann Heinrich Mertz, founder of Mertz Church.

However, since this man moved to Northampton County (the part that later became Lehigh County), it requires some additional “carry-throughs” to connect him back to his Mertz Church roots. I can’t just say that is who it was, I need to find the evidence.

My arguments in support of my assertion are:

• The birth record for George Henry of Mertz Church, if one understands the reference to 7bris, says he was born 5 Sep 1755. Originally, his find-grave memorial showed 4 Sep 1755 as his birth date, presumably based on his tombstone. A picture of his tombstone is there but it is unreadable to me. And in any event, the date has since been corrected to 5 Sep 1755, no doubt based on my work.
• So whether 1 Sep (county history), 4 Sep (tombstone?) or 5 Sep — clearly every reference is to the same man.
• George Henry was an unusual name for those days. Most German boys were given the first name Johann or John and then a middle name and then went through life being called just by their middle name. For example, Johann George and Johann Heinrich were common names. Those boys would go through life as George or Henry. But this man clearly went through life using both names. That fact alone makes me think it is the same person.
• Other than his baptism, George Henry was never named in either the records of Mertz Church (nor of Longswamp Reformed) but when he baptized his son Heinrich, the sponsors were Peter and Maria Fink. Maria was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Mertz, thus, I believe, George Henry’s sister. Peter Fink is buried at the same Jerusalem Cemetery as George Henry. Probably Maria Fink too.
• There would be no argument about this at all if I could determine with certainty whether George Henry Mertz practiced the Lutheran or Reformed religion. I have seen mention of George Henry at Zion’s Lutheran and also at Jerusalem — the problem with Jerusalem is it was a Union Church meaning it served both a Lutheran and Reformed Congregation. John Henry Mertz and his family were Lutheran, the Mertzes of Longswamp Reformed.
• George H and Eva Martz were named once at Zion Lutheran in Macungie in 1796 as baptism sponsors.

George Henry was present in Whitehall Township by 1782 when he baptized his son Heinrich there. He should have been reported there in the 1790 Census but seems to be missing. In 1800-1820, he was there, in 1820 it being specific as South Whitehall.

From Census tick marks, it is clear that George Henry and Eva never had a large family. There was a young female present in his household only in 1800 and perhaps she died young, so I know of no daughters.

He definitely had a son H6a Henrich born 1782.

I have a theory that John Martz who is buried in Mahoning County, Ohio may also be the son of George Heinrich as several things connect the two men. It is not proven but it’s the best theory I have and so I have made H6b John his second son.

And there may also have been a third son, Joseph, because Hener and Eva Mertz baptized son Joseph at Mertz Church in 1796. I cannot think who else the parents might have been besides this Henry whose wife was Eva Guth. It seems strange that they went back to Mertz Church for the baptism but they didn’t live all that far away. But I see no trace of Joseph later in life. There is a Joseph, who from his tombstone, was born 1793, who I have placed in the Philip Mertz (X) family. It’s possible that is a mistaken identity but if it was Joseph baptized in 1796, that would be a big discrepancy I’d need to rationalize.

According to a footnote to the records of the Egypt Reformed Church, Lorentz Guth arrived Philadelphia 19 Sep 1738. He owned a large tract of land in Whitehall Township and had six children: Juliana Margaret wife of Peter Kohler, Lorentz, Peter, Eva Barbara wife of George Henry Mertz, Margaret wife of Adam Dorney and Adam.