An email from Greg Straub tipped me off that a Mary Wiant had married a Jacob Harman in Mifflin County, PA and that Mary’s mother was a Mertz. Based on that little nugget, I found the Ancestry.com tree of Justin Kirk Houser and indeed, if Justin has it right, Mary’s mother was none other than Catherine Mertz, daughter of my Philip. I had Catherine’s marriage in my database, with her husband’s surname spelled Weyand. Maybe Greg will help me get this line better documented.

The Mifflin County connection is interesting since Philip’s grandson Peter P is regarded as the founder of the Mertz line in that county, but maybe his aunt Catherine should be getting the credit.