One of the sources I have relied on over the years is one I call RMR, the initials of a woman who compiled every instance of a Mertz mention in all of the records of eastern Pennsylvania. She did this many years ago, but even today, I still refer to it. RMR uncovered a list of marriages by Rev. Helffrich which included the marriage of Wilh Mertz in 1791. Unfortunately, in the very earliest years, Helffrich only stated the groom’s name and that was the case here. I believe, though, this was the marriage of William to Elizabeth.

Many sources say that Elizabeth was the daughter of George and Eva Boehm and I am convinced they are correct. She and husband William were associated with the Boehms as baptism sponsors at Mertz Church and later at Briar Creek Church. They are all buried basically next to each other in a row.

It is from George’s tombstone that I learned the maiden name of his wife, Yoxshine.

A man named William Martz showed up in Columbia County, PA in about 1811. From his tombstone, he was born in 1767. His wife was Elizabeth Boehm.

DNA of a known descendant proves that William was closely related to the known Mertz Church lines of John Henry and/or Jost. In fact, there is no question that William was associated with Mertz Church prior to his move. William and Elizabeth baptized three children at Mertz Church: Susan born 11 Jun 1794 sponsored by George Boehm and Eva (Elizabeth’s parents), John born 19 Aug 1796 sponsored by Philip Mertz and Catharina and Catherine born 25 Mar 1804 also sponsored by Philip and Catharina. It is also noteworthy that when George Boehm and Eva baptized their daughter Lea in 1796, the sponsors were Philip Mertz and Catharina.

This is clearly the family that moved to Columbia County where, at Briar Creek Church, in 1813, Johannes, Susanna and Catharina were confirmed. (Johannes was 17, Susanna 19 -- but Catherine would only have been 9 -- but that is what the records show.) George and Eva Boehm were also listed at Briar Creek Church, in their case a few years earlier than William and Elizabeth. John is buried in Martzville (a town named for this family) and the birth date on his tombstone closely matches (two days off) the Mertz Church record.

The question is: who was William’s father? I strongly suspect it was John Philip. For one thing, he and wife Catharina stood as sponsors at the baptisms of two of William’s children. But the baptism of William himself went unrecorded and there are no probate records for John Philip which tell us the names of his children. So it cannot be proven using the usual source documents a genealogist looks for.

While it is true that William was referred to as William Jr. in one record (Susan’s baptism), in those days that did not always mean son of, it often meant younger versus someone else of the same place of the same name that was older. The older William was John Philip's brother. Some people believe he was William’s father but my argument is that William Sr. moved to Somerset County, PA in the 1780’s and I would think any son born in 1767 would have gone along.

Moreover, there is one more interesting mention of William at Mertz Church. In 1808, Wilhelm Maerz and wife sponsored the baptism of Wilhelm Maerz, son of Jacob & Elisabeth. I believe William the sponsor was Jacob’s brother, as a sibling was the most oft-chosen baptism sponsor in those early days.

I also note that John Philip had four younger males in his household in the 1790 Census and I only know the names of three. Finally I note too that there is a four year gap in the births of John Philip’s children between 1766 and 1769 and William drops into that slot perfectly.

The father of 1767 William would likely have been born before 1747. William, from DNA analysis, was not of the Longswamp Mertz family so that leaves very few candidates. There are John Henry’s sons: Philip, Wilhelm and Jacob. I have already dismissed Wilhelm since he left the area. I can rule out Jacob too because I know the names of all his children. The two other Mertz Church lines were Jost — who is ruled out by his 1764 death — and Johannes. We don’t know if Johannes has matching DNA to John Henry and Jost. If William did in fact descend from Johannes, then we’d know, but for now we only know for sure that William matches John Henry and Jost.

And there is one other point to consider. William moved to Columbia County, we think, in about 1811. Daniel, his brother I think, moved to Dauphin County in about 1812. The last known mention of John Philip was as a sponsor at the baptism of his grandson Benjamin in 1812. Could either the death or the impending death of Philip possibly have been the catalyst for several of his sons moving on? (I can document that the sons of my ancestor Peter also moved westward about the time of his death, some a year or two preceding his death and the others just after.)

Considering everything, I strongly believe William was the son of John Philip. He is designated H1a.

Some descendants of William’s, and you can find this in many on-line family trees, refer to him as William Henry Martz. I know of no record ever referring to him by that name. He had a grandson named William Henry but I believe the man I have designated H1a was named William, not William Henry.

I would expect to find William in the 1800 and 1810 Census living somewhere in or near Berks County.

1800. There was a man listed as William Mortz by Ancestry.com in Richmond Township but I can see it as Mertz and I otherwise don’t know where this William was.

1810. Wilhelm Martz was listed in Salisbury Township, Northampton County. I also don’t know who we was if not this William, but one problem with believing he was is that among his known sons were John born 1797 and Abraham born 1800. But only one son was reported.

Curiously, a neighbor in Salisbury was John Mertz, they being the only two persons in Salisbury whose name begins with the letter M. Who was John?

In 1820 through 1850 William was reported in Briar Creek Township, Columbia County.

Ralph Fraley Mertz in Martzes of Maryland has a chapter where he reprinted many letters written in the 1880’s to Rev. George Jacob Mertz in response to what must have been a widely circulated newspaper story back then that a man named Wilhelm Mertz had died in Germany with a large fortune and the German government was trying to locate this man’s American heirs.

I found the letters fascinating. They demonstrated how little Mertzes of that day actually knew about their ancestry yet how interested they were in collecting a share of that legacy. And so, most all of the letter writers were able to describe some vague recollection about an ancestor of theirs named William or Wilhelm.

One such letter writer was D W Martz of Martzville (near Berwick), PA. He said his father was Abraham born April 1800 who was the son of William who came from Rockland Township, Berks County in 1810 at the age of 90. D W was clearly talking about the namesake family of the town of Martzville in Columbia County. William lived to the age of 86 1/2 and I think he was referring to the fact that he lived to (near) 90, not that he relocated at the age of 90.

There is a memorial on find-a-grave for William Martz. It has come under my management and I have corrected it in several ways. His name was given there as William Henry Martz and an incorrect tombstone of William’s grandson William Henry was there. I uploaded the correct tombstone photo, on which his name was William, and I created a separate memorial for his grandson. The memorial also said in his bio that he was the son of Wilhelm and Christina and I wrote a better bio explaining my logic that he was not and in fact was the son of Philip and Catharina.