When Jacob Martz of Clinton County, Indiana died, letters of administration were issued for his estate to Elizabeth the widow and Solomon Martz. Solomon was also appointed guardian of Jacob’s minor children. It only makes sense that Solomon was Jacob’s son. His age places him squarely in the timeframe that Jacob and Elizabeth were baptizing their children at Mertz Church. He is designated H1b2.

Proof of this relationship comes in the form of the 1892 court filing by John’s heirs against Jacob’s other heirs. Solomon had died but we find these names in exactly this order: Eliza, Gideon (and Mollie his wife), Daniel, Moses F — all of them named Martz — and Rebecca Rowe. This is Solomon’s widow and their surviving children.

I first became aware of this Solomon when I was researching the Martz family of Rockingham, Virginia. This Solomon buried in Clinton County was linked on find-a-grave to Catherine (Nave) Martz of the Rockingham family as his mother.

While I knew it was true that Catherine had a son Solomon, I believe he never left Virginia and in fact is buried there. So I did some more research on the two different, in my opinion, Solomons. Here are some things I learned:

In the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 Census, Solomon in Clinton County said that he was born in Pennsylvania and also said in 1880 both his parents had been.

Catherine's son Solomon was, of course, born in Virginia. I don't think she or her husband were born in Pennsylvania.

A different Solomon can be found in the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 Census in Rockingham County, right where he belongs. He always said he was born in Virginia.

In 1850, 1860 and 1870, Solomon of Virginia lived with his wife Susan and his older brother George. Then in 1880, he was a widower, George had probably died, and Solomon said he and his parents were all born in Virginia.

Turning to the 1840 Census, you will find Solomon in Clinton County. But you will also find in the household headed by George Martz in Rockingham a younger male (I would guess it was Solomon) and an older woman (I would guess it was Catherine.)

While I recognized all these things as discrepancies, I didn’t understand who Solomon really was until I began to research the family of Jacob Martz who, it turns out, is buried in the same cemetery as Solomon. So at the point, I theorized Solomon must be Jacob’s son, which theory is now proven.

But it gets even more confusing. There is an Indiana marriage record of Solomon Martz to Eliza Rex 11 Nov 1847.  This I believe was Solomon’s second marriage. That marriage is cited in a family tree I found of the Rockingham Martz family as if that was Solomon from Virginia. It wasn’t, his wife was Susan. It was Solomon, recently arrived from Berks County, who married Eliza.    

And finally, there is this. The find-a-grave memorial for Solomon Mertz in Clinton County, has a photo of his tombstone saying he died 10 Jun 1881 and it clearly states his age from which I compute a date of birth of 24 Mar 1809. Despite that very clear evidence, the find-a-grave memorial says he was born in 1812 — because that’s when Solomon of Virginia was born.

Solomon was first listed in Census in 1840, he was in Clinton County. We know he was already there by 1835 when his father’s estate was administered. His household in 1840 included many adults of all ages. I believe Jacob and Elizabeth and some — but not all — of their sons and daughters moved from Berks County in the the early 1830’s and many of them, including his mother Elizabeth, were living with Solomon in 1840.

Solomon is on find-a-grave. His memorial started out with an erroneous date of birth and with him linked to the wrong mother. I have gotten all those things straightened out.