Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameElizabeth Kline
Birthabout 1798
Memo(estimate based on life events and ages of siblings)
Deathbefore 12 March 1842
Memo(long before?)
FatherHenry Kline (-1839)
Spouses
Birthabout 1788
Memo(26-45 in 1800, 40-49 in 1830)
Deathbefore 17 March 1840
Memo(administrator of his estate appointed)
FatherPeter Mertz (P1) (~1744-<1813)
MotherSusanna (>1755-)
ChildrenSusan (~1815-1873)
 Henry K (~1818-1892)
 John (~1825-)
Parent-Proof notes for Elizabeth Kline
The will of Henry Kline of Chillisquaque Township was written 2 Mar and proved 1 Apr 1839. He named his sons Jacob and Joseph as his executors and said they were to make three annual payments to his daughters starting a year from when he died.

He did not name his daughters. He did not specifically say any were married. He did not say any had heirs. He did not say any were deceased.

I found Henry’s son Jacob in Census and he was born in about 1804 and I found mention in Bell’s History of Northumberland County that Catherine, daughter of Henry Kline of Chillisquaque, married George Troxell and from Census, I think Catherine was born about 1802.

A notice in the Sunbury Gazette dated 22 Jul 1848 listed the cases upcoming for the August 1848 court sessions and two that caught my eye were: J Pursel and wife versus Joseph and Jacob Kline AND John Martz versus Joseph and Jacob Kline.
Find-a-Grave notes for Elizabeth Kline
The estate of Elizabeth Martz entered administration 12 Mar 1842 with Peter Purcell as administrator. The accounting was filed in 1848 and showed cash received from Jacob Kline, Executor of the estate of Henry Kline and disbursements in three (almost) equal amounts to: Jonathan Purcell in right of his wife, Henry K Martz and J S Reed on behalf of John Martz.
Birth, Parent-Proof, Designation notes for Peter (Spouse 1)
This is the man known as Peter Jr. when letters of administration were issued for the estate of Peter Sr. in 1813. Of the three known sons of Peter Sr., Peter was most certainly the youngest. He was not baptized at Longswamp (or if he was it went unrecorded). So, it’s curious that with Jonathan and Daniel both nearby, it was Peter Jr. who was named administrator.

Peter came to have a career as a politician. He may well have been involved in public service from an early age which might have made him the more logical choice to be his father’s administrator.

I don’t know when he was born, but from Census, late 1780’s to early 1790’s would be about right and from the ages of his known children, late 1780’s.

Peter is designated P1d.

A few random citations about Peter help profile his somewhat short life:

In Herbert C Bell’s History of Northumberland County, in a section on early newspapers, it says that Peter Martz put notice in the 24 Mar 1825 issue of “The Gazetteer” that he had sold the paper to James R Shannon.

Bell also described Sunbury of 1830 and the various buildings on Market Street. “Sixty years ago (1830) the streets of Sunbury were green with grass, upon which sheep, geese, ducks, and cows pastured at will. The houses were nearly all constructed of wooden materials.......Between Fourth and Third: Young & Alter's store and John Young's residence, the former the brick building in which Reimensnyder's drug store is situated and the latter the frame house immediately adjoining on the west, both now owned by the Bassler estate; the frame residence of George Weiser, justice of the peace and subsequently associate judge; the frame residence of Peter Martz, afterward associate judge and member of the legislature...”

Peter Jr. was a Commissioner of the Court of Common Pleas that heard the request of Frederick Hummel for a War Pension in 1833. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1833 and at some point probably after that became a Supervisor of the Sunbury Area canal system.
Relocated and Census Tracking notes for Peter (Spouse 1)
He was present in the 1820 and 1830 Census. In 1820, he was in Chillisquaque Township where his father had been living and then in 1830 in Sunbury. Tax lists show he was last listed in Chillisquaque in 1819 and first listed in Sunbury in 1820. (He was also listed in Chillisquaque in 1821 and 1822 but with some part of his listing being crossed out.) Peter died just prior to the 1840 Census.
Death and Find-a-Grave notes for Peter (Spouse 1)
Peter’s estate entered administration 17 Mar 1840. The administrator, curiously, was Henry Gobin, why not his son Jonathan? As of summer 2015, he is not on find-a-grave.

Another curious thing is that there was no mention of his death in the various Sunbury newspapers of the day. He was a prominent citizen, had been an associate judge and a state legislator — he even owned one of the newspapers for a few years. And no mention whatsoever?
Discrepancies notes for Peter (Spouse 1)
There is clear record that the wife of Peter Martz was named Elizabeth. In 1817, Peter Mertz and wife Elizabeth of Chillisquaque sold five acres to John Call Jr. The five acres were part of an eleven acre tract Peter originally owned; he also had previously sold one acre to his father and later as Administrator of his father’s estate sold that one acre.

The estate of Elizabeth Martz entered administration in 1842. Her main asset was her inheritance from her father’s estate, she was the daughter of Henry Kline. The accounting for Elizabeth’s estate in 1848 showed payments to apparently three heirs: Jonathan Purcell in right of his wife, Henry K Martz and J S Reed on behalf of John Martz. There is record that Jonathan Purcell married Susan, daughter of Peter Martz, Esq. in 1833.

So this is a nice clean record. Peter and wife Elizabeth had three children: Susan born about 1815, Henry K born about 1818 and John. I don’t know when John was born but I doubt he was a minor in 1848. I’m not sure why the payment on his behalf was made to J S Reed but I suspect they didn’t quite know where John was when the distributions were made. Peter died in about 1840 and Elizabeth just a year or two later.

But here’s the rub: in 1842, a Mr. Straub presented to the PA Canal Commissioners the petition of Sarah Martz, widow of Peter Martz, for money due him for operating the locks on the West Branch Division of the PA Canal.

Sarah can then be found in the 1850 and 1860 Census and from Census and then her 1863 will, it is clear she had several children including John and possibly William and Sarah. John was born in about 1824 and William and Sarah a little later. I think her maiden name was Miller.

I have tried to see if I could come up with a “unifying theory” that would explain all the se “facts” and not be contradicted by any other. I simply am unable to solve this puzzle in any way that seems to feel right.

Two Peter Martz. The simplest and most obvious explanation is that there were two different Peter Martz, one married to Elizabeth, one to Sarah. But I just can’t make that work.
• There was only ever one Peter Martz in the 1820 and 1830 Census. (Well he had a cousin Peter, son of David, who lived in Augusta Township but I know enough about him that I can ignore him for purposes of this discussion. His wife was Hannah, he later moved to Ohio and he is simply not relevant to the discussion here.)
• So to believe there were two different Peter Martz, you would have to believe that the one in Chillisquaque died in about 1820 (just before the Census, say) and the other one just appeared in Sunbury sometime in the 1820’s. Chillisquaque Peter was married to Elizabeth Kline and Sunbury Peter to Sarah Miller.
• But there is no evidence of any Peter Martz dying in about 1820, no administration of his estate, no Orphans Court record appointing guardians for his minor children.
• And perhaps more compelling, the record of his and Elizabeth’s daughter Sarah marrying said she was the daughter of Peter Martz, Esq. That title is hugely important. Clearly it is the title belonging to the Peter Martz who was the legislator and associate judge, the Peter Martz of Sunbury. And just as clearly, Elizabeth was the wife of Peter Martz of Chillisquaque.

One Peter Martz, Two Wives.
The other perhaps obvious explanation is that there was only this one Peter Martz and he had two wives. But I just can’t make that work either.
• Sarah survived to 1863, had there been two wives, she would have been the second.
• But Elizabeth lived until 1842, ruling out that Peter married second Sarah by 1824 when he had son John by her.
• I have considered that perhaps Elizabeth died much earlier than 1842, perhaps by 1824. The argument would be that it wasn’t necessary to have an estate administration for Elizabeth when she died and it only became necessary after her father died in 1839. The “discordant note” is that nothing in Henry Kline’s will implies that his daughter Elizabeth was deceased.
• And there is one more fact to consider. To believe there was one Peter with two wives, you have to believe that Peter had a son he named John by each wife. Both Johns survived to at least 1848.

There Was No Sarah Martz, Wife of Peter.
So I’m left with this final theory. The record indicating that Mr. Straub filed for monies due Sarah Martz, widow of Peter, had some kind of egregious typographical error.
• It should be noted that a few days after Mr. Straub made that request, payments were approved to be made to Susan Martz. So there is some confusion in the record as to the name of Peter’s widow.
• Maybe whatever her name was, her deceased husband was not Peter, maybe that’s the typo. But I doubt that since it s known that Peter Martz, presumably Esq. had at one point been a canal supervisor.
• Could Elizabeth’s full given name have been Sarah Elizabeth or Susan Elizabeth? Maybe but there is no instance where she ever was named that or even Elizabeth S or S Elizabeth.
• Could the payment request have been for Elizabeth all along corrupted to first Sarah and then Susan in the state records? I actually find this idea to have some plausibility. One very curious thing — perhaps coincidence, perhaps not — is that Straub’s request was made 11 Mar 1842, it was approved (I think) on 15 Mar 1842 — and Elizabeth’s estate entered administration 12 Mar 1842. It’s like the whole issue of overdue payments to Peter came up (or moved forward) as part of Peter Purcell, administrator of Elizabeth, first getting involved in her affairs.

As of now, I am going with the theory that there was but one Peter and he had but one wife. Sara Miller was the widow of someone else,
Last Modified 3 April 2019Created 19 June 2022 using Reunion for Macintosh
19 June 2022
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