No, Peter and Catherine did not have two daughters named Eliabeth. I believe, based on county histories and find-a-grave, that their daughter Eizabeth married Jacob Runkle.

But in additiom to that Elizabeth, another Elizabeth Martz (or Mertz) existed. She was the wife of William Yost and is buried in Snydertown and several death certificates of their children give her maiden name as Martz as does her find-a-grave memorial. My suspicion is that she has more to do with one of the Schuylkill County Martz families than any of the Snydertown area Martz families so I put her here just as a place to keep her arund until I am able to learn more.

In the Family Search (universal) Tree, she is said to be the daughter of David and Magdalena (Shissler) Martz. Here is what I wrote on her profile there.

NOT BUYING THAT SHE WAS D/O DAVID & MAGDALENA (SHISSLER) MARTZ

I don't know Elizabeth and I try very hard to know everyone named Mertz or Martz especially those from Northumberland County (where I was born and raised).

I know, based on her residence after 1850 and where she is buried, that the obvious candidates to be her father would be one of the several Martzes of that area and certainly David and Magdalena might be near the top of that list.

But consider these points:

1. David did not mention most of his children in his 1842 will and the only daughter he mentioned was daughter Ann Eliza to whom he gave some pieces of furniture.

I believe this was because Ann Eliza was his only daughter not yet married. This rules her out as the wife of William Yost whose daughter Barbara's death certificate says her parents were William and Elizabeth (Martz) Yost and she was born in 1834.

Now it's possible that David had a daughter named Ann Eliza (likely Ann Elizabeth) and another daughter Elizabeth. But I doubt it.

2. William Yost and wife Elizabeth baptized at least two children at St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Orwigsburg (Schuylkill County) -- Thomas Martin born 14 Aug 1845 and Bethuel David born 30 Sep 1847.

Bethuel's Michigan Death Certificate says he was born in Minersville, PA (Schuylkill County).

If, as William's profile here says, he was born in Snydertown, why did he and Elizabeth have a child born in Minersville and baptize several in Orwigsburg? Yes, I understand, maybe they moved there for a few years and then came back home -- but it's more likely, I think, that they started their life out there (both came from there) and later in life just happened to moved to the Snydertown area.

3. In the same Orwigsburg church where those two baptisms were recorded several other Mertzes also baptize children. Henry with wife Hannah in one case and Peter with wife Eliza in the other.

So I write this in the hopes that anyone interested in this Elizabeth might consider the points I make, might consider what they factually know about Elizabeth (as opposed what it might say in someone's Internet tree) and might want to discuss with me the possibilities.

If I am right, Elizabeth is not related in any way to any of the Martzes buried in Snydertown -- despite being buried near them.

Submitted September 2020 by,
Oakey Mertz
oakeymertz@gmail.com
mertzgenealogy.com