William Martz

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17816220/william-martz

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: May 3 2022, 11:26:49 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: May 3 2022, 11:59:52 UTC

William Martz showed up in Columbia County, PA in about 1811. From his tombstone, he was born in 1767. DNA of a known descendant proves William was closely related to the known Mertz Church lines of John Henry Mertz and/or Jost Mertz.

In fact, there is no question that William was associated with Mertz Church prior to his move. He and wife Elizabeth baptized three children at Mertz Church from 1794 to 1806.

The question of course is who was his father. The name of his father cannot be learned by traditional genealogical methods. William surely was baptized but the record of that baptism is lost.

Given his 1767 birth and his DNA, there are only a very few candidates who could have been his father and for some of them we know the names of all of their sons so they can be ruled out. We're left with truly a very short list.

Some people believe that William was the son of Wilhelm Mertz born in 1739, son of John Henry. But I don't believe that. Wilhelm moved to Somerset County in the early 1780's and most certainly would have taken his unmarried, teenage son with him.

I believe the single best candidate to be William's father is John Philip Mertz born 1738, son of John Henry. At two of those three baptisms of William's children at Mertz Church, the sponsors were Philip Mertz and his wife Catharina. I believe there can be no stronger evidence.

Among the known children of Philip were daughters born in 1765 and 1769 -- note the four year gap where William would fit in quite nicely.

In 1808, William stood as sponsor for the baptism of a son (named William) of Jacob & Elisabeth Mertz. Jacob was a known son of John Philip. I believe William the sponsor was Jacob’s brother, as a sibling was the most oft-chosen baptism sponsor in those early days.

There is no will, estate file or later property deed that names all of John Philip's heirs, but in the 1790 Census John Philip had four younger males in his household and I can only name three for sure. I think William was the extra son.

And there is one other point to consider. William moved to Columbia County, we think, in about 1811. Daniel, his brother, 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?

My conclusion, based on all the logical analysis, is that William was John Philip's son.

There is one more important thing to say about William. You can find in many places where someone compiling their family tree will refer to him as William Henry Martz. That was not his name. He was William, not William Henry. I'm not sure how that myth got started but I can say flat out there are many records wherein William was named and not once was it ever William Henry.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 11 2023, 2:51:58 UTC