I am the administrator of the Mertz/Martz DNA Surname Project at Family Tree DNA. Anyone of that name is welcome to join our project and thus receive a discounted price on DNA testing (I recommend the 37 marker test). As of now, we have already found several subsets or clusters of matching people and in each case have tried to identify our different common ancestors.

Two things I am sure of are:

1. Not all people named Mertz or Martz are related, the name was taken up by many different unrelated people in different places long ago.

2. Once in America, the name Mertz often evolved to Martz, it is basically the same name. Especially as people moved, what may have started out Mertz in one place became Martz in the new place. (My ancestor, Peter Mertz, for example, had five sons who all moved to Northumberland County, PA by 1790. The descendants of three of his sons came to use the Martz spelling while the other two continued with the Mertz spelling.)

Two of the DNA clusters that have formed include early Berks County ancestors.

ALSACE-LONGSWAMP GROUP. I have given one group this name. The name derives from the migration pattern of my known ancestors. My ancestor was John David Mertz of Alsace who came to America in 1733 and settled in Longswamp Township, Berks County, PA. Many of his descendants moved on to Northumberland County, PA by 1790 and then branched out from there.

I believe that anyone with Mertz ancestry tracing to any of the Mertzes of Longswamp Township (before 1800) or of Northumberland County (before about 1830) will share my DNA and, if tested, would belong to this group.

But not all members of this group will claim Longswamp as part of their geographic backgrounds in their own family tree. One of my DNA "cousins" had an ancestor who came directly from Alsace in the 1840’s and settled in Missouri. Another, whose ancestors never emigrated to America, lives today not far from where John David did in 1733 before his departure for Longswamp. Still others cannot trace their ancestors back all the way to either their European roots or their jumping off point once in America. They can’t get back to the 1700’s. So we’re still working to further their knowledge of their family tree to see how all of us connect.

MERTZ CHURCH GROUP. I have given another group this name. Members of this group either trace their ancestry directly to one of the Mertzes who attended Mertz Church in Rockland Township or to an ancestor of some other place who seems to have come from Berks County and who seems to have some ties back to Mertz Church. But, in a few cases, things are not totally clear.

One thing we’re dealing with is that there were three distinct immigrants of the Mertz or Martz name who were named in the records of Mertz Church:

1. John Henry Mertz, who came to America in 1737 and gave the land for the church. The church was named for him. He married Anna Maria Rosemann.

2. Jost (or Yost) Mertz who came to America in 1748. He married Anna Maria Seip.

3. Johannes Mertz (or Martz) who married Rosina Hase (or Hassa or Haffa, etc.). I have always thought Johannes was the person of that name who came to America in 1749. But lately, it has become clear that many people trying to trace their ancestry -- especially those whose name is spelled Martz -- have concluded that the Johannes of Mertz Church was the immigrant of 1751 named Hans Martz and who apparently came with Yerick (George?) Martz. I really don’t know which one is Johannes who married Rosina. Could be either I suppose.

We now know that Jost and John Henry were brothers and so the descendants of either one will have matching DNA. But what about Johannes? I do not think he was another brother but I cannot rule out some sort of close cousin. So, anyone today who is of the Mertz Church group but is unable to make all the connections MIGHT be a descendant of Johannes, if he was, in fact, related to Jost and John Henry.

And another thing we’re dealing with is mis-information. Of all of my own ancestral families, I think there is more erroneous information “out there” about the Mertzes than any other. The biggest problem, it seems to me, is THERE WERE SEVERAL (MANY?) MEN OF EACH GIVEN NAME IN BERKS COUNTY BEFORE 1800. And a related problem is that NOT ALL EARLY INFANTS HAD THEIR BAPTISMS DOCUMENTED. Maybe the records have been lost, maybe someone fell through the cracks. They were no doubt baptized but the record of it no longer exists.

For example, Johannes Mertz (or Martz) was a very popular name. I suspect there were more than 5 of them, born before 1800, having something to do with Mertz Church. And you can add another 5 of the Longswamp line that have only added to the confusion. The births of many of these were not documented, they fell through the cracks. But they existed nonetheless.

This is exactly what happened in my own ancestry. I descend from Philip Mertz who died in Northumberland County in late 1803 or early 1804. There are dozens of Ancestry Family Trees and several published family histories that say there is no doubt he was the Philip Mertz born in 1738, son of John Henry Mertz of Mertz Church. The DAR even lists Philip Mertz, born 1738 died 1803, as a soldier of the Revolutionary War. THERE WAS NO SUCH PERSON!

They were two different -- and now DNA proves, unrelated -- persons who shared a name, a county of origin, and a time frame. But they were different people. One was born in 1738 and died after 1812. The other was born about 1746 and died in either late 1803 or early 1804.

So, as to the yet unconnected persons, I intend to keep working this problem. Over time, more people will come forward to have their DNA tested, and that will help. Plus, we’ll keep looking for more clues. It took me several years in my own research to factually prove (and gather sufficient evidence so that it cannot be disputed) that my Philip was NOT the son of John Henry of that name. It is not easy.

Here is a link to my DNA website, which at any given time may be more current than this discussion.