Her age has been transcribed as 13 in 1860 when she was living with her believed daughter Catherine Trotter. But on close inspection I think it says 73 (in agreement with her age in 1850) and the order of the people listed in the Trotter household suggest she was much older than 13.

The three oldest sons of Nicholas Mertz who died in Middleburg were all baptized at Longswamp Reformed Church, the last of those being Jacob in 1781. Nicholas’s two younger sons — known from the Orphans Court petitions after his death — were Samuel and Peter. They filed a petition in 1804 saying they were both minors above the age of 14. This implies a birth date for both of 1788-1790 or so.

In the 1850 Census, Samuel was age 63, implying a birth of about 1787. Samuel is designated P5d.

Samuel Mertz served in the same unit as Isaac in the War of 1812.

Samuel is easy to spot in Census as his name was unique (until his nephew Samuel came on the scene later). In 1810 he lived in Centre Township, Union County, then in 1820 and 1830 in Middleburg. By 1850, he was listed again in Centre Township. Centre Township is the area surrounding Middleburg.

As of summer 2015, Samuel is not on find-a-grave.