Most people say Jacob’s wife was Elizabeth Link. I had never seen the proof of that, though I had no reason to dispute it. Her oldest son William L was named at the time when the pattern was beginning to be established where the mother’s maiden name became the middle name of many of her children. Still, I didn’t think there was enough evidence to put any surname for her in my database.

That changed in 2021 when Tom Franck referred me to the baptism record of Elisabeth Linck, daughter of Simon and Maria Linck, at St John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, PA. She was born 28 Jun 1782 and baptized 4 Aug 1782. Elizabeth is on find-a-grave. There is no photo of any tombstone there but indeed her memorial gives that exact date of birth. But then the question was: did someone put that date there just believing it was that Elisabeth Linck baptized in Easton or is there some Clinton County record with that date?

It turns out that among the documents sent to me by the aforementioned Jill Garrison were the relevant pages from a transcription of Clinton County Cemeteries and there was “Elizabeth Martz, wife of Jacob, died 30 Aug 1857 age 75 years, 2 months and 2 days, stone broken” — and the arithmetic there computes exactly to a date of birth of 28 Jun 1782.

Elizabeth is now Elizabeth Linck.

John Jacob Mertz, son of Philip and Catharina, was born 17 Dec 1770 and baptized at Mertz Church 3 Feb 1771. He is designated H1b as the second son of John Philip Mertz (H1).

Jacob was one of seven different boys given the name Jacob Mertz born in Berks County, PA in the 1770’s. I have tracked all of them and gotten to know as much as I can about each so I can be sure to know which was which and not confuse them as others have. They each died in different counties in America.

The question is what happened to this Jacob? The story I am going to tell here is that he and most of his children, maybe even all but one of them, moved to Clinton County, Indiana where Jacob died sometime after 16 Aug 1834 and before 11 May 1835. If Jacob of Clinton County was not Jacob, son of Philip, then I have no idea what happened to that Jacob.

The proof of my assertion that Jacob who died in Clinton County was one and the same as the Jacob born to Philip and Catharina in Berks County is a set of coincidences between what is known about Jacob of Clinton County and Jacob of Berks County. The number, variety and specifics of these coincidences are overwhelming in my opinion to prove the case but the problem is there are also a few discrepancies that have to be debunked so as to not have any discordant notes.

Like many persons named Mertz, Jacob’s name came to be spelled Martz when he moved away from Berks County. His sons too, who moved with him, came to be thereafter known as Martz, as well as their descendants. But Jacob’s oldest son, William L, who stayed in Berks County, continued to be spelled Mertz. In fact, many of the “coincidences" suggesting that Jacob Mertz of Berks County is one and the same as Jacob Martz of Clinton County involve that William and several of his sons. Consider:

1. There is a document recorded in Berks County, PA dated 6 Feb 1846 wherein William Mertz of Maxatawney Township (this being where William, son of Jacob, lived at the time) released John Mertz of Clinton County, Indiana. It did not say what the release specifically had to do with but you cannot read this release and not get the idea that it might well be a man releasing his brother for something to do with, perhaps, their father’s estate.

2. Jacob of Clinton County indeed had a son John. That is proven by a court filing made in Clinton County in 1892 whereby the heirs of John were seeking clear and indisputable title to land they inherited from John that he bought from the heirs of his father Jacob — in 1845. The court filing asserts that John had obtained releases from all his siblings confirming their assent to his purchase of the land in about 1845.

3. In that 1892 petition, Jacob’s heirs appear to be listed in a very logical order. By 1892, most of Jacob’s children — including William — had died and so for those children who had died, their heirs were instead listed, and grouped together. And so, going down the list of names, we come to the following grouping of Martz names in exactly this order: Maria, Reuben, William, Peter, James, Jairus E and Albert C (his name really was Alfred C). This matches exactly the names of William’s wife Maria and their children allowing that they had some children who had died.

4. Jairus, son of William, is particularly noteworthy. His was a unique name, there was no other Jairus Mertz — ever — that I am aware of. And not only was he named in this document as an heir of Jacob’s but he in fact moved to Clinton County, Indiana by about 1880 and lived the remainder of his life there. He is buried in the same cemetery as Jacob and several others of his family. And it is especially significant that since he came at a later time than his uncles, a time when the spelling of people’s names had somewhat stabilized, his name is given as Jairus Mertz on his tombstone.

5. So too, William’s son Alfred C, called Albert C on the 1892 filing. He too moved to Clinton County, he too is buried in the same cemetery as Jacob and others of his family. But, like Jairus, his name is spelled Mertz on his tombstone. In fact, besides Jairus and Alfred, there are fourteen other Mertzes buried at Fairhaven.

6. Benjamin, another son of William’s, is also noteworthy. He was not listed with his mother and his siblings because he had died — in 1874 in his case. But what’s interesting about him is that, like Jairus and Alfred, he too moved to Clinton County. But earlier in his case. And once there, he married his cousin Susannah, daughter of John. So, had he been alive, while his wife Susannah was listed as a plaintiff in that 1892 filing, he would have been listed as a defendant. [His name was spelled Martz on his tombstone.]

Here are some additional coincidences.

1. Jacob, son of Philip, was last seen in Berks County at the time of the 1830 Census. By 1840, his son Solomon was listed in Clinton County and then sons Henry and John in 1850. [I believe Solomon and most of his siblings came with their parents in the early 1830’s. John may have stayed behind as I think he is the John in Maxatawney in 1840 but then came soon after that Census.]

2. The name of the wife of Jacob of Berks County was Elizabeth, known from several baptisms of their children at Mertz Church. The name of Jacob’s widow in Clinton County was Elizabeth, known from her being named as an Administratrix of Jacob’s estate as well as her presence in John’s household in the 1850 Census.

3. The names of the children baptized at Mertz Church by Jacob and Elizabeth were: sons Wilhelm, Heinrich, Jacob and Benjamin and daughters Catherine, Susanna, Elizabeth, Esther and Judith. Jacob of Clinton County also had known sons Solomon and John and also a daughter Mary but it is not unusual that not all baptisms were recorded at Mertz Church. The births of Solomon, John and Mary were during the years Jacob and Elizabeth were having their children and their birth dates do not conflict with any other of the children. [They were just skipped.]

4. Heinrich was born, according to his baptism record, 11 May 1816. Henry, son of Jacob, was born according to his find-a-grave memorial 11 Mar 1815. That date discrepancy doesn’t bother me at all — for one thing the dates “resonate”. For another, there is no tombstone photo on find-a-grave so I can’t even be sure that is truly inscribed on his tombstone.

5. Elizabeth (the daughter) was born 2 Nov 1813 per her baptism record. I believe she was the unmarried Elizabeth age 34 then 47 in the 1850 and then 1860 Census, respectively, living with her brother John. And in 1870 an 1880, age 55 then 66, living with her niece Fianna and her husband Jonas Kressel.

6. I believe Ester (born 1817 per her baptism record) is the Hetty Marts who married George Fogle 20 Jul 1837 in Clinton County, IN. I believe Judith (born 1819 per her baptism) was the Judy Martz who married John Sherard in 1840 in Clinton County.

7. Solomon Martz, who with his mother Elizabeth, was appointed Administrator of his father’s Clinton County estate was also named the guardian for his father’s minor children: Jacob, Benjamin, Juda and Hetty. These four children were all among those baptized by Jacob and Elizabeth at Mertz Church with birth years for these four ranging from 1817 to 1823 — making those four indeed minors at the time of their father’s death.

8. Jacob and Elizabeth baptized a daughter Catherine at Mertz Church. The record of her baptism gave her birth date as 21 Nov 1806. When I was trying to identify all the persons named on the 1892 court filing, I found that Daniel and Jonathan Mohn (spelled Moon on the court filing) were sons of John and Catherine Mohn. The whole family is buried in Cass County, Indiana where another of Jacob’s daughters and her family are buried. On Catherine’s find-grave memorial, it gave (I’ve had it fixed) her maiden name as Harts and it also has her birth date as 21 Nov 1806.

9. It says on find-a-grave that Jacob was born in Berks County. That’s true, but I’m not sure what particular piece of evidence whoever put that there had in mind. Apparently it does say on John’s tombstone, based on the cemetery transcription I have, that he was born in Berks County.

Everything I have put forth here is based on my own research into this family supplemented by some wonderful research done at my behest by Jill Garrison of the Frankfort (Clinton County) Community Public Library. Thank you, Jill.

I can find Jacob in the 1810 and 1830 Census in Ruscombmanor Township, Berks County. I do not know why I can’t find him in 1820 but I would assume he was in the same place. 1830 is then the last mention of Jacob in Census that I can find.

So what happened to Jacob? Did he die in Berks County? There is no evidence he did — no estate file, no tombstone, no burial record, no widow who showed up in a later Census where he lived. Moreover, of the many children he baptized at Mertz Church, they all — but one — disappear from Berks County too. Where did they go?

I think the family moved to Clinton County, Indiana. The names and ages of certain Martzes found there in the 1840 and 1850 Census correspond to Jacob’s known family.

There are too many coincidences between what is known about Jacob who died and is buried in Clinton County, IN and Jacob, son of John Philip, for it not to be the same man.

But there is one big discrepancy that has to be debunked.

There is a memorial for Jacob on find-a-grave which said (until I got it fixed) born 15 Dec 1781, died 6 Apr 1843. There is no photo of his tombstone there but that same date of death is given in a transcription of Clinton County cemeteries and that book, I believe, is the underlying source here.

It’s the birth date that is so totally incongruent with my assertion that Jacob was born 17 Dec 1770.

Several points:

1. Let’s start with his date of death. It is clearly wrong since his estate entered administration 11 May 1835. Among his estate papers is a promissory note he signed 16 Aug 1834 so he died after that date and before 11 May 1835.

[Now it could be argued, I suppose, that Jacob on find-grave is a different Jacob entirely (one who really did die in 1843) — after all there were a lot of them running around. But there is no evidence of any other Jacob of that generation in Clinton County and furthermore the cemetery transcription links Jacob to his wife Elizabeth.]

2. From the transcription, there is no date of birth on his tombstone. Rather there is an age at death of 61y, 3m 22d (which if applied to the erroneous 6 Apr 1843 date of death results in the stated date of birth).

So, obviously, not considering any other possible errors, if the date of death is eight years off, the date of birth is also eight years off.

3. Suppose the tombstone really says died 8 Apr and not 6 Apr. The computed date of birth would then be 17 Dec (which agrees with his church baptism record) not 15 Dec. It is really easy for me to believe an 8 could be mis-read as 6.

4. My best guess is that Jacob died 8 Apr 1835, about 33 days before his estate entered administration, a typical gap. And I am guessing that his age at death was 64y (not 61y), 3m, 22d. A 4 could have been mis-read as a 1.

Of course, I don’t have an easy explanation for how 1835 was mis-read or mis-transcribed as 1843 — but that is what I’m left with. If I was arguing that the tombstone says 1834 and that was mis-transcribed as 1843, it would be more plausible, but unfortunately that conflicts with the date of the promissory note Jacob signed.

The real truth of things can only be known if someone goes and finds and closely examines that stone. I’ve issued a photo request on find-a-grave for someone to go photograph the stone and to get a close-up of the date. Maybe someday, some nice person will fulfill my photo request.

Until then, I believe there are several errors in the cemetery transcription, possibly conforming to my theory or possibly pointing to a different explanation. But whatever the errors are (and there were several), Jacob is Jacob. The discrepancy in my opinion is debunked.

Jacob and Elizabeth are on find-a-grave. I have submitted edits to fix his date of birth and date of death on his memorial and to link him to his parents. I have also submitted edits to link all his children I could find and identify with certainty to him.