At Mertz Church, there is this citation: Elisabeth Bieber of Dewald Bieber (Jacob's son) and Elisabeth, born 19 Nov 1788, bapt 3 Dec.  Sponsor: Christian Seibert.

After the death of Jacob Bieber, whose will mentioned his deceased son Dewalt’s daughter Elisabeth, Elizabeth wife of Johannes Mertz signed a release in 1812.

So we know that Elizabeth Bieber born 19 Nov 1788 (according to her baptism record) married Johannes Mertz (according to her release). Moreover, we know that Johannes and Elizabeth (Bieber) Mertz had a son John born in 1815 in Dauphin County, PA. And we know that Elizabeth Mertz wife of John is buried in Mahoning County, OH and her tombstone gives a birth date just a day or two off from the church record. Finally, a younger John Mertz, age 34, was listed in the 1850 Census in Mahoning County and he most certainly was the son of this Mahoning County couple baptized in Dauphin County.

The slight discrepancy in her birth date bothers me not at all. I think this Mahoning County couple is one and the same as the couple who signed the release in 1812. All the dots are connected.

A John Martz (March on his tombstone) is buried in Mahoning County, OH and from his tombstone there was born 25 Sep 1786. DNA of a direct male Martz descendant proves that John of Mahoning County was of what I call the Mertz Church group of Mertzes (at this point meaning a descendant of either John Henry Mertz or Jost Mertz).

I have tried hard over the years to figure out who his father was and pursued several theories, none of which panned out. It has long been a mystery. He seems to have lived briefly in Dauphin County, PA prior to moving to Ohio. There are two other early Martzes in Dauphin County — Daniel who I know as a son of John Philip, son of John Henry, and Jacob born 1777 who for now is also a mystery man and I have no idea who his father was either.

Then in early 2016, I learned two things I had not known before.

1. John and his wife Elizabeth (Bieber) baptized a daughter Catharine at Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Western Salisbury, then Northampton County in 1810. This is the church of the family of George Henry Mertz (H6).
2. When Jacob Bieber, Elizabeth’s grandfather, wrote his will it was witnessed by George Henry Mertz. His will proved in 1798 in Northampton County.

So, these two new facts both link John to George Henry. And George Henry is one of those persons for which I have never found any document which would name all his sons. His only son I know of for a fact is Heinrich born 1782 but there may well have been others and a son John born in 1786 not only cannot be ruled out, it seems to me a real possibility.

Based on my theory that he was the son of George Heinrich, John is designated H6b.

I woman named Pat Williams, a descendant of this couple, contacted me in maybe about 2005 and her theory was that John was the son of Abraham of that name baptized at Longswamp Reformed. She knew the baptism record gave a date of 8 Jan 1787 and she felt that was quite a reasonable date for someone born in Sep 1786 to have been baptized.

But pretty quickly it became clear there were two big problems with her theory. From the records, it was clear that 8 Jan 1787 was John’s birth date, no baptism date was given. Moreover, Pat’s brother Richard Martz had his DNA tested and he does not match any of the other Longswamp descendants who had their DNA tested (including me) and in fact he does match all of the Mertz Church descendants so I think that totally debunks any suggestion that John March was the son of Abraham.

And one other thing. His wife, Elizabeth Bieber, was baptized at Mertz Church. Obviously it’s possible that a man from Longswamp married a girl from Rockland but placed beside all the other evidence here, it seems more likely that John was of one of the Mertz Church families.

There was a John Mertz listed in the 1810 Census in Sallisberry (sic) Township, Northampton County. His and his presumed wife’s reported age of 26-44 is one bracket too old for John who would have been 24 and Elizabeth 22. But I have seen similar errors before. Since I have no idea who John of Salisbury was if not this John, that is my guess.

1820. I have reason to believe his son was born in Dauphin County in 1815 so I am guessing he is the John Martz (indexed by Ancestry as Marty) living in West Hanover Township in 1820.

I haven’t looked real hard for him after that. I don’t really see him in 1830, there was a John March but age 30-39, too young for the father, too old for the son. In 1840, he was in Columbiana County, predecessor to Mahoning. Then in 1850 and 1860 he lived with different sons in Berlin, Mahoning County.

A man named John March is buried in Mahoning County, Ohio and his tombstone says: March, John d.9 June 1866, 79y 8m 15d. [This implies a birth date of 25 Sep 1786.]  Next to him is his wife whose tombstone says: Mertz, Elizabeth wife of John d.8 Sept 1840 51y 9m 24d. [This implies a birth date of 15 Nov 1788.] So, despite his name being March on his tombstone, I think his wife’s name and his sons’ names all prove he was really John Martz.

I found the details of both tombstones in a transcription from that cemetery. He was only added to find-a-grave in 2019 and then, at my request, Elizabeth was added in 2020.