Heinrich Mertz, son of Conrath and Margaret, was baptized at Oley Reformed Church 29 Sep 1765 with Heinrich Mertz and Cath Hetman as sponsors. The infant had been born 5 Sep 1765. The sponsor Heinrich was his uncle. Heinrich (the infant) is designated N3a. The question is where does he end up as an adult.

I have studied all the Heinrich Mertz of Berks County, here in birth order:

The oldest one was born I think in about 1745 or 1746, son of Nicholas (N) and known as one of the older of Nicholas’s minor children when Nicholas died in 1760. I believe he is the Henry in Longswamp in the 1790 Census and the Henry “of Longswamp Township” who died in 1822. (I am unable to find him in 1800 or 1810, probably due to a corrupted spelling of his name).

Another Henry was born in 1749 and baptized at Mertz Church, son of John Henry Mertz (H). I believe he was the Henry of Allen Township, Northampton County, age 45+ in 1800. His wife died in 1826 and the church record reporting her death said she was born in 1752 which fits quite well with the idea her husband was born in 1749.

Jost (Y) had a son Heinrich, born sometime between 1755 and 1763. We know this Henry as he was involved in the handling of his brother, Richard’s, estate. I know he was in Salisbury Township, Northampton County in 1800 because his brother Richard was in that same place and then we find them both in 1810 in Whitehall Township and Henry and wife Mara Elizabeth sponsored a baptism at a Salisbury church in 1790 and again in 1818.

So now we come to this Henry, born 1765. He’s the youngest of the four, but still could well have been reported as age 45+ in 1800. But I actually believe he was the one reported as age 26-45 in Manheim Township (still Berks County) in 1800, then age 45+ in the same place in 1810 and finally the Henry Mertz age 45+ in Manheim Township in 1820 which by then had become part of the newly formed Schuylkill County.

And he is also the Henry Mertz known as the husband of John Blatner’s daughter when John died in Manheim Township in 1808. Knowing of this connection, I was able to find Henry in 1790, I believe, as the Henry Marx (as transcribed by Ancestry.com) in what was then called Branswick (sic) and Manheim Township, Berks County.

There were five or six other Heinrichs born between 1781 and 1795, too young to be confused with any of the above.

I believe his last mention was the 1820 Census and that he died not too long after that. The Schuylkill County petition of his son Joseph dated 1 Jan 1822 said both his mother Maria and father Henry were now deceased.

From the estate file of John Blatner in 1808, we know that Henry and Maria had John, Jacob, Henry, Philip, Samuel and Joseph.

Joseph filed a petition in 1822 saying he was over the age of 14, but a minor. He was baptized in Dec 1805, so I believe he was born in 1805, was 17 when he filed his petition in 1822 and I also believe since he was listed last among the children and the only one of the family who filed a petition that he was the youngest child. So I believe all those other sons were born in 1804 or before.

It is basically impossible to identify any of these sons when they reached adulthood and know with certainty they were the named sons of Heinrich and Maria. So everything I say here about these sons is total speculation on my part. It is really a case of finding men of those names, generally with some Schuylkill County connections (except possibly John), and about whom I otherwise I have no idea who else they might be, and saying well maybe they were sons of Heinrich.

As of now, I have no idea what happened to Jacob or Henry or Philip. I will always keep looking but there is no Jacob or Henry who I don’t think I know their parents so maybe they died young. And for awhile I thought I had found Philip but I now believe the Philip I found (in Brunswick Township in 1820 and 1830) was a different Philip — P3b. Here are, possibly, the others. Note again, I am guessing in every case.

I think Joseph was listed just in the 1840 Census in Schuylkill County. He was age 30-39. And then he disappeared.

I think Samuel was listed first in the 1820 Census in Manheim Township where Henry also lived, he was age 16-26, so likely born in the 1790’s. And then Samuel seemed to go missing in 1830 and then reappeared in West Brunswick Township in 1840 and was thereafter in Barry Township in 1850 at age 56 [1794]. (Curiously there was no one named Mertz or Martz in the 1830 Census of Schuylkill County, nor can I find several persons of this name who I know were there using any trick to find them with a corrupted spelling. Something was wrong with that Census in that place.)

That leaves John as totally unaccounted for and for a long time I had no clue what happened to him. However in 2020, I became aware of a Daniel Martz who lived as an adult in Monroe County who seemed to have a sister named Ebesina. Ebesina was baptized in Easton, PA by her parents Samuel and Catherine in 1826 and a Samuel Martz actually was listed in Easton in the 1830 Census.

As to Daniel, more research determined there was an older John Martz, born 1804, in Monroe County and geography suggested as possibly the father of Daniel. But I think I have ruled that out, plus Daniel’s relationship to Ebesina, if correct, suggests Samuel as his father.

Suddenly, a wild theory emerged. What if John of Monroe County was the missing John, son of Heinrich and what if Samuel of Easton was the Samuel from Schuylkill County who seemed to go missing for that brief period of time?

Please note, this, as I say, is totally wild speculation on my part. I’m not sure I even believe it, but it gives me a way to tell the story of John, Ebesina and Daniel of Monroe County and keep them handy in my database until more information emerges.

Note that all of Henry’s sons may have had sons of their own who are somewhere in, say, 1850 and after. It would be nice to get a better handle on this whole family. And also note that Henry may well have had one or two more sons after 1808 — born too late to be named in John Blatner’s estate file.

But for now, thinking maybe I have identified three of his sons, they are designated N3a1, N3a2 and N3a3. Also note, while I might think Heinrich’s sons were named in birth order in his father-in-law’s estate file, the ages I think I know for these three do not line up with that stated order.

The Mærtzes of Schuylkill County, PA are quite a tough bunch to sort out. I have observed that in most locations I have studied, for example even a place as big as Northumberland County, PA, that there was very little “mixing of the lines” — that all of the Mærtzes of that place had a common original American ancestor. Not so Schuylkill County and even not so south central Schuylkill County (Cressona, Schuylkill Haven, Orwigsburg, and Brunswick and Manheim — North and South — Townships).

Maybe this is because Schuylkill County adjoins eight other counties — Lebanon, Dauphin, Northumberland, Columbia, Luzerne, Carbon, Lehigh and Berks — and Mærtzes were early residents in most of those. And the south central part of the county specifically adjoins Berks County where I have enumerated five different original American ancestors.

I think all (well almost all) of the many Schuylkill County Mærtzes descend from either Conrad Mertz, who have I designated N3, or Peter Mertz, who I have designated J3. However, Philip Mertz P3b is definitely an exception to that as he lived in Schuylkill in 1820 and 1830.

Henry had sons named John, Jacob, Henry, Philip, Samuel and Joseph. Peter had sons named John, Peter and Samuel. Plus there was a David Martz (Henry’s brother, I think) who died in Schuylkill County in the 1840’s and he had sons named David (but I think it was really Daniel), John, Joshua and Samuel. You can see the overlap of names and you can understand the possibility of mixing up two men of the same name. I have tried my best to sort out who was who but I am the first to admit there is really not enough information to go on and in some cases, I admit to guessing.

For now, with the exception of P3b, I am operating on the belief that any Martz born in Schuylkill County before 1850 was a descendant of Henry, Peter or David.

Her father’s name was spelled Blatner in both the petition of her son Joseph and in the estate file of John Blatner himself. But I have seen it also spelled Klattner in the 1790 Census and then Plattner in 1880.