John Peter’s name comes up too many times in this family, he administered both William’s and Elizabeth’s estate he loaned money to George. William was reported in 1791 at a baptism with Elizabeth (I think) Peter, the kind of thing I have observed is a precursor often to a pending marriage. It is my guess that Elizabeth was nee Peter and likely the daughter of John Peter.

A William Mertz was listed in the 1800 Census in Heidelberg Township (then Northampton County) where we also find Philip Mertz. Philip was age 45+, William 26-45. In 1790, in Heidelberg Township, there was a Philip March and George March. These three people: Philip, William and George were also mentioned as parents or sponsors in the early baptism records of the Heidelberg church.

In the 1790 Census, Philip had three additional males in his household besides himself. George (born 1761) was married already and living on his own. We know that Philip had a son Daniel in 1773 and I think the other two were William who just appeared in Heidelberg in 1800 and then Dewalt (born 1776) who just appeared in Heidelberg in 1810. William is designated G1b.

I don’t know very much about William at all. Here is what I do know and/or believe:

1. Wilhelm Mertz was a sponsor with Elizabarbara (sic?) Peter at the 1791 baptism of Wilhelm Hartman son of Heinrich and Catharina Hartman. When that couple baptized their son Philip, Philip and Margaret Mertz were the sponsors. I believe Catharina was Philip’s daughter and William’s sister. These two baptisms bolster my argument that William was Philip’s son. I also “glean” one other detail from this baptism record. I think William and Elizabarbara were both single, perhaps though, as often was the case, “dating” and would soon marry.
2. William was first listed in Census in 1800 in Heidelberg Township. He was age 26-44 as was his wife and they had 1 young son and 3 young daughters all under the age of 10.
3. There is an estate record for a William Mertz who died, it says, in Macungie Township in 1808. The administrator of his estate was John Peter. Why this record says he was of Macungie and not Heidelberg, if it was this William, I don’t know. But John Peter was also the administrator of William’s wife’s estate in 1814 and she was also said to be of Macungie — except that in the actual estate papers in several places it said she was of Heidelberg. I think John Peter was confused about the boundary line between Heidelberg and Macungie.
4. In any event, the key detail here is the name of the administrator. There is that baptism record where William and a young (presumably) Peter woman were sponsors and, in 1797, George Mertz, brother of William I believe, mortgaged property to and borrowed a good sum of money from John Peter, Sr. So I believe maybe both William and George married daughters of John Peter and that explains his role as estate administrator. It also fits my theory that William did not, as of 1808, have any grown sons who might have fulfilled that role.
5. I cannot find William in the 1810 Census but there was, in Heidelberg, a “Widow” Mertz with a son and a daughter 0-9 and a son 10-15. If this was William’s widow, the three young daughters perhaps had died although it’s possible to think that maybe one of them was born in, say, 1792 and had married by 1810.
6. In 1814, the estate of Elizabeth Mertz, widow of William, was administered by John Peter. In that same time period, petitions were filed for guardians of her five minor children, Jonas and four daughters. That petition also said William had had four additional children but unfortunately didn’t name the older ones or indicate in any way how many were sons versus daughters.