Dennis Martz told me that in a church record from Salem Lutheran in Lebanon, the parents of George Martz were said to be John and Catherine (Hamman). I did not find that mention in the records of that church I examined.

But I did then find in a compilation of Pennsylvania County Marriages, George’s marriage was listed and definitely named his parents as John Mertz and Catharine Hamman.

Then there’s this. A petition was filed to the Lehigh County Orphan’s Court on 8 Dec 1815 in which Catherine Mertz, late Catherine Hamman one of the daughters of George Hamman, deceased, of Lebanon Township, Lebanon County, said the petitioner was above the age of 14 and had no guardian and requested her husband John Mertz be appointed. He was.

We know from the petition of eldest son Henry Mertz that Conrad had three sons: Henry, John and George. And he had three daughters: Marecha, Catherine and Rebecca.

In the book titled The Ancestors of Margery Ruth Howe, eleven children are listed for Conrad and his wife Maria Margaretha. As useful as this book was for me, I think it has any number of typographical errors and a few factual errors too. So it has to be fact checked before anything is believed. These are statements taken directly from the book with my corrections [in brackets].

“Conrad married Maria Margaretha around 1781 probably at Rockland. After the marriage the couple settled there and had five children: Rebecca ca 1782, Henry 20 Dec 1784 Henry 2nd 3 Apr 1785 [it was 3 Apr 1786], Catharine 4 Sep 1786 [it was 4 Jul 1787] and Anna Maria 13 Jan 1789. All of these children were baptized at Zion’s Lutheran Church, Upper Milford, Northampton (now Lehigh) County. [No! They all, except Rebecca, were baptized at Mertz Church. In addition, Johannes, born 30 Nov 1790, was also baptized at Mertz Church.]

In 1792 Conrad sold his land in Rockland [the deed is dated 1791] and moved to Upper Milford. Six children were born there: Salome 14 Jun 1792, George 10 Nov 1793, Catharine 2nd 22 Jan 1795, Margaretha 8 May 1796 and Conrad 1800. All of these except Conrad, who died young, were baptized at Zion’s Lutheran Church. [Note he says there were six children born there but then only names five.]

[Comparing the list of ten children baptized to the eleven children named, the extra child listed but not documented was Johannes, the one I am most interested in. But I found his baptism at Mertz Church.]

[I have searched the records of Zion’s Lutheran and do not see any mention of Conrad or his family.]”

Johannes, son of Conrad and Margaret, born 30 Nov 1790, was baptized at Mertz Church 13 Mar 1791, the sponsors were Johannes and Barbara Moelter (Woelter?). I do not know the sponsors but curiously when Conrad and Margaret baptized their daughter Catharina in 1787, the sponsors were Richard Mertz and Catharina Moelter. It gives me a strong suspicion that Margaretha may have been Moelter, Catharina her sister and Johannes Moelter either her brother or father.

The question is what then happened to this Johannes (John)? Below I recount how I found him first in Census in Lehigh and then by comparing tick marks (counts of persons in the household by gender and age group) concluded he must have been the John Martz who disappeared from that place after 1830 and just appeared in Lebanon County in 1840, the first Martz ever in that county.

And then doing further research on John of Lebanon County, I found a death record for him at the Salem Lutheran Church there giving his date of death and age at death and the arithmetic computed exactly to the birth date of Johannes, son of Conrad. Now that’s a carry-through.

Moreover, the marriage record for George Mertz who married Lydia Tice in Lebanon County in 1852 said he had been born in Lehigh County and was the son of John Mertz and Catharine Hamman.

Johannes is designated Y2b.

Conrad’s son John is clearly the John found in the 1820 and 1830 Census in Macungie and/or Upper Milford Township. Ancestry.com also lists a John Martz in Macungie in 1810 but how they deciphered his name from what is nothing but a smear on the page is a mystery to me. As well, the tick mark count which shows no male over the age of 16. Maybe it’s John, maybe not.

In any event, after 1830, he disappeared from Lehigh County, so where did he go?

A John Martz appears in Lebanon County in the 1840 Census — he was not there in 1830, nor was anyone else named Mertz or Martz.

A tick mark comparison of Macungie John in 1830 to Lebanon John in 1840 makes a compelling case they very well might be the same man and moreover that he was the father of Owen born 1823, John born 1828 and George born 1834.

In 1830, John was 30-40 and had 2 sons — 1 age 0-5 (John?) and 1 age 5-10 (Owen?). In 1840, John was 40-50, those two sons were now 10-15 (John?) and 15-20 (Owen?) and he had two additional sons age 5-10 (George? + 1 who died young?).

A similar thing happened with the females in the household. In 1830, his wife was 30-40 and they had 4 daughters — 1 age 0-5, 1 age 5-10, 2 age 10-15. In 1840, his wife was now 40-50 and the youngest daughter was now 10-15, the next youngest 15-20 and there was a daughter 20-30 still living at home. So presumably one of the two older daughters has died or more likely married.

Now I’m the first one to say that when you find a person in a specific place, especially when that person has a “common” name, like John or Johannes Mertz or Martz, you can’t just find another mention of a person with that same name but in a different place and say “they’re the same man.” Often they are not and it is one of the most oft-repeated mistakes that many amateur genealogists make.

So I try to find something that carries through for the person from the one place to the next. In this case, it is the direct correspondence of the tick marks in the 1830 Census for John of Macungie to those in 1840 for John in Lebanon. Of course, I’m always watchful for more carry throughs.

A woman named Polly Martz born Nagle is buried in Lebanon County and listed on find-a-grave. She was born in 1810. I can’t solve the puzzle but hers is a curious name since John’s sister Rebecca married a Nagle.

A woman named Polly Martz born Nagle is buried in Lebanon County and listed on find-a-grave. She was born in 1810. I can’t solve the puzzle but hers is a curious name since John’s sister Rebecca married a Nagle. Might one of Conrad’s sons have married Polly Nagle? I can’t make it work but if so that would be another connection from Lehigh to Lebanon.

No document exists that name John’s sons but now additional younger Martzes began to appear in Census in Lebanon County. In 1850, Owen was present age 27 and a younger John age 22 was present with wife Emelia. They both lived in North Lebanon Township. And there was also a George age 15 living with some random people elsewhere in that township. I believe Owen, John and George are three of those tick marks from the 1840 Census — all sons of John Sr.

Living right next door to Owen, in fact, is the Joseph Schnep household. He lived with his wife and five children. A John Martz age 57 (Ancestry says 51) lived with them. He was a “laborer”. I believe this may well be John who came from Lehigh County. In such a household, where he wouldn’t have been well known, his age could well have been mis-reported.

And here’s the clincher. It was when I went and found the records of Salem Lutheran Church in Lebanon County where I had been told I would find mention of Owen, John and George that I also found a death record: “John Mertz died 9 Feb 1857 age 66y 2m 10d.” The arithmetic works out to a birth date of 30 Nov 1790 — exactly the birth date of John Mertz, son of Conrad, baptized at Mertz Church. I think there is no question that John of Lehigh County was indeed John of Lebanon County.