Her maiden name comes from their German marriage record.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

There is no doubt that John Theobald Martz — sometimes called Dewalt — existed. He was naturalized in Frederick, MD 15 Apr 1761 and there were mentions of him in county militia records as early as 1757. He and wife Catharina were named as baptismal sponsors as early as March 1753. He wrote his will in 1785 and said he was of Frederick Town. We also know from that will that he had four sons and two daughters: George (presumably the oldest son), Balser, Peter, Henry, Elizabeth and Catherine.

Most everything I know about Theobald and his descendants comes from the work of Beth Rasmussen (now deceased), who descends from Theobald. She has done more work on his line than anyone I know. And she contacted me not too long after I became active in genealogy (that was in about 1999), since I was specializing in people named Mertz or Martz, to tell me what she knew about Theobald and see if I knew of any other people of this name he may have been related to. We then had many email conversations over the following years.

But neither of us could ever answer the key questions: Who was Theobald, where did he come from, was he truly the immigrant of his name or could he possibly have been born in America to a yet unidentified father? Along the way we debunked certain erroneous opinions of others that purported to answer some of those questions, but other than knowing the wrong answers, we never had a clue as to the correct answers to those questions.

RALPH FRALEY MARTZ, SOURCE OF THE WRONG ANSWERS
You don’t have to do much research on Theobald to encounter the idea that his father was Baltzer (or Balser or Balthazar) Marche (or Mertz). There is a well-known book, The Martzes of Maryland by Ralph Fraley Martz (RFM), that says just that.

In one place the book talks about a Balser Michell Mertz, age 54, who arrived on the ship Elizabeth in 1733. RFM says his wife was Anna, age 46, and they had three sons: George Henrich age 20 a shoemaker, Hans Jacob age 20 a shoemaker and John George age under 16.

Then in a chapter about Martzes moving from Pennsylvania into Maryland, he cites “Balser Marchel married Ann Merkel. He lived near Hanover, PA….was an early arrival to Frederick County….children John Jacob, Catherine, George Henry, John Sebastian born 1740 and John Theobald.”

In several different chapters devoted to the Martzes of Frederickstown or Frederick County, Maryland (the heart of RFM’s book), RFM discusses three particular early Martz families who had some association with that place:

1. John Theobald Marche later Martz who died in 1786 Frederick. Theobald was a shoemaker. It sure sounds like the man RFM introduced elsewhere in his book, John Theobald, son of Balser Marchel of Hanover, PA, and note the shoemaker occupation, the same supposed occupation as the sons of Balser Michell Mertz. RFM adds: “The Martzes of Frederick County, MD would travel on the B&O Train to Luray, VA. There they were met by relatives who would drive them about 30 miles to their farm in the Valley of Virginia. The Martzes of Frederick always claimed that they were related to the Martzes living in the Valley of Virginia.”
2. Sebastian Marche later Martz who married in Frederick in 1762 and then moved to Rockingham County, Virginia where he operated a toll station. The tolls were paid in the form of wool, hides feather and grains which he hauled to Frederick to sell. He and his family are clearly the relatives mentioned by RFM as “living in the Valley of Virginia”. And as 1740 is quite a good estimate of when Sebastian Martz of Rockingham was born, it sure sounds like RFM is referring to the man he called elsewhere, John Sebastian born 1740 son of Balser Marchel. Meaning RFM believed Sebastian and Theobald were brothers.
3. John George Martz (or Markle), born 1752 and died in 1822. RFM says that in 1781 George Martz bought a property called “Baltershum” which had been named for Baltzer Michael Mertz who was born in 1679. Baltzer Michael Mertz sounds very much like Balser Michell Mertz who RFM says arrived in 1733 at age 54 (thus born in 1679). Balser Michell, according to RFM, arrived with a son under the age of 16 named John George. And both Balser Mertz and Balser Markel had a son named George Henrich or Henry. Clearly John George under age 16 in 1733 was not John George born in 1752, but it is typical of RFM’s way of throwing names around all too loosely and not connecting very many dots. But the implication is there is some connection of John George of Fredericktown to Balser and his sons Sebastian and Theobald.

Now part of the confusion of the RFM book is that in many places it is just long lists of random citations of supposed real documented events for various persons named Martz (often), but then also Marks, Merkel, Marchel, March, Moritz, Marchan, Markhan and many more — the implication is that RFM thinks those all might be alternate ways Martz was spelled at times. And RFM doesn’t often enough say which past event he has cited elsewhere are applicable to some person he’s profiling more in depth later.

So, RFM doesn’t explicitly say that Sebastian Martz of Rockingham County and Theobald Martz and John George Martz of Frederick County were brothers or closely related nor does he explicitly say that Balser Marchell, who had sons named Theobald and Sebastian, was one and the same as Balser Michell Mertz, the 1733 immigrant born in 1679 who had a son John George.

But the fact that both Balser Michell Mertz and Balser Marchel had a wife named Ann or Anna and sons named (Hans or John) Jacob and George Henry and that Theobald, a known shoemaker, shared that occupation with those two sons of Balser Michell Mertz — all point to the idea that RFM thought that Sebastian, Theobald and John George were brothers or otherwise quite closely related.

And since you can find dozens (hundreds?) of people’s family trees on the Internet which also make those connections, many other people seem to also believe that is what he was saying.

To which I say POPPYCOCK! NONSENSE! Don’t believe a word of it.

Let’s start with Balser and the ships lists. RFM seems to have used the ship’s passenger lists compiled by Rupp — which may be part of the problem. A different transcription/translation of those lists was done by Ralph Beaver Strassburger and William Hinke. They point out many errors they feel Rupp made and in my opinion, the Strassburger lists should be considered authoritative.

Strassburger documents the passengers on the Elizabeth in 1733 as: from the captain’s list, Jurigh Hendrick March age 20, Malster Mixt age 54, Hans Jacob Mixt age 20. Then translating the two signature lists, Strassburger lists: Georg Henrich Mertz, Balser Mets and Hans Jacob Mets. What the captain wrote as March looked more like Mertz where Georg Henrich signed his name and what the captain wrote as Mixt looked more like Mets where Balser and Jacob signed their names.

Strassburger also includes an additional captain’s list which names not just men over the age of 16 but all passengers and their ages. And those translated lists show Jerick Hendrick March shoemaker age 20 and Mickell Mikt farmer age 54 and Hance Jacob Mikt age 20 no occupation. Anna Mikt age 46 was on the women’s list. No younger Mikt, Mets, March or Mertz children were listed.

So I can’t even count up the number of mistakes in RFM’s description of the passenger lists for the Elizabeth (some of which may be attributable to Rupp). For one thing, while Jacob and Balser/Malster Mikt were listed one after the other on all the lists, meaning they were together, George Henrich March/Mertz was in a different place on the lists — always. And why would the captain have spelled the names so differently? To infer that George Henrich on this list had any connection to Balser and Jacob is a mistake.

For another thing, the only shoemaker was George Henrich. Jacob Mikt had no occupation listed and Mickel Mikt was a farmer. And lastly, there is no mention whatsoever of John George, who in any event had he been listed would have had an age stated for him as opposed just being under 16. It is my opinion that the Mikt (or Mets) family have nothing to do whatsoever with anyone named Martz including especially nothing to do with Sebastian nor Theobald nor John George.

Having said that, all three of those men did exist and did have some connection to Frederick County, Maryland. Here’s a brief sketch that I believe accurate:

1. John Theobald Martz. A lot of people seem to believe he was born in 1735 in Pennsylvania but since there is evidence his son George was age 50 when he died in 1793, that would indicate Theobald was born well before 1735, and therefore would have been named on that 1733 passenger list if it pertained. We now know he was born in Europe, married and baptized his children there and then disappeared from European records after 1752 and first appeared in Frederick in 1753. Theobald died in 1786 in Frederick, Maryland and left a long line of descendants. Theobald was sometimes named in the records of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick (as a baptism sponsor in both cases) and sometimes in the Evangelical Reformed Church there. Ralph Fraley Martz states as a fact that he was Reformed. I have found record of the death of his son George in the Reformed records and RFM says that on 9 Feb 1767, George, Balser, Henry and Peter (Theobald’s four sons) were all confirmed in the Reformed church. Yes, Theobald named a son Balser, but that alone does not give any credibility to RFM’s assertions, in my opinion.
2. Sebastian Martz. People seem to believe he was born 1740 in Ratisborn, Germany. I have no idea when or where he was born — nor where the idea he was born in Ratisborn, Germany comes from. I find it ridiculous though to believe that he was born in Germany in 1740 and was the son of a 1733 immigrant. But Sebastian did marry in Frederick County in 1762 and then did indeed settle in Rockingham County where he was listed in the 1810 Census and where he died in 1818. He also left a long line of descendants. His marriage was listed among the records of the Reformed church in Frederick. We know from Y-DNA testing that Sebastian and Theobald were not in any way related.
3. John George Martz. There was a John George Mertz, later Martz, listed in the 1780’s in the records of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Frederick and I believe he was the George Mertz listed in Frederick in the 1790 Census. He died in Frederick in 1822. I have compiled strong evidence to make the case that he a.) was not related to Sebastian or Theobald and b.) was a son of the Berks County Mertz immigrant, John Henry Mertz (designated H). He definitely practiced the Lutheran faith. His descendants all came to have their name spelled Martz.

It is my opinion, none of these three men were related to either of the others.

THE TRUTH OF THINGS
Enter Scot Mertz, Beth’s nephew, who decided to pick up where she left off and see if he could learn anything more. And, wow!, did he ever. In 2021, Scot made a wonderful discovery from a painstaking search of European church records. All of these events were recorded in the records of the Evangelisch church of Klingenmuenster, Pfalz, Bavaria.

On 15 Jan 1743, Theobaldt Merts married Catharina Stristierin.

On 10 Nov 1743, Theobaldt and Catharina Mertz baptized daughter Anna Elisabeth who was born 8 Nov 1743.

On 25 Jul 1745, Theobaldt and Catharina Mertz baptized son Johann Georg who was born 23 Jul 1745.

On 8 Jan 1747, Theobald and Catharina Mertz baptized son Joh Henrich who was born 5 Jan 1747.

On a date not given, Theobald and Catharina Mertz baptized son Balthasar who was born 10 Feb 1749.

On a date not given, Theobald and Anna Catharina Merts baptized son Joh Peter who was born 14 Jun 1750.

On 27 Feb 1752, Theobald and Anna Catharina Mertz baptized daughter Maria Catharina who was born 22 Feb 1752.

This is a phenomenal find! I have always tried to caution people that, for example, if you were researching Theobald Martz of Frederick, Maryland and you found, for example, a birth or marriage record of Theobald Martz in some place in Germany, you have no way of knowing if it really was the same Theobald and not two different persons who just share a name. Even if the timing of the marriage was not inconsistent with what you know about the Theobald of Maryland.

I have always preached that there have to be carry-throughs to be sure the connection should be made. A carry-through is some fact — other than just one name — that is true about the person in the new place and also known as true for the person in the old place.

And it’s the amazing carry-throughs in this case that totally make the case that is the same Theobald. Consider: the names of the six children baptized by Theobald in Germany as well as the name of his wife exactly match the names of the six children named by Theobald of Frederick in his will and it was Theobald and wife Catherine named twice as baptism sponsors in Frederick.

Moreover, the will implies George was the eldest son and indeed, from their baptisms, George was the oldest son. Moreover, George would have been age 48 1/2 when he died, I would say that fits quite well with the minister saying he was age 50. Finally, Theobald and Catherine were last named in German records in February 1752 and first named in American records in March 1753.

Y-DNA AND RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER MERTZ/MARTZ IMMIGRANTS
There is a Mertz/Martz y-chromosome DNA project at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). By analyzing the DNA from males named Mertz or Martz today, we can see which other Mærtz males in the project they share a common Mærtz male ancestor with and then using genealogical practices we can pretty well determine who that long ago ancestor was.

Here is the relevant Y-DNA data and my conclusions.

Right now we have two persons who, based on our genealogical research, descend from Theobald, in fact from two different sons of Theobald’s son Peter. Their Y-DNA places them in the I-M223 haplogroup and confirms they share a common Martz ancestor at sometime in the past (i.e. Peter and Theobald).

And we have three persons who, based on our genealogical research, descend in different was from Sebastian Martz. Their Y-DNA places them in the R-M269 haplogroup and confirms they share a common Martz ancestor at sometime in the past (i.e. Sebastian). If Sebastian and Theobald were at all related, even cousins, they would share the same haplogroup and one or both of the two descendants of Theobald would be seen as some kind of cousin to at least one, if not all three, of Sebastian’s.

But there’s an interesting wrinkle to this story. Let’s call the two persons who descend from Theobald, A and B.

There are two other persons in my Y-DNA project, let’s call them C and D, who descend from John Philip and Teresa Mertz who lived in eastern Pennsylvania. And the DNA of persons A and B when compared to the DNA of persons C and D seems to suggest they all may share a common Mærtz ancestor.

John Philip, I believe, was the grandson of an immigrant named George Mertz who came to America in 1732 and settled in Heidelberg Township, (then) Northampton County, PA. George is designated “G” in the Mærtz Hierarchical Project and no, he is not the John George that RFM was confused by nor related to him in any way. There is nothing in the genealogical record that would suggest that George’s (G) family was related in any way to Theobald’s (T) family, they lived in places far removed from one another.

But the DNA of persons A and B when compared to the DNA of persons C an D seems to suggest there is likely some blood relationship between George (G) and Theobald (T). Yes, George (G) had a grandson named Theobald (he generally went by Dewalt), and yes, George’s was the only other Mærtz family where the name Theobald existed, but this only ever seemed like nothing but coincidence.

But the DNA now suggests maybe that is not just coincidence. Consider:

All four persons, A, B, C and D share haplogroup I-M223.

A and B, as said before, are seen as cousins because their DNA, at 37 markers, has a genetic distance of 2.

C and D, as said before, are also seen as cousins because their DNA, at 37 markers, has a genetic distance of 3.

And the wrinkle is that B matches D, at 37 markers, at a genetic distance of 4 and matches C at 12 markers at genetic distance of 0. These two measures of genetic distance are close enough that FTDNA who did the testing suggests they are cousins.
B, though, at 37 markers matches C at genetic distance 5 and A matches C at 37 markers at genetic distance 7 and matches D at genetic distance 6. All these measures of genetic distance are sightly outside the statistical limits by which FTDNA would tell two persons they are cousins. But, to my way of thinking, it is simply a matter of probabilities and how many generations back the common ancestor was. If two people are genetic distance 5, maybe their connection is 9 or 10 generations back which would explain that one additional genetic mutation over time.

So I believe the Y-DNA results of these fur men is suggesting, strongly, there is some relationship between the George (G) family and the Theobald (T) family, though we have not yet made the connection.

And just like we have recently determined where Theobald came from, we have also recently discovered where George came from — he can be found in the church records of Lambsheim, Germany in one instance and nearby Weisenheim am Sand Reformed church in another. These two churches where George was found are about 60 km apart from the church where Theobald was found. It is certainly close enough to understand how maybe part of the family found their way from one place to the other in the one or two previous generations.

We are actively trying to find more male Mertz or Martz descendants of George and Theobald to shed more light on all of this.

I have been aware of Theobald Martz who died in Frederick, Maryland from about 2005 when I decided I needed to learn as much about all the early American immigrants named Mærtz as I could to be sure not to confuse a person in one family line with someone else of the same name in a different family line.

But other than knowing he just appeared in Frederick, Maryland in the 1750’s and also knowing a lot about his descendants, his story was largely incomplete until, in 2021, Scot Mertz, a descendant, unearthed a trove of additional information.

Scot found Bavarian church records that document Theobald’s 1743 marriage and the subsequent baptism of his known six children, the last one in 1752 which dovetails perfectly with his first appearance in American records in 1753.

We now know that Theobald was an immigrant (as opposed being born in America) and as such is one of eight original American immigrants covered by the Mærtz Hierarchical Project.

I assign Theobald the designation code T.

Scot Mertz has also found a Bavarian baptism record of Joannes Theobaldus Moritz. He was baptized 27 Oct 1726 by his parents Christiana and Anna Margaretha (Jung) Moritz. There is no way of knowing if this is the same Theobald, there are no carry-throughs. Yes, the baptismal name was Moritz and he was otherwise Merts, Mertz, Martz — but I know of one other family in America who seemed to have arrived with the Moritz spelling and a few descendants evolved to Mirts and Mertz.

So the spelling is not really an issue for me but there are two other reasons I suspect it is a different Theobald.

a. Theobald married in 1743 so a 1726 birth implies he married at age 17 which, while possible, seems a little young.
b. The church where Theobald was baptized was a Catholic church, whereas everything else we know about Theobald suggests he practiced either the Lutheran or Reformed religion.

Theobald died in 1786 but I believe the remnants of his family are listed with son George in 1790 and then son Balser in 1800.

Theobald wrote his will 9 Mar 1785, said he was of Frederick Town, and it proved there 19 May 1786. The language of his will implied that George was his oldest son and that he had 3 other sons and 2 daughters.

As of summer 2015, Theobald is not on find-a-grave.