Abraham Martz of Milton, PA existed. He was listed in the 1820 and 1830 Census in Milton and named as a father at an 1822 Milton church baptism with wife Susan. He was actually first named in Milton on an 1810 tax list when he was listed as single and then he was listed as a carpenter in 1812 and 1813.

Abraham was clearly the very first Mærtz to settle in Milton and I consider him the progenitor of the Martz family of Milton. So who was Abraham?

I know of several Abraham Mertz or Martz of the same approximate age to be possible candidates to be Abraham of Milton. But for all of them, I either know what exactly did happen to them or I know enough about them and enough about Abraham of Milton to be reasonably certain they were not the same man.

Now consider this. Daniel Martz of Northumberland Borough disappeared from Census after 1820 and Northumberland Borough tax lists after 1825 when there was a notation where his name was scratched off and it said “gone to Milton”.

Now had a lot of Martzes lived in Milton, this notation would not be that significant. But no one of that name had ever lived there before Abraham and no one else except him and then his widow and descendants were there until many decades later.

I know Daniel. He was the son of Peter and Susanna Martz, so for that reason I wondered if it was possible that Abraham was Daniel’s brother. Maybe Daniel followed Abraham to Milton but died soon thereafter and there just is no record of his ever having been there. So, in pursuit of this theory, I examined the Census history for Peter.

• Peter and Susanna Martz had three young males (presumed sons) in 1790. That would be Jonathan, Daniel and one other — possibly Peter Jr. but if my theory is right, possibly Abraham.
• In 1800, Peter again reported three sons but Jonathan had already moved out and was living on his own. So Daniel and Peter Jr. were two of the sons, who was the third?
• And then in 1810, with both Jonathan and Daniel now both living on their own, there still were two sons living with Peter. One was Peter Jr., who was the other?

So my theory, and that’s all it is, is that Abraham of Milton, who I otherwise don’t know but who appeared in Milton by about 1810 was the extra tick mark son of Peter who I otherwise can’t identify. I acknowledge there is scant evidence linking Abraham to Peter, but again it is a theory formed in the context of trying to identify and track all Mærtz males born before 1850. There are three pieces of evidence which may support this theory, none of them totally compelling but real facts nonetheless:

• The tax record that Daniel, son of Peter, was to move to Milton. It would appear he never showed up there (or didn’t stay very long) but it does link Peter’s family and Milton.
• Abraham’s wife was Susan and based on her naming a son Peter Schwartz Martz, I would guess she was the daughter of Peter Schwarz. Such a man lived in Northumberland County in the right timeframe and what’s really interesting is that in 1825 Francis P Schwartz sold the Public Enquirer newspaper to Peter Martz. I don’t know if Peter and Francis P Schwartz were brothers, but they might have been and this establishes that the Peter Martz family knew the Schwartz family.
• There are no discordant notes. Anytime I’m forced to form a theory about who someone was, I look for evidence that would seem to contradict whatever theory I am forming. I call them discordant notes. I consider the lack of discordant notes to be evidence that supports the theory.
However, I have reviewed the tax records of Chillisquaque Township where Peter lived. Peter was reported there from 1797-1812, Jonathan 1801-1804, Peter Jr. 1812-1821 and Daniel 1801-1812. Abraham turned 21 in 1807, I was hoping to find him first listed in Chillisquaque about then, but he wasn’t. That would have substantially proved my theory. Nonetheless, the absence of such a listing doesn’t disprove it.
Abraham is designated P1c.

While it can be argued from Census that Peter had four sons, there may be a problem with their ages. From their baptisms, I know Jonathan was born in 1777 and Daniel in 1779. From his tombstone, as transcribed by Joseph Meiser, Abraham was born in 1786. I don’t know when Peter Jr. was born.

In 1800, Peter reported a son age 16-25 (Daniel), 10-15 (Abraham) and 0-9 (this must have been Peter Jr.). In 1810, he reported a son 16-25 (Abraham) and 10-15 (Peter Jr.).

The discrepancy is that both Abraham and Peter Jr. were reported as 40-49 in 1830 — indicating a 1780’s birth for each. I have to believe that Peter was only 30-39, for my theory to be correct. And that's what I believe. It is not uncommon to have such discrepancies in Census age brackets.

Abraham was listed on Milton tax lists starting in 1810 and then listed there in the 1820 and 1830 Census and then his widow, Susan, I believe, took his place in 1840 and then by 1850 his sons began to be reported on their own. There is record of him buying a town lot in Milton in Dec 1813.

Abraham was not on find-a-grave but I found record of his burial in a transcription of Harmony Cemetery by Joseph A Meiser and so I added him.

This transcription says he was born 4 Sep 1786 and died 30 Jun 1830.

We know the names of Abraham’s children from several records:

• In Nov 1822, Abraham and Susan baptized a son Peter Schwartz Martz in Milton.
• In 1838, Susanna Mertz baptized five children born between 1811-1827 in a Milton church: John born 11 Dec 1811, Abraham born 20 Jul 1814, Margaret born 5 Dec 1818, Catherine born 14 Jun 1819 and William Jackson born 20 Dec 1827.
• On 4 Nov 1858, Abraham Martz filed an Orphans Court petition saying Susannah Martz has lately died leaving himself, David Martz, John S Martz, Peter S Martz and William J Martz AND Elizabeth Waters, W A Covert, J W Covert, Maranda Covert, Catherine A Covert and James A Covert all children of Mary Covert deceased late Mary Martz AND Nancy Alexander, Mary Alexander and Margaret Alexander all children of Margaret Alexander deceased late Margaret Martz. Susannah died intestate leaving a bounty warrant dated 2 Aug 1858 for 160 acres, Abraham asks for a commissioner to decide what to do since “part of the heirs are scattered”.

So we know Margaret and Catherine from the baptism record. Margaret was clearly the Margaret Alexander late Margaret Martz, deceased in 1858. Catherine, I would assume, was the Catherine Henderson, wife of William, that Susan was living with in 1850 — but she must have died without issue by 1858.

And then we learn of Mary from the court petition. I had been aware of her previous to finding that OC record from the work of Beryl Meehan who brought her to my attention.

Using the same sources, we know the names of Abraham’s sons. Abraham Jr. and John are the easiest to track as they both lived their entire lives in Milton and are buried there. Both Abraham and John had the middle initial “S” — I would guess both had the middle name Schwartz.

Peter, who we know did have the middle name Schwartz, can be found in Pottsville in 1850 and 1860 and then Philadelphia in 1870, always as Peter S Martz. He died in Philadelphia in 1878.

But where was William J? I found a William Martz in 1860 in Pottsville, married with three children. I wasn’t sure it was Abraham’s son as there were no carry-throughs, but the age is about right and clearly some of Abraham’s family lived in Pottsville at various times. Also, I don’t know who else it could be.

But then I was searching in the Pennsylvania Septennial census and found that a William J Martz was listed in Philadelphia in 1863, who was he? Then I realized that the only other Martz I knew in Philadelphia was Peter Schwartz Martz who had been in Pottsville in 1860, then Philadelphia in 1870. He was William J on that census and William J in the 1870 and 1880 Census in Philadelphia.

And what about David, also mentioned in the OC petition? Three deeds tell the story. In 1834, John and David Martz bought a town lot in Milton. In 1836, John (clearly P1c1 whose wife was Elmira Hogendobler) and Elmira sold their half of that town lot to David. And then in 1841, David and Lucinda Mertz of Pottsville sold that lot. I think I found him in the 1840 Census as D Martz. But I have no idea what then ever happened to him.

There was a time when I believed that Abraham maybe had another son named Daniel, though I now think he didn’t. Since both the names Daniel and David can sometimes be mis-transcribed as the other name, I looked hard at all three deeds where David was named to see if there was any chance it was Daniel not David, but all clearly said David, as did the OC petition.

I believe her name was Schwartz. One of her sons was specifically baptized with that as his middle name and two others had middle initial S.

Susan was not on find-a-grave but I found record of her burial in a transcription of what he called Harmony Cemetery (that may have included Milton cemetery too) by Joseph A Meiser and so I added her. He had her placed as the wife of Abraham Jr. but that was in error.