Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameKatherine Klippel 
Birthabout 1640
Memo(age 87 in 1727)
Spouses
ChildrenJohan Henrich (1675-1750)
Parent-Proof notes for Katherine Klippel
Her name is known from the sketch of the family at Easter Sunday dinner 1727.
Relocated notes for Johannes (Spouse 1)
Came to Frankenhausen in the 1680’s.
My Comments notes for Johannes (Spouse 1)
A young German woman named Christiane Mertz contacted me in 2009 and said that in the 1680’s, Johannes Mertz left his ancestral home near Strasborg, Alsace and came to Frankenhausen, Germany -- a very small village that is now part of Mühltal, a little south of Darmstadt. There he first became the manager of the local baron’s lands and over time those lands came to be owned and farmed by his descendants.
Johannes’ oldest son was named Johan Henrich and he had six sons, two of whom apparently left for Pennsylvania. Nothing was ever heard from them and the family had no idea where they settled or whatever happened to them. Everything Christiane told me came from the genealogical work of Dr. Wendell Mertz published a number of years ago and based strictly on German records.
One of the sons who left for Pennsylvania was named Jost and their records showed he left in 1748. Christiane had contacted me when she found my website showing that Jost Mertz arrived America in 1748 and settled in Berks County. It seemed to her and I agreed, it must be the same man.
She then sent me more information about the family. At first, she said the other brother who emigrated was Johan Georg but I noticed on her family tree another brother named Johan Henrich who was born in 1709. I was struck by the fact that the more famous Berks County Mertz was named Johan Henrich and from what we knew from American records, he was born about 1708. She then said, from what she could tell, it may well have been Johan Henrich and not John George who they thought had left.
And then in 2017, a man named Dan Goebel contacted me and he was translating, and supplementing where possible, the work of Dr. Wendell Mertz. Dan provided me with a lot of useful information — including copies of the baptism records of Johan Henrich and Johan Jost Mertz, sons of Johan Henrich (Sr.). His work confirmed that Johan George married and then settled in a village nearby Frankenhausen. indeed he had not gone to America.
DNA of descendants of John Henry and a descendant of Jost prove that those two men were closely related. DNA does not prove they were brothers but the full range and extent of the genealogical research we have, the consistency of what we know about these two brothers in German records and what we know about these two closely associated men once in America — just adds credence to our conclusions. They were brothers.
DNA also confirms that another pioneer Mertz of Berks County, John David Mertz who settled in Longswamp Township and practiced the Reformed religion was NOT related to the Frankenhausen Mertz family.
That leaves one more pioneer Mertz of Berks County -- Johannes, who also beat a path to Mertz Church when he arrived in America in 1749, the one said to be the son of Johannes of Wurttemburg -- the mystery man. Does he fit into the Frankenhausen family? We can rule out that he was brother to John Henry and Jost, we know all their brothers, there was no Johannes. But a first or second cousin, who knows? Until some descendant comes forth and submits their DNA, Johannes will remain a mystery.
Johannes’ oldest son was named Johan Henrich and he had six sons, two of whom apparently left for Pennsylvania. Nothing was ever heard from them and the family had no idea where they settled or whatever happened to them. Everything Christiane told me came from the genealogical work of Dr. Wendell Mertz published a number of years ago and based strictly on German records.
One of the sons who left for Pennsylvania was named Jost and their records showed he left in 1748. Christiane had contacted me when she found my website showing that Jost Mertz arrived America in 1748 and settled in Berks County. It seemed to her and I agreed, it must be the same man.
She then sent me more information about the family. At first, she said the other brother who emigrated was Johan Georg but I noticed on her family tree another brother named Johan Henrich who was born in 1709. I was struck by the fact that the more famous Berks County Mertz was named Johan Henrich and from what we knew from American records, he was born about 1708. She then said, from what she could tell, it may well have been Johan Henrich and not John George who they thought had left.
And then in 2017, a man named Dan Goebel contacted me and he was translating, and supplementing where possible, the work of Dr. Wendell Mertz. Dan provided me with a lot of useful information — including copies of the baptism records of Johan Henrich and Johan Jost Mertz, sons of Johan Henrich (Sr.). His work confirmed that Johan George married and then settled in a village nearby Frankenhausen. indeed he had not gone to America.
DNA of descendants of John Henry and a descendant of Jost prove that those two men were closely related. DNA does not prove they were brothers but the full range and extent of the genealogical research we have, the consistency of what we know about these two brothers in German records and what we know about these two closely associated men once in America — just adds credence to our conclusions. They were brothers.
DNA also confirms that another pioneer Mertz of Berks County, John David Mertz who settled in Longswamp Township and practiced the Reformed religion was NOT related to the Frankenhausen Mertz family.
That leaves one more pioneer Mertz of Berks County -- Johannes, who also beat a path to Mertz Church when he arrived in America in 1749, the one said to be the son of Johannes of Wurttemburg -- the mystery man. Does he fit into the Frankenhausen family? We can rule out that he was brother to John Henry and Jost, we know all their brothers, there was no Johannes. But a first or second cousin, who knows? Until some descendant comes forth and submits their DNA, Johannes will remain a mystery.