I know William and Elizabeth had a son Jonas, named as a minor in an Orphans Court petition for a guardian in 1814 after his mother had died. He was not yet 14.

I assume that the Jonas Mertz who was first named in Census in North Whitehall Township where I think others of the Heidelberg family moved is this Jonas. Then he moved to Lowhill Township. I also believe he is the Jonas born in 1803 buried at Morgenland Church. Morgenland is in Lowhill Township. Jonas is designated G1b2.

There are any number of Internet Family Trees that say he was the son of Heinrich Mertz (H6a) and Hannah Dorney. He actually is listed as a son on Heinrich’s find-a-grave memorial.

However, I would say that’s not proven — there is no documented evidence of it, it is just someone’s guess picked up and copied by others — in fact, the write-up in a Lehigh County history I have of General Henry does not include Jonas as a son. Moreover, in Heinrich’s 1810 household he has but two sons age 0-9 and that would be Carl/Charles and David. Where’s Jonas?

Then there is this question: does he have any relationship to Henry Mertz associated with the Morgenland Church where Jonas was buried? In the 1850 Census, in Lehigh County, in or near Whitehall Township, we find Jonas Mertz, age 47 [1803], and separately a Henry Mertz, age 56 [1794].

When Henry wrote his will in 1871, he left $500 to his wife (his second wife I am quite sure) and the remainder of his estate to the Reformed and Lutheran Church of Jordan and Morgenland. There are three Mertzes buried at Morgenland: Catharina whose tombstone says wife of Heinrich Mertz (she was Henry’s first wife I believe), Jonas and his wife Sarah.

I’m not sure who Henry was. As of now, I have placed him as a son of Richard (Y3) who definitely had a son Henry, otherwise unaccounted for. Richard also had a son John who for a while I thought might also have come to go by Jonas as an adult. I have since ruled that theory out. And I think the correct answer to my question is: there was no relationship between Jonas and Henry.

When Morgenland was formed, it was a Union Church from the beginning and the home church of both Lutheran and Reformed congregations from several other Lehigh County churches. They shared the church but they were separate and Jonas was named an Elder of the Reformed congregation at Morgenland. If Jonas were related to Henry, he would be Lutheran. As the son of William, Reformed makes more sense.

Jonas first appeared on his own in the 1830 Census in North Whitehall Township and then in 1840-1870 in Lowhill.

There is never a tick mark of a younger male in Jonas’ household nor any listed after 1850. I believe he had no sons.

Jonas and Sarah baptized daughter Leana 3 May 1829, she was born 7 Apr 1829, the sponsors were Jonathan Weigand and Caroline Gross. Weigand or Wieand?