Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameJacob Moritz (U2) 
FatherRandom Mertz
Birth, Parent-Proof, Designation notes for Jacob Moritz (U2)
I am aware of a man named Jacob Moritz (1770-1854) whose surname was at least once spelled Martz and who had sons whose surname was later spelled Mirts in one case and Mertz in the other. This family lived in Juniata, Perry and Mifflin Counties. Those three counties are stacked one on top of the other west of the Susquehanna River extending from just northwest of Harrisburg to almost State College, PA.
After a lot of research into this family, I believe that the original surname was truly spelled Moritz (or Morets) and was not Mertz or Martz but because the latter spellings came to be used for some of the family, I include them in this book.
From his will, Jacob had sons named Isaac, John and David and from his death record Jacob’s father was also named Jacob. But besides Isaac, John and David, two other Martzes were associated early on with Juniata County: Amos and Solomon. It is said about Amos in a Juniata county history book that he was born in Juniata County and was the son of Jacob who had come from Germany. I have reconciled all of this this way:
• There was a Jacob who came from Germany, the older Jacob, father of the younger Jacob who was the father in turn of Issac, John and David.
• Amos and likely Solomon, both of whom were born in the same time period as Isaac, John and David were too young to have been sons of the older Jacob and are ruled out as sons of the younger Jacob by his will.
• So I believe that Amos and Solomon were grandsons of the older Jacob though I have no idea what the name of their father was.
• The county history was therefore off by a generation by saying that Amos was Jacob’s son. He was the younger Jacob’s nephew and the older Jacob’s grandson. This is not at all an atypical kind of mistake we find in these old county histories.
But the plot thickens. A man named Jacob E Martz lived and died in Sunbury, PA. After his death, there was a petition to partition his land. It said that Jacob E died with no heirs and left a sister Rebecca Martz (who lived with him in Sunbury and is buried near him) and a sister Eliza and brother Amos both of who reside in Mifflin County, children of a deceased brother Solomon who died in Arkansas and a sister Susan last heard from twelve years ago living in Indiana.
Jacob E must be part of this Moritz family. From Census, Amos was born about 1819, Solomon 1818 and Jacob E 1817. I have maybe found Eliza living alone in 1870 in Mifflin County and from her age born about 1825. Rebecca was the youngest born about 1835.
After a lot of research into this family, I believe that the original surname was truly spelled Moritz (or Morets) and was not Mertz or Martz but because the latter spellings came to be used for some of the family, I include them in this book.
From his will, Jacob had sons named Isaac, John and David and from his death record Jacob’s father was also named Jacob. But besides Isaac, John and David, two other Martzes were associated early on with Juniata County: Amos and Solomon. It is said about Amos in a Juniata county history book that he was born in Juniata County and was the son of Jacob who had come from Germany. I have reconciled all of this this way:
• There was a Jacob who came from Germany, the older Jacob, father of the younger Jacob who was the father in turn of Issac, John and David.
• Amos and likely Solomon, both of whom were born in the same time period as Isaac, John and David were too young to have been sons of the older Jacob and are ruled out as sons of the younger Jacob by his will.
• So I believe that Amos and Solomon were grandsons of the older Jacob though I have no idea what the name of their father was.
• The county history was therefore off by a generation by saying that Amos was Jacob’s son. He was the younger Jacob’s nephew and the older Jacob’s grandson. This is not at all an atypical kind of mistake we find in these old county histories.
But the plot thickens. A man named Jacob E Martz lived and died in Sunbury, PA. After his death, there was a petition to partition his land. It said that Jacob E died with no heirs and left a sister Rebecca Martz (who lived with him in Sunbury and is buried near him) and a sister Eliza and brother Amos both of who reside in Mifflin County, children of a deceased brother Solomon who died in Arkansas and a sister Susan last heard from twelve years ago living in Indiana.
Jacob E must be part of this Moritz family. From Census, Amos was born about 1819, Solomon 1818 and Jacob E 1817. I have maybe found Eliza living alone in 1870 in Mifflin County and from her age born about 1825. Rebecca was the youngest born about 1835.