Surnames
Maertz, Marks, Marts, Martz, Mertz, Merz, Metz, Mirts
Background
Four separate men named Mertz came to America in 1733, 1737, 1748 and 1749 and settled not long after their respective arrivals in Berks County, Pennsylvania. These men were -- in order of their arrival --David Mertz, John Henry Mertz, Johannes Mertz and John Jost Mertz.
We only know from American records that David, who settled in Longswamp Township, came from Hangviller, Alsace. And we know that Johannes came from Wurttemberg, Germany. From American records, we do not know the origins of the other two.
However, there is a German family of the name Mertz living today in Frankenhausen, Germany who have account in their family tree of two brothers named John Henry and Jost who came to Pennsylvania -- and several facts about what they know about these two men and what we know match.
John Henry Mertz settled in Rockland Township and was the founder there of Mertz Church. Johannes and Jost appear in the records of Mertz Church not long after their arrival -- hinting at a possible familial relationship among these thee men.
In addition to these four men, several other men named Mertz are recorded having arrived in Philadelphia in the 1700's and other immigrant Mertzes came later and settled in many places across America. And of course, people named Mertz live today in Alsace, in Frankenhausen, in Switzerland and many other places in Europe, possibly throughout the world.
In addition to the information posted on this site, I also refer people interested in the Mertz family to my website:
http://www.mertzgenealogy.com/