Johann Georg Mertz (abt. 1820 - abt. 1889)

Born about 29 Nov 1820 in Kohlstadt bei Kappel amt Villingen, Baden, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Marianna (Saurer) Mertz — married 8 Mar 1846 in French Township, Adams, Indiana, United States

Descendants

Died about 1 Feb 1889 at about age 68 in United States

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Biography

John came to the US at age 19. He was a farmer.

From the Memoirs of Otto E Mueller: The Mertz Family

My (Otto's) maternal grandfather's name was John G. Mertz. He came from southern Germany as a young man, settling in Adams County, Indiana, where he married Mary Saurer, who came from Switzerland. Later they moved to Fairfield Center, DeKalb County, Indiana, where my mother was born and reared. (Their farm was four miles northeast of the Mueller home, which was on the line between Noble and DeKalb Counties. The Mueller farm was on the Noble County side.)

There were ten children in the Mertz family. Our mother taught us to recite their names: Ann, John, Ben, Dave, Christ, Mary, (my mother,) Dan, Katie, Susie, Sarah. Both the Mueller and Mertz families were pious and God-fearing, of the Lutheran faith, in which all the children were trained.

As children my father and mother, for a time, together attended Zion parochial school at West Fairfield, though my father later was confirmed at St. John's Church at Kendallville. My father used to tell that the girls, who sat on the opposite side of the schoolroom, had difficulty with their arithmetic, so the boys wrote the problems on their slates in big numbers and held them up for the girls to copy. Slates were un use yet in the 1890's, when I (Otto) attended the same parochial school. Every pupil copied the German as well as the English reading lesson every day. Three times a week there was a copy-book writing with pen and ink. Most children acquired a good handwriting. At the time of my parents' childhood, educational systems were primitive. My mother used to tell that in English she was obliged to start in the Second Reader.

My parents in adolescence and young married life: After his confirmation my father worked for his brother William, who was farming the homestead. Later he spent two years on a large farm in Central Illinois. At that time farming, too, was primitive. For cultivating corn they had a small plow, drawn by one horse. The first time the ground was plowed away from the row, the second time toward the row. One summer the farmer was building a house and succeeded in plowing the corn only once, leaving it to stand on that narrow ridge all summer, and, of course, reaping only a poor crop. Another story that my father told was that in the fall of the year, when wild geese came to the cornfields, they would hitch a mule to a stoneboat and drive out to shoot the geese. The latter were not afraid of the mules, whereas, when the hunter came on foot, the geese immediately took to their wings.

Though grandfather Mertz came to America as a poor lad at the age of nineteen, he, like many others in his day, by diligence and thrift, acquired a home and comparative wealth. During the Civil War he had a large flock of sheep, and wool sold for $1.00 per pound. He planted fruit trees and grapes. In those early years there were fewer insects and pests, and yields were good. On that homestead there was a special house and equipment for drying apples.

Sources

• Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985: Name: Johann Georg Merz

Event Type: Taufe (Baptism) Birth Date: 29 Nov 1820 Baptism Date: 1 Dez 1820 (1 Dec 1820) Baptism Place: Mönchweiler, Baden (Baden-Württemberg), Preußen (Germany) Father: Johannes Merz Mother: Anna Maria Merz Parish as it Appears: Mönchweiler

• Find a Grave Index: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30682361
• US Census, 1860: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBY-NWXi=19&cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM4FX-XDV
• Family document compiled with Reverend Eugene, 1954 Martzhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1BjztkxBGBrLExLaSmxTzMeU92AJaOu4n/view see pages 423 and 430
• Memoirs of Otto E Mueller