My Genealogy Hound

ADALBERT MERZ, jeweler, post office Sewickley, was born Dec. 29, 1829, in Fulda, Kurhessen, Germany, son of Valentine Merz, an attorney, who held a government office. The Merz family of Fulda are among the best families in that part of the country. The ancestors have all held high positions in the church and state. The mother came to America several years before Adalbert; she died in Terre Haute, Ind., July 17, 1888, aged eighty-three years. Adalbert learned the trade of watchmaker with A. Vogel in his native town, and at the age of twenty he entered the German army, serving eight years. In 1857 he came to Charleston, S. C., remaining there until February, 1862, when he came to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he worked at his trade. He was an exceedingly skillful workman, and in 1877 he bought out his employer, and has since conducted the business successfully. In 1865 he purchased a large farm in Ohio township, where he resides in summer, owning other property besides this. Mr. Merz was married in Augusta, Ga., to Miss Catherine Hett, of Cologne-on-the-Rhine, Germany. They have reared a family of nine children: Katie, Louise, Eleonora, Emma, Adalbert, Josephine, Adele, Sophia and Augusta.