George and Eva had 7 known children. One of George and Eva's sons, George Matthaus Merkle (born May 7, 1655 - died May 6, 1726), married Agnes Hess on May 22, 1679.
George Matthaus and Agnes had 4 known children, including a son Johann George, Innkeeper "Zum Ross," born Nov. 22, 1687. He married Anna Eva Dinkle, Sept. 10, 1709.
Johann George and Anna had eight known children, including a son named Johann Peter born Nov. 27, 1724. This Johann Peter was thought to be Franklin's first American ancester known as John Markley of Somerset Co., Pa.
After finishing my Web page I found there was serious doubt that the information I thought to be true was correct. It was reported to be found recently that George and Anna's son died as a child.
I removed this information about the German ancestors and included only information known of the first American ancestor known as John Markley of Somerset Co., Pa. **
After it became apparent to me John Markley was not the son of Johann George and Anna I decided to take another look at Joseph M. Markley's book "A HISTORY OF THE MARKLEY RELATIONSHIP" (1922). I found an addition added August 23, 1926 of the German Genealogical table. In this table it shows that Johann Peter Merkle was born to George and Anna Dinkle Merkle Nov. 27, 1724 and died in 1729 at the age of about 5 yrs.
Something else I found interesting was that there was a Jacob Markley (a grandson of the orginal George and Eva Merkle) whose records were found as early as 1725 in Skippack Township, Montgomery Co., Pa.
Jacob was the son of Abraham Merkle (seventh child of the orginal George and Eva) and Anna Veronika. Jacob
was born July 11, 1701 - died Aug. 29, 1784.
Abraham Merkle was the brother of George Matthaus Merkle.
Whether John Markley of Somerset Co., Pa. was somehow related to this German family of Merkle Markleys is still being researched, as far as I know.
Any information regarding this subject would be welcome and appreciated.
G. M. Markley 2/2/2002
