WERTZ, WIRTS, WERT, WUERTZ, Etc.
Wilhelm and his children appeared not to be able to read or write. All known deeds and ship logs for Wilhelm, Wilhelm Jr, Peter and Conrad show their signatures as an "X".
The Ships logs show Wilhelm, Wilhelm Jr., and Peter's surname as Wurtz. Since Wilhelm probably could not read or write, the Ship's log would have been created phonetically. But with further research, it appears that this may NOT be correct. Michael Virts, son of Peter Philip Wurtz, purchased land in 1801. On the deed he signed his name Mijael Werz, in German. It appears he signed his name phonetically and not grammitically. Mijael is the German phonic pronunication for Michael. The "J" had a "K" sound. This would have been true for his last name as well. So, was the surname in Germany Wurtz or Werz? Both sound very similar. This would lead one to believe that Michael did have some education. At that time, mid to late 1700's, when Michael would have been in school, the German settlement only taught the old German language and not English.
The CD continues from here to explain what happened to the Wertz surname as the family branched out across America, and it contains an example of Michael's early 1800 signature.
