The general framework recently of the discussion has been the Zimmerman family. We introduced the Ziglar family (as the name developed) which in turn led to the Pinnegar family. We continue on this detour before returning to the main line on the Zimmermans. On 12 Aug 1778, Peter Pinnegar purchased 275 acres in the Gourd Vine Fork of the Rappahannock from John Deer, and his wife, Catherine, of Culpeper County, Virginia. The land had been a part of a grant to Francis Brown in 1749.
Peter Pinegar (Jr.) married Anna Magdalena. One of their sons was William, Sr., who married Elizabeth Zimmerman, the daughter of John and Ursula (Blankenbaker) Zimmerman. Another son of Peter was Matthias, Sr. There was a daughter, Mary, who married Robert Flincham. The Pinegars moved to Stokes Co., North Carolina, in the company of Finchams, Zimmermans, and Ziglars, where they lived together and intermarried.
The German origins of Peter Benninger (Sr.) of Epfenbach (Kreis Sinsheim) are given in Don Yoder's "Rhineland Emigrants". Peter was permitted to emigrate in the year 1751 with wife and four children. In the previous year, the blacksmith, Leonhardt Ziegler of Sinsheim, was denied permission to emigrate to Pennsylvania. The coupling of the family names in the same locality in Germany, and in Virginia, increases the probability that the families have been identified. Epfenbach is about fifteen miles north of Gemmingen and Schwaigern, the homes of many Germanna families. Sinsheim, the town, is only five miles from Gemmingen.
Peter (Jr.) Pinegar's father and mother were Peter Beninger and Anna Christina Ziegler. This gives us a connection between the Beninger and Ziegler families. Names in the ancestry of Anna Christina include Schütz and Stein. Peter, Jr., was born in 1735 at Epfenbach, and arrived at Philadelphia on the ship St. Andrew. He was in Page Co., VA, by 1755. He died in Stokes Co., NC, in 1794. Peter's (Jr.) maternal grandfather was the mayor of Epfenbach, but this was only a part-time activity, as he was a farmer. Peter's great-great-great-grandfather, Michael Stein, was mayor of Spechbach.
The confusion of the letters " P " and " B " shows quite clearly in the Pinegar history.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the [email protected] email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.