The previous note referenced a land transaction in which Theobald Fite and his wife sold land. I had suggested in a tentative way that the wife was Barbara Zimmerman who had earlier married Leonard Ziglar. Craig Kilby sent me information which suggests that Theobald's wife may not have been Barbara.
Barbara had a brother Frederick, and they were children of the immigrant Christopher Zimmerman. Frederick had a son Frederick. The grandson Frederick, or more exactly his widow, applied for a pension (W8374) for services during the Revolutionary War. Frederick served from Culpeper County, Virginia, from January 19, 1779, to June 1, 1780, in the western campaigns, under George Rogers Clark. Several people from the Germanna community had gone to Kentucky around then.
On 14 Jun 1784, Frederick obtained a Culpeper Co. license to marry Judith Bourn, daughter of Andrew and Jane (Morton) Bourn(e). They were married by John Leland, a Baptist minister. During some of the time after marriage, Frederick kept a school. He moved his young family from Culpeper Co. to Jessamine Co., KY, about 1792. Several other Culpeper families, including the Finneys, Lowens, and Bourns, may have moved about the same time. In Kentucky, Frederick is known to have had surveying assignments.
On 10 Dec 1804, Frederick was riding his horse to Lexington when he was thrown and killed. He was buried the next day in Jessamine Co. Frederick and Judith had nine children:
Judith remained unmarried for a few years, then married George Bourn by whom she had one child, who died in infancy. Judith died 29 Jun 1844 in Jessamine Co., and George died 12 May 1836.
On 25 June 1839, Morton Zimmerman, William Zimmerman, and John Coiner were in Green Co., IL. In 1855, Sally, William, and Morton were the only living children of Frederick and Judith. (I have some names for the children of deceased children.) The information here comes principally from Gene Dear, using the pension application. Other descendants contributed information to Gene.
We have the larger Zimmerman family, that, within two generations, lived in many different states in the south and west. Their motives in choosing a state were probably very mixed, and other individuals might have chosen different states. We have diversity in the United States and it does no good to cast aspersions on someone else's choices. Rather we should enjoy our differences.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com 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.