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Author: jpeterson2171
Surnames: Zimmerman-Rhoads
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.zimmerman/2560/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
I have a copy of a Berlin Reformed Church, Somerset Co., PA birth and baptism record for
Sara "Sally" Zimmerman b. March 12, 1787. Her parents are named as Mathias and
Salomah Zimmerman. Other children born to this couple list Salomah's name as Salome
and Sara. I believe it is this Sara "Sally" who married Jacob S. Rhoads in
Muhlenberg Co., KY. Possibly the latest Rhoads information on the Internet seems to be The
Rhoads Family in America by Alvin Lee RODES, June 2008, which says:
"Jacob S., son of Joseph and Elizabeth Mitchum Rhoads, was born probably between 1775
and 1777 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania and died 7 June 1850 in Liberty Township, Adams
County, Illinois. He married in May 1804 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Sarah
"Sally" Zimmerman, daughter of Mathias and Salomah Zimmerman. Sarah was born 12
March 1787 in Bedford County."
My confusion: Many Ancestry trees say a Sarah Sally Zimmerman b. March 12, 1778 is the one
who married Jacob S. Rhoads. Furthermore, several trees suggest this Sarah's parents
are Jan Jacob Mathias Zimmerman b. in the Netherlands to Jacob Zimmerman and Ida Bijlers
and who married Salomah Metzger b. in the Netherlands. I have sent several queries to the
tree submitters without any luck proving their information is fact. I subscribe to
Ancestry World; there is definitely a birth record for a Jan Jacob Zimmerman b. 08 Sep
1745 to Jacob Zimmerman and Ida Bijlers, as well as five more sons. It does not state his
full name as Jan Jacob Mathias, so I am curious why Ancestry trees have added
"Mathias".
I am confident I have traced "my" Mathias and Salomah/Salome/Sara Zimmerman and
children from Bedford/Somerset Co. PA to Muhlenberg Co., KY to Union Co., IL. I am also
confident I have the correct Union Co. bio for "my" Mathias Zimmerman which
states he is of German origin.
My questions:
1) Are there two different Sara(h) "Sally" Zimmermans? Or did her birth year get
transposed by someone from 1787 to 1778 since they were both born on March 12?
2) If there is only one Sara(h)and her parents names are Mathias and Salomah/Salome/Sara,
are they of German or Netherlands origin?
3) Is there a legal birth record proving Jan Jacob Mathias Zimmerman and Salomah Metzger
had a daughter Sarah Sally b. March 12, 1778?
I'm anxious for comments!
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