Erle C. Zimmerman did a good job of putting these early Zimmermans together.
I might add that the brothers Chrisian and Hans who lived in Earl Township,
Lancaster Co. and who were definitely Mennonite were most likely sons of
Nicholas Zimmerman. He and the two boys came over on the Hope in 1733.
Their father Nicholas, who was also known as Claus in the records, was
pretty old. I have never, nor did Erle C., located a will or intestate
records for old man Nicholas.
This Nicholas was related to Hans through the Steffisburg connection.
According to Richard Warren Davis Nicholas went to Montbeliard in Alsace
before coming to America.
Robert Carpenter
----- Original Message -----
From: Laurel Baker <lbaker(a)ee.net>
To: <ZIMMERMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 7:57 PM
Subject: RE: [ZIMMERMAN-L] Hans Zimmerman, 1732 on ship Pink Plaisance, from
where?
According to " Hans and Christian Zimmerman and Their
Descendants" by
Erle C. Zimmerman, " Hans Zimmerman and his brother Christian came to
this country as boys in 1732; there was a total of twelve Zimmermans in
the party. The ship list indicates that they came from the Palatinates
of the Rhine, a part of Germany extending along the Rhine River. They
were Mennonites and are believed to have been of Swiss descent. At the
time of their arrival in this country the two boys were a little less
than 16 years of age. Nothing definite is known concerning their
parents. This party of Zimmermans settled with other Mennonite families
in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania." and "The writer
has discussed this matter (of origin) with a native of Switzerland who
spent a year here in America. When shown the list of passengers who came
over on the Pink Plaisance, he noted that most of the surnames were of
Swiss origin. He said that Zimmerman was a very common name in the
Canton of Berne, and pointed out that "Barbel", or "Barbli", was
typically Swiss, and the equivalent of "Barbara" in German or English.
The writer also contacted a well-known Swiss genealogist in Zurich to
find out if it would be worthwhile to make a search in Switzerland. He
advised as follows: "On the strength of the ship list with regard to the
emigrants on the Pink Plaisance in the fall of 1732, according to the
Christian names as well as the surnames, it is to be presumed that the
family Zimmerman in question is from Berne. The difficulty which now
arises is to define the exact community of origin, since the family
Zimmerman is very well represented in most of the Berne communities.
Therefore, it would be necessary to make inquiries in the following
towns and villages: Adelboden, Beatenburg, Bleienbach, Burchholterber,
Konolfingen, Lutzelfluh, Lyss, Muhledorf (umlatt on u), Muri, Oberwil
b/Buren (umlatt on u), Schangnau, Seedorf, Steffisburg, Thierachern,
Utzenstorf, Vechigen, Wattenwil (underlined), Wholen and Zallikofen."...
his reference to the village of Wattenwil impressed the writer, who
recalled having seen another reference to this same village in Dr.
Seymour D. Carpenter's "Genealogical Notes of the Carpenter Family". Dr.
Carpenter, whose ancestors were Zimmermans, wrote this published
genealogy and spent several months in Switzerland about the year 1900.
He was a descendant of Dr. Heinrich Zimmermand and his wife, Salome, who
came to America from the village of Wattenwil in 1706, and eventually
settled in the western part of Earl Township, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania. Heinrich and Salome were the parents of a large family,
and in 1729 they changed their name permanently from Zimmerman to
Carpenter."
Note, Erle does not cite any specific sources in his book so it's
definitely a good idea to take what he says with a healthy dose of
skepticism and investigate for yourselves -- on the other hand, one must
start somewhere...
Laurie
-----Original Message-----
From: dbricker(a)cyburban.com [mailto:dbricker@cyburban.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 3:26 PM
To: ZIMMERMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [ZIMMERMAN-L] Hans Zimmerman, 1732 on ship Pink Plaisance, from
where?
I am trying to find out where the Hans Zimmerman, who came over to
American in
1732 on the ship Pink Plaisance, came from. I mean town or village in
Germany
or Switzerland.
Thanks much
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