Rev. Johann Jacob Zimmerman - I15001 - Individual Information - Wisconsin and Illinois Genealogy

Rev. Johann Jacob Zimmerman (I15001)

Surname: Zimmerman
Given Names: Johann Jacob
Prefix: Rev.

Gender: Male

Birth: 25 November 1642 -- Vaihingenander Enz, Wurttemberg, Germany
Death: about. 1693 -- Rotterdam, Holland

Hit Count: pgv_counter

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Personal Facts and Details

Notes

Note

The first of the Zimmerman Clan to come to America ‎(quite possible Abraham brother of Sebastian was on the same ship)‎

Johann Jacob died on the eve of embarkation to the US in Rotterdam, Holland. His wife, Maria Margaretha Schaal Zimmerman brought her 4 children to the US in 1694.

' 'The Creation, Founding and Early Settlers of Bebber's Township, Pennsylvania Cty, Province of Pennsylvania, 1702' '

Johann Jacob was the author of 18 published works on theology and astronomy. A graduate of the University of Tubingen, he was a professor of mathematics in Heidelburg, Germany, from 1684-1689. Johann and Maria were on the ship ' 'Santa Maria' ', which left London Feb, 1694. They landed at Bohemia Manor ‎(CecilCo, MD)‎, arrived in Philadelphia June 23, 1694, and proceeded to Germantown.

JACOB CHRISTIAN ZIMMERMAN

>From Gerhard Croese's History, Published in 1696.

' 'Among these few mystical men there was one John Jacob Zimmerman, Pastor of the Lutheran Church in the Duchy of Wurtenburg, a man skilled in mathematics and ‎(saving what he had contracted of the erroneous opinions)‎, had all other
excellent endowments of mind, to which may be added the temperance of his life, wherein he was inferior to none, and who was of considerable fame in the world, who when he saw there was nothing but great danger like to hang over himself and his friends, he invites and stirs up, through his own hope, about sixteen or seventeen families of these sort of men to prefer also an hope of better things, though it were dubious before the present danger, and forsaking their country which they, through the most precipitous and utmost danger they suffered death for the same, could not help and relieve, as they supposed, and leaving their inheritance, which they could not carry along with them, to depart and betake themselves into other parts of the world, even to Pennsylvania, the Quaker's country, and there divide all the good and evil that befell them between themselves, - Zimmerman having yet N. Koster for his colleague, who was also a famous man, and of such severe manners that few could equal him, writes to a certain Quaker in Holland, ‎(a
very wealthy and liberal man)‎, that as he and his followers and his friends designed ‎(they are the very words of the letter now in my custody)‎ to depart from these Babilonish coasts to those American plantations being led there by the guidance of the Divine Spirit, and that seeing that all of them wanted worldly substance that they would not let them want friends, but assist them herein, that they might have a good ship well provided for them, to carry them into those places wherein they might mind this one thing, to wit, - to show with unanimous consent their faith and love in Spirit, in
converting of people, but at the same time to sustain their bodies by their daily labor.

So great was the inclination and the affection of this man towards them that he forthwith promised them all manner of assistance and did, out of that large portion of land he had in Pennsylvania, assign unto them a matter of twenty-four hundred acres forever of such land as it was, but such as might be fertilized, imposing yearly to be paid a very small matter of rent upon every acre, and gave freely of his own and what he got from his friends, as much as paid their charge and passage, amounting to ahundred and thirty pounds sterling, a very great gift, and so much the more strange that the
same Quaker should be so liberal and yet would not have his name mentioned or known in the matter. But when these men came into Holland they sailed from thence directly for Pennsylvania.

Zimmerman dies, but surely it was unseasonable for them, but yet not so but that they all did cheerfully pursue their voyage, and while I am writing hereof I receive an account that they arrived at the place they aimed at, and they all lived in the same house and had a public meeting and took much pains to teach people to become like unto themselves and to conform to their example. Among the company which consisted of about forty persons, were the
widow of Zimmerman and their children: Maria Margaretha, baptized October 10, 1675; Philip Christian, baptized February 18, 1678; Matthaius, baptized June 25, 1680, and Jacob Christopher, baptized May 14, 1683.' '

Another account deals more directly with their trip. It details what our ancestors dealt with in crossing the Atlantic at the turn of the seventeenth century.

' 'Johann Jacob Zimmerman, the original founder of the ' 'Company of Mystics,' '
was born in the Duchy of Wurtenburg in 1644, and, displaying great zeal in
learning, was taken into the service of the Duke at the age of seventeen. He
was then sent to the University of Tuebingen, where he was graduated in 1664
as Master of Philosophy, and at once there became an instructor in
Arithmetic. He entered the Lutheran ministry, and from 1671 to 1684 was in
charge of the church at Bietigheim. He became, however, profoundly impressed
with the views of Jacob Boehm, whose influence upon theological thought has
been most remarkable and extensive, and getting into controversy with the
orthodox clergy, he was tried and deposed from the ministry.

From 1684 to 1689, he was Professor of Mathematics in Heidelburg University.
He had the support of a prominent Minister of State, but persisting in views
regarded as peculiar, and maintaining that an invasion by the French was a
visitation by the lord, he lost position and influence.

He was the author of at least eighteen published works upon theology and
astronomy. He died on his way to Pennsylvania in 1693. His widow, with their
children, Maria Margaretha, Philip Christian, Matthaius and Jacob
Christopher, left Rotterdam in August of 1693 and remained in London for six
months. In February 1694, they went down the Thames in a sloop to Graves End
and there embarked on a ship - the ' 'Santa Maria' ' armed with fourteen cannon.
On the 16th, the ship ran aground and when signals of distress brought no
assistance, their prayers prevailed and the waves lifted it off the bank in
safety. On the 21st, they arrived at Deal and there waited two weeks for a
convoy. They finally sailed from Plymouth on the 18th of April. On the 10th
of May they encountered a hostile French frigate of twenty-four guns and a
merchant ship with six guns. The battle lasted four hours and one hostile
ship with twenty-four Frenchmen, was captured. On the Fourteenth day of June
they entered on Chesapeake Bay and two days before had had their first
glimpse of the American coasts. They landed at Bohemia Manor ‎(Cecil County,
Maryland)‎, arrived in Philadelphia June 23rd, 1694, and thence proceeded to
Germantown.' '

Jacob Christian Zimmerman purchased 100 acres in Bebber's township from
Matthias Van Bebber on June 10, 1708


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	Events of close relatives
Birth	25 November 1642 Vaihingenander Enz, Wurttemberg, Germany
Marriage	22 February 1671 (Age 28) Maria Margaretha Schaal - ‎[View Family ‎(F2235)‎‎] Reutlingen, Wurttemberg, Germany
Death of father	30 June 1687 (Age 44) Matthias Zimmermann (I2963) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of mother	28 November 1692 (Age 50) Anna Margaretha (I21838) - [Relationship Chart]
Death	about. 1693 (Age 51) Rotterdam, Holland
Universal Identifier	FF4ADD5EE696D511973400E02931A951E5A5
Last Change	24 June 2006 - 19:06:11