George Gottlob Zimmerman was my great-great-great grandfather. The son of Johann Georg Zimmerman and Rosine Margarete Pregizer, he was born in Ludwigsburg, Germany on July 23rd, 1781.
George was educated in the Universities of Germany. He spoke German, English
and French so perfectly that he could pass as a native in all three. He
was also a master of the Latin language. During the Napoleonic wars he
was drafted into the services, and was soon taken prisoner to Paris.
Here he was treated so kindly that he resolved not to re-enter the army
against the French. When the two countries exchanged prisoners, instead
of returning home he managed to escape on a vessel bound for America.
Having no money to pay his passage, he was sold as an indentured servant
for one year to a tanner in Philadelphia. After serving his time he
remained several years with this tanner and then drifted into a little
Dutch settlement near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Here
he took up his profession of school teacher, his life’s work. While
there he met Juliana Hoke. She was then 17 ½ years old,
he was approaching thirty five.
George and Juliana married on April 4, 1816. They made their home in Franklin County, Pennsylvania for 27 years. They became the parents of 12 children, and raised seven of them to maturity. The family, with the exception of their son, John, joined the church when persecution was running high. Juliana, who belonged to the United Bretheren Church, was baptized first in January 1843. George, who was a Lutheran, was baptized two years later. The next year they went to Illinois. They then gathered with the Mormon fugitives in Garden Grove, Iowa in 1846. They remained there a few years in order to prepare to come to Utah.
On May 17, 1851 they left with the
saints to cross the plains to Utah in Harry Walton’s company which
consisted of 67 wagons and about fifty families. George Gottlob Zimmerman was 70 years old his wife Juliana Hoke was 53. They were accompanied by their widowed daughter Christina, age 33 and her daughter Sarah Julia Stevens, age 2, Julia Ann, 22, Elizabeth 19, Margaret 15, Susan 12, and Rosannah
10. They had one wagon, one yoke of oxen, one yoke of cows, and a
horse, so they had to walk most of the way to lighten the load. Because of George's age and
never having been around cattle it was impractical for him to drive his
wagon to Utah.
Their supplies consisted of flour, meal, beans, dried bread, crackers,
dried apples, sugar and milk with some butter and bacon and a few dried
parsnips. From time to time they had bison meat which they
enjoyed very much.
All of their experiences with the bison were not as enjoyable however.
Oft times they could hear their roaring noise for miles away and could
hear them as they would pass the camps on the way to the watering holes
at night. More than once the wagon train was cut in two so that herds
of bison up to 5000 or more could go rushing through. Stampedes among
the cattle and oxen were common things.
The family had good health throughout their journey and also had their share of
narrow escapes. A number of deaths occurred on route as well as a few
births. While traveling they came across many graves left there by the
companies that had preceded them.
They arrived in Salt Lake City on September 25th, 1851. They were a family group of
nine who had all their earthly belongings in one wagon. They ranged in
age from a mere child of two to a courageous man of seventy. Through swollen rivers of late spring and dusty insect
infested plains of summer, up the eastern slopes of the Rockies, down
the precipitous ravines of the Wasatch they persevered. Oft times they had only the water of stagnant pools
to quench their thirst. They boiled the water and then tried to cool
it enough to satisfy their parched throats.
After staying in Salt Lake City a short time they then went on to
Lehi. Lehi was settled about a year before and contained about 15
families in the town at that time. They lived in a rented room the first winter. George made
and mended all their shoes and the girls did washing and milking. Juliana did lots of knitting. George got plenty of shoemaking to do. He learned the trade from his father who was a master
shoe maker and had a number of men working for him back in Germany. There were good crops raised that summer. In the spring George obtained a lot and put a
log house on it. Some of the children slept in a covered wagon for two winters.
George was an Elder in the church when he came to Utah, having
been ordained December 19, 1847. He was ordained a High Priest in Lehi. George and Juliana went through the Endowment House March 31, 1852. Because of his
advanced age, George gave up his profession as a school teacher and
settled down in a little adobe house where he cobbled shoes for a
livelihood.
In January of 1853 a toll bridge was built over the Jordan River in Lehi. It is now referred to as the "Old Iron Bridge" near 3150 West and 1500 North. George Zimmerman was the first toll
collector of that now famous, historic bridge.
During his declining years George was cared
for by his daughter Susan. He died in 1866 at the age of eighty five and
was buried in Lehi near his wife, who although younger in years, had
preceded him to the other side by some two years earlier, at the age of
sixty-six.
Of their 12 children, five of them died under six years of age. Of the
seven who lived to adulthood only one, Christina preceded them
in death.
The six other children all lived to see a new century come in.
Ancestral Line: Janeal Kindred Smith... Janice Gregory... Elizabeth Sharp... Margaret Elsie Lamb... Elizabeth Zimmerman... George Gottlob Zimmerman
Leonard Hill was my great-great-great grandfather. He was born May 2, 1800 at Dublin, Cheshire, New Hampshire, the oldest of six children.
When Leonard was 26 years old he married Sally Forbush. They became the parents of 10 children. They began their married life in Peterborough, building a home there. Leonard was a carpenter by trade, and their home was very comfortable and convenient for that period. In 1841, they were contacted by Mormon missionaries and converted to the Gospel. They were the only ones of their families to join the church and were ostracized from both their families and their friends.
In 1843 they decided to leave their comfortable home and move to Nauvoo to be with the main body of the church. Their families simply regarded them as lost. Adding to their sadness of being rejected by their families, in September of 1843, their youngest child at that time, Justus Franklin, age 5, died in Nauvoo.
After their arrival in Nauvoo, Leonard helped build many homes in that area. He built a new home for his family near the edge of town. It was never completely finished before they were forced to leave.
The Hill family rejoiced in being with the Saints. They were grateful for their association with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and were diligent in accepting and following his leadership and counsel. They were firm and true to their faith. As with the other faithful Saints, their grief was heavy when the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were martyred. In connection with this event, their daughter, Maria, related the following, "One day I was sitting on the doorstep of our home when the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum stopped at our home and came to the well to get a drink. The cup they used was kept in the family for a long time."
The family was driven from Nauvoo in May of 1846. Dreadful indeed were the sufferings of these forsaken beings on this trek west. Leonard Hill became very ill. Being a Priesthood father, undoubtedly he did without, that members of his family might have his meager share. He had endured strenuous labors and persecutions, but endurance has its limits. He passed away September 10, 1846, the exact location unknown. Records show that the baby, Emerald Jasper, passed away 20 days later. Daughter Maria stated, "The Lord blessed us, for a man came to us and seeing our plight, took us to his farm. He gave us one room in his home, put our cattle in his pasture, and buried our father and baby brother on his private burial ground. We stayed there a long time because our mother and older brother Charles were very sick."
Later that year, the Hill family moved on with a group of Saints. By February 1847 they reached the Missouri River in the winter months so they could cross on the ice. Sally Forbush Hill became very sick again, and passed away on the east side of the Missouri River. A hand sled was fashioned by her children, and it is said that her 10-year-old son, Heamon Alison, pulled her to the west side of the river so they could bury her on a hill on the opposite shore.
Only three months later, the oldest brother, Charles, age 18, died, and was buried along the wayside. Out of a family of eleven, only three girls and two boys remained. Sara, the oldest, was sixteen. They had no home, no parents, and no food. The children were left in a settlement, separated into different homes.
Their sister, Sara, soon married a widower by the name of Bingham Bement. He gathered all of the children together to live with him in his one room house. They worked diligently trying to prepare to continue their journey to Utah. In the spring of 1850 they finally continued their trek. They arrived in Salt Lake City in October with only the worn out clothes on their backs. Undoubtedly their parents, Leonard and Sally, were with them along the way.
Ancestral Line: Janeal Kindred Smith... Kent Lewis Kindred... Chloris Hill... Jasper Franklin Hill... Heaman Alison Hill... Leonard Hill
Margaret Ann McBride is my great-great-great grandmother. She was born June 1, 1794 in Chester, New York.
Margaret was the fifth child and oldest daughter of Abigail and Daniel McBride. In 1811 when she was
16 years old, she was married to David Crandall. She became the mother of
12 children, eight of whom grew to maturity.
Three missionaries found the McBride family in New York. The missionaries were: Evan Green (secretary to
the Prophet Joseph Smith), Amasa Lyman, and William Cahoon. These men toured New
York state as missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints.
The McBrides were very kind to the elders who were traveling without purse or script. They were good
listeners, believed the religion, and were baptized in June 1833. They shared their shelter and urge to
gather with the Church, and sold at great sacrifice (as many converts
did) their farms and homes and moved to Kirtland, Ohio one hundred
thirty-five miles away.They assisted in the building of the city and
gave of their means for the building of the Kirtland temple, they also
went through the trials and tribulations of Kirtland and Nauvoo.
When
her youngest son, Nelson D Crandall, was 11 years old, Margaret died at age 51 at
LaHarp, Hancock county, Illinois in August 1845. LaHarp is just a few
miles from Nauvoo. Her husband, David Crandall, married again and
remained in Illinois where he died in 1861.
One of the greatest tributes to Margaret McBride Crandall is the
loyalty of her children. They did what their mother would have them do.
They came to the Salt Lake Valley with the Saints, and they came together and
stayed together. Her daughters were skilled in the arts of homemaking
which involved many arts in those days, they in turn passed their
skills on down to their daughters.
Ancestral Line: Janeal Kindred Smith... Kent Lewis Kindred... Fred Lewis Kindred... Luanna Mariah Bird... Emeline Crandall... Margaret Ann McBride
