Individual Details

Germanna History Notes,
This is the TWENTY-SEVENTH page of John BLANKENBAKER's series of Short Notes on GERMANNA History, which were originally posted to the GERMANNA_COLONIES Discussion List. Each page contains 25 Notes.
Nbr. 662

John was 6 years old when he arrived in Virginia. His first land patent was taken out in 1735 - 400 acres in the Robinson River Valley about 20 miles west of his father.

John married Ursula Blankenbaker, the daughter of John Nicholas Blankenbaker. From the record of people imported by Spotswood in 1717, we know that, in 1717, John Nicholas and Apollonia were not yet the parents of Ursula. Whether Ursula or the land came first for John, we do not know. Probably the land was first. With John's acquisiton of the land in 1735, and with Ursula just up the road, the union probably came not long after this date. John was aggressive in his land acquisitions, and he had, in the end, more than 1700 acres.

John moved from a community, which was definitely English, to a community which was definitely German. This may have been his reason for moving. Maybe he liked the women better. Possibly, he was not on the best of terms with his stepmother and had moved out of the home earlier.

John was naturalized in 1743 with several other Germanna settlers. He died in 1796 or 1797, when he was about 85 years of age. In 1759, he and Ursula gave 200 acres of land to their son, John. This was a pattern that continued. The parents gave 150 acres to Margaret Zimmerman; 200 acres to their daughter, Dorothy Tanner, and her husband Jacob; 150 acres to their son Christopher; 150 acres to their daughter, Mary Zimmerman; 300 acres to their daughter, Rosanna Zimmerman; and 200 acres to their daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband Joseph Holtzclaw.

Birth	11 Apr 1711	Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Christen	12 Apr 1711	Sulzfield, Heidelberg, Germany
Marriage	Abt 1736	Ursula Blankenbaker
Death	1796	Madison County, Virginia
Burial		Hebron Lutheran Cemetery, Madison County, Virginia

Spouse	Ursula Blankenbaker (1717 - 1787)
Child	John Zimmerman Jr (1737 - 1819)
Child	Dorothy Zimmerman (1742 - )
Child	Christopher Zimmerman (1745 - 1832)
Child	Elizabeth Zimmerman (1747 - 1839)
Child	Mary Zimmerman (1752 - )
Child	Margaret Zimmerman (1755 - )
Child	Rosanna Zimmerman (1757 - )

Father	Christopher Zimmerman ( - 1748)
Mother	Dorothea Rottle (1687 - 1714)