Ezekiel B. Zimmerman

As printed in 1910

EZEKIEL B. ZIMMERMAN.

It is a rare privilege, not enjoyed by many of us, to spend our lives on the old home place, which, after all, is the best place, no matter what other localities may have to offer, but this E. B. Zimmerman, a well-known farmer of Chippewa township, Wayne county, has been able to do, having been born on the place where he now resides, on September 30, 1848. His paternal grandparents were Nathan and Alary fAIorton) Zimmerman. The father of Alary Alorton had the distinction of being a soldier in the Revolutionary war under General Greene, and the Hessian army camped at one time on the Morton farm, near Trenton, New Jersey, killing all their stock; the farm was overrun and considerably damaged by the soldiers, but Greene’s army helped run the foreign enemy off the place. Alary Alorton was of English descent, while her husband was born in Germany. He lived for many years in Center county, Pennsylvania, and was finally killed there about 1811 or 1812 by a tree falling on him. The maternal grandparents of the subject, Samuel and Alaiy (Likens) AIcClelland, were natives of Pennsylvania also, the A-IcClellands having been of Scotch-Irish descent and the Likens family of Irish descent. Samuel and Alary AIcClelland moved to Ohio in a very early day and lived near Dalton, where Mr. McClelland died; later his widow moved to Indiana and married a Mr. Brown, and she lived to be past ninety-one years of age, dying in Indiana.

Ezekiel Zimmerman, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1808 in Pennsylvania and with his mother came to Ohio in 1812 and located near Alarshallville, WMyne county, in Chippewa township. There he grew up and worked on the farm, attending such primitive schools as the times afforded, receiving only a very meager education. The mother of the subject, Rachael Ann AIcClelland, was born near Dalton, Ohio, in 1821. She was the second wife of Mr. Zimmerman. The latter was always a farmer and at his death owned considerable land, about three hundred and forty acres, in Chippewa township; he traded a great deal in land and was very successful, though he lived a quiet, retired life for the most part. He was a Republican during most of his life, though he voted for Andrew Jackson. His death occurred in 1876, when he was over sixty-eight years of age, Avhile his wife survived until in March, 1908, dying when eighty-six years old. Thev were the parents of eight children, four of whom are still living.

E. B. Zimmerman was educated in the Smithville Academy; being an ambitious student, he later took a correspondence course with the Chautauqua Correspondence School for a period of nine years, receiving a graded certificate.

]\Mr. Zimmerman early in life began active farming and lumbering and has continued in these lines ever since with marked success. He now owns one hundred and sixty-two acres of the old homestead and seventy-eight acres in another place, besides one hundred and twenty-two acres owned by his wife, which he manager. He carries on general farming in a manner that stamps him as one of the leading agriculturists of the township, his places all being under a high state of improvement. He has a beautifully located and attractive dwelling, a fine barn and all the outbuildings and farming machinery needed by an up-to-date farmer. He keeps an excellent grade of livestock, being especially fond of horses and cattle and a good judge of the same.

Mr. Zimmerman was married on March 14. 1877, to Frances Hess, a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and the daughter* of James and Christiana (Franks) Hess. To Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman have been born seven children, namely; Edna E., a graduate of the University of Wooster, now engaged in teaching at Lander, Wyoming; Ira is a farmer; Clara is the wife of Earl Steiner; Ernest, who is still a member of the home circle, was educated in the Ohio State Lhiiversity, taking a short course there, later spent the first year in the University of Wooster and two years in Columbus; Daniel E. is a student in the Marshallville high school at this writing; two children died in infancy.

Politically, Mr. Zimmerman is a Republican, always taking considerable interest in local affairs. He has very ably served as trustee of Chippewa township for a period of three years and has also been school director. Mrs. Zimmerman is a member of the Baptist church.

As printed in History of Wayne County, Ohio (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.