George Gottlob Zimmerman

Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

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George Gottlob Zimmerman (1781-1866)

Zimmerman Family of Lehi, Utah, p. 25
by William Z. Terry, Ogden, Utah, 1956
Copy in possession of Ann Lewis

George Gottlob Zimmerman, son of Johann Georg Zimmerman and Rosine Margarete Pregizer, was born in Ludwigsburg, Wuerttemberg, July 23, 1781; died at Lehi, Utah June 17, 1866. He was educated in the Universities of Germany, major in languages. He spoke German, English and French so perfectly that he could pass as a native in all three. He was also a master of Latin. During the Napoleonic Wars he was drafted into the service, and was soon taken prisoner by the French. In Paris he was treated so kindly that he resolved not to again enter the army against the French if he could prevent it. When the two countries exchanged prisoners, 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 and then drifted into a little Dutch settlement near Harrisburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Here he took up his profession of teaching. He taught languages in the high schools and academies in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

Married April 4, 1816, Juliana Hoke, daughter of Lawrence Hoke and Christiana Friederike Hartmann, born November 25, 1703 in the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg, died December 15, 1864 at Lehi, Utah. The couple made their home in Franklin County, Pennsylvania for twenty-seven years. Of their twelve children, ten were born in Franklin County. John, the third child, was born in Maryland. Catharine, the sixth child was born in Virginia.

The family, with the exception of John, joined the LDS Church in 1843 and moved to northern Illinois, but with the exception of their daughter, Christina, they did not settle in Nauvoo. They gathered with the Mormon fugitives in Garden Grove, Iowa, in 1846. They remained there a few years in order to get an outfit to come to Utah. During the winters grandfather Zimmerman went to Missouri to teach school. Finally he had his team ready and left Garden Grove May 17, 1851 in Henry Walton’s company of sixty-seven wagons. It is interesting to note that Henry Walton was not a member of the church. He had been to California, had returned home in the East, and now was on his return trip to California. He offered his services to the church and the offer was accepted. The company reached Salt Lake City September 24, 1851. As grandfather Zimmerman’s outfit consisted of one wagon which was heavily loaded with a year’s supplies, and the family, made up of the parents, six daughters, and a two-year-old granddaughter, it can readily been seen that the older members of the family had to walk practically all the way from Garden Grove to Salt Lake City, a distance of some thirteen hundred miles.

The family settled at Lehi. On account of advanced age, grandfather Zimmerman gave up his profession as school teacher, and settled down in a little adobe house where he cobbled shoes for a livelihood. He had learned the shoemaker’s trade as a boy working in his father’s shop. When the Sunday School was organized in Lehi, grandfather Zimmerman was chosen Superintendent and teacher. He was well known for his ability as a penman. People came from far and near to have him set copies for them.