Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Zimmerman, John B. 1851 - living in 1899

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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



JOHN B. ZIMMERMAN comes from a family which has long been noted for natural

mechanical talents. At an early age he entered his father's shop to learn the

blacksmith's trade. His father was a skilled blacksmith, as also was his

grandfather.



  As our subject grew older he became a skilled workman and displayed unusual

aptness in his chosen trade. He erected a large and commodious shop in Shamokin,

where he manufactures wagons, carriages, and all kinds of vehicles. Being

sensible, upright and shrewd in his business affairs, he has built up a trade

reaching over a wide expanse of territory. New plans which promise any real

advance in his business are readily added to his present system, thus affording

him facilities for carrying on an enterprise second to none of its kind in

Shamokin. Mr. Zimmerman employs a force of ten or twelve men to assist him in

furnishing his trade with celerity and promptness, and his present prospects

point to a still greater expansion of the business.



  In the spring of 1899 our subject changed the location of his plant from the

corner of Independence and Market streets, where he had carried on his business

since 1868, to West Sixth street, in the vicinity of the high bridge.



  Our subject is a son of Jeremiah and Harriet (Bright) Zimmerman, and was born

in Sunbury, Northumberland County, May 22, 1851, receiving his education in the

otiblic schools of Shamokin. His paternal grandfather, George H. Zimmerman, was

a native of Berks County, but subsequently located in Sunbury, Northumberland

County, where he was a prominent blacksmith. He rendered valuable service to his

country during the War of 1812. His maternal grandfather, Jacob Bright, was a

jeweler by trade; he, too, fought bravely during the War of 1812, and afterward

died at Sunbury.



   Jeremiah Zimmerman, father of our subject, was a man of such unusual

prominence that a brief sketch of his life deserves mention here. He was born in

Berks County, Pa., in January, 1820, and was brought to this county with his

parents at the early age of seven years. His advantages for securing an

education were of the poorest and he received but three months' schooling. In

his father's shop he learned the blacksmith's trade, which business he followed

in Sunbury for many years, discontinuing it after being elected justice of the

peace, which position he retained for several years. Later he moved to the

borough of Northumberland and was collector for the Pennsylvania Canal, at which

time the management was under the control of the state. He served in this

capacity three years, after which he engaged in business as a coal operator,

being a member of the firm of Zimmerman & Purcell. This business was carried on

very successfully for a few years, but the company met with reverses and finally

failed in 1856. While in the coal business Mr. Zimmerman was elected a member of

the Pennsylvania Legislature and served two terms; he was also president of a

Shamokin Banking Institute. After going out of the coal business he was engaged

by various firms as bookkeeper, also as superintendent for various coal

operators, and in 1864 he located permanently in Shamokin. He was a Democrat of

the most ardent type and was active and untiring in the interests of his party..

He served as burgess for the town of Shamokin for three terms, rounding out his

closing years as an efficient public servant whose record offers a splendid

example of what may be accomplished in the voyage through life without

educational advantages in youth. He died in 1893. He had been a Mason for over

fifty years. Nine children blessed the union of Jeremiah Zimmerman and his

excellent wife, two of whom died in infancy, and the following grew to manhood

and womanhood: Ella Lucy, now deceased; Harriet, wife of Paul Roth of Shamokin;

John B., subject of this sketch; George, a painter by trade, in the employ of

our subject, and lives in Shamokin; Rosa, wife of Samuel Haas, also of Shamokin;

Milton, an attorney of note, residing in Danville; and William Cameron, who is a

painter and resides in Philadelphia.



  On April 5, 1874, our subject was united in marriage with Jane Newberry of

Northumberland borough, and six children were born to bless their home: Ida May;

Edward B., now his father's able assistant as bookkeeper; Harriet M.; John;

Clara; and Grover Cleveland. Mr. Zimmerman, like his father, is a strong

believer in the principles of Democracy, but has not sought political honors. He

was persuaded to serve as assistant burgess of Shamokin, which position he

filled with credit and distinction. He is a pleasant gentleman and is a valued

member of his community.





Additional Comments:

Extracted from:



Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

Published by 

Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)





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