This letter was sent to me by mail from Julie (Zimmerman) Ellicott of Abbeville, GA.   It is written by Emery Ernest Zimmerman about his parents William Henry and Margaret Ann (Snyder) Zimmerman 

Dear Children:

    I regret that I cannot furnish an accurate lineage for the Zimmerman family.  The Brumbaugh (originally Brumbach) family has a book complete lineage which has the names of my mother's children except Grover Cleveland (Cleve) who was born after our names were reported to the Brumbaugh who published the book.  It is one interesting book.

    I have no record of the Zimmerman ancestors, except that I can recall conversations in which a youngster is not usually interested, talk about the Z's coming from Holland before the Rev. war.  Recall mother talking about father having a blond complexion and being rather short (about 6:6 I think) which was characteristic of the stock from which he came.  In my mond there is little doubt but that they migrated from Holland before the Rev. war.  I do not remember me hearing father say anything about his ancestors.  Do not know the first name of his grandfather.  He was left an orphan at about the age of 12 or 13 years.  His mother was a Penner, I must have his first name but do not find it in my memory or in any written data (see in my family record, gift from D.)  He had some half brothers and sisters.  He never mentioned his step-M's name except that he would not get along with her and left home at an early age to be on his own.  He learned flour milling in his father's mill, on his own went into the mines and mined coal and work at iron smelters.  When he married mother (they eloped) it seems that lived with mother's mother, a widow since mother was less than a year old.  Her husband, Adam Snyder must have been a man of means as men were in that day.  A brother George and Myrtle were born in Saxton, PA. I believe.  I was born on grandmother's farm in Bedford Co., Pa. in what was known as the Yellow Creek community.  P.O. was Hopewell, a coal mining town, my first memories go back to the 90 a. farm in the Alleghany Mts. a pretty farm with some bottom land along Yellow Creek, hills and timber land, a pasture too rough, I think for cultivation.  There was a mountain spring from which we got crystal clear water that flowed through a "spring house" with troughs for milk, etc.  Father worked at the coke ovens at Riddlesburg and hired a man part of the time for farm work.  This arrangement after several years proved unsatisfactory to father.  He moved to Eichelberger Town, an iron ore village and continued work at the coke ovens with the intention of coming west at first opportunity.  Grandma Snyder lived with us until we came to Nebraska in March, 1885.