Jacob Zimmerman, of the firm of Zimmerman & Monroe, dealers in dry goods, notions, boots, shoes, etc., Ashmore; was born in Augusta County, Va., Sept. 19, 1836; in 1837, his father, Martin Zimmerman, removed with his family to Edgar Co., Ill., where he resided one year, and then settled in the edge of what is now Oakland Township, in 1838; in common with most of the pioneers, he began life in the West with an empty pocket, but with that unconquerable determination to succeed before which all obstacles recede and vanish away; he entered some land from the Government, to which he added until he owned a fine farm of 400 acres, and was regarded as one of the most reliable and substantial farmers in the vicinity; he died in 1852, leaving a family of eight children. Jacob Zimmerman remained on the home farm about two years after his father’s death, and then engaged in farming for himself; a few years later, he started in the mercantile business in Ashmore; he has been the agent of the American Express Co., for the past eighteen years; he served about two years on the Board of Supervisors, and a term or two as Assessor; he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the village of Ashmore seven terms, and several years, of the Board of School Directors. He was married in September, 1855, to Miss Sarah C. Ashmore, a daughter of the late Hezekiah J. Ashmore, of this town, and has three children – Lillian, Norman L. and Vernona.
