Samuel Zimmerman (7 March 1815 – 12 March 1857) was a Canadian railway promoter and entrepreneur instrumental in the construction of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

Biography

Zimmerman was born in 1815 in

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Huntingdon is a borough in and county seat of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in the Middle Atlantic states region of the Northeastern United States. It lies along the Juniata River about east of larger Altoona and west of the state capita ...

and worked as a general labourer on various public works projects in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and moved to

Thorold, Ontario Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first surv ...

to help build the Second Welland Canal around 1842 to 1843 and settle in the Village Clifton on the Canadian side in the 1850s. He would help in the development of Clifton by opening Zimmerman Bank in 1855, built Clifton Gate House. The Zimmerman Bank issued its own chartered banknotes, which are on display in the Bank of Canada Museum. Zimmerman died on March 12, 1857, en route from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to Niagara in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, one of the victims of the Desjardins Canal disaster. He was buried at his estate and later moved to St. David's Methodist Church to be buried with his wife Margaret Ann Woodruff (b.1828, m. 1848 and d. 1851). He was survived by his second wife Emmeline Dunn (m. 1856) and sons (John and Richard) from his first marriage. His son Richard Zimmerman later became a doctor and returned with his Toronto born wife Emma Jane Rogers to Niagara Falls.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Biography
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

1815 births 1857 deaths American emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada 19th-century Canadian businesspeople {{Canada-business-bio-stub