Veteran Spotlight
Johann Peter Zollinger, Jr.
From Germantown to Sabillasville
Richard D. L. Fulton
Sabillasville resident, Johann Peter Zollinger Jr., was born on November 23, 1756, in York County, Pennsylvania, to parents Peter Zollinger Sr. and Maria Barbara Zollinger.
According to geni.com, Zollinger, who had preferred being identified by his middle name, Peter, had three sisters, Catherine Pfeiffer, Veronica Ammer, Elizabeth Spengler; two brothers, Ulrich Zollinger and John Zollinger; and one half-brother, Henry Zollinger.
When the war with England broke out in earnest in 1776, Zollinger, at age 20, volunteered in June 1776 to serve in the 5th Battalion (York County) Pennsylvania Militia.
According to geni.com, Zollinger had initially served with the rank of ensign, which was comparable to a 2nd lieutenant in the regular army, a rank he had held for three months.
During the American Revolution, Zollinger and his fellow troops became involved in the Battle of Germantown.
By October 4, 1777, the Continental Army and associated militia units, which was comprised of about 8,000 troops and 3,000 militia, under the command of General George Washington, collided with the British Army, which was comprised of about 9,000 troops, under the command of General William Howe, in Germantown (which is today a neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia).
According to the American Battlefield Trust, the militia had been assigned to General John Armstrong, Sr. and General William Smallwood who led the combined militia force, including the 5th Battalion of the Pennsylvania Militia, in an attack on the British battleline from the extreme right and rear.
The militia succeeded in driving British light cavalry back onto the British lines, as well as diverting the British to have to address the militia operation on the flank, but could make no further progress on hitting the British flank and rear, and ultimately retired as the initially successful American battleplan fell apart beneath a dense canopy of fog.
As a result of the five-hour long battle, the American casualties amounted to 152 killed and 521 wounded, with some 400 captured, while Howe’s losses were comprised of 70 killed and 451 wounded.
Zollinger survived the engagement unscathed. In 1777, he became the captain of the 4th Company in the 5th Battalion (York County) Pennsylvania Militia; and, in 1780, he became the captain of the 3rd Company, both companies having been raised in Paradise Township in Western York County.
Zollinger married Sabilla Barbara Machold on December 29, 1777, and the couple had three daughters, Elizabeth Crabbs, Mary Herbert, and Barbara Carley, and two sons, John and George. His wife’s name, “Sabilla,” will come into play later.
In 1782, Zollinger and his family moved from York County to Adams County. Subsequently, the family moved to Frederick County, Maryland, where he purchased a tract of farmland that had belonged to Ludwig Harbaugh.
According to the HSP (History Shark Productions) History Blog, Zollinger had subsequently hired a surveyor, Andrew Smith, on November 5, 1813, to plan a layout for a small community, which Zollinger dubbed “Zollinger Town.” HSP described the rudimentary village as having a 60-foot-wide street, aside of which were lots one-third of an acre in size,” and that several houses had been “built in the village before it was laid out” and that “the first houses built in the village were two-story houses, about 10 feet square.”
Subsequently, “Zollinger Town” apparently took on enough of a life on its own, that it became the town of Sabillasville, named after Zollinger’s wife, Sabilla.
For Zollinger’s service in the Revolutionary War, he had been granted an annual pension of $180 in 1831. Incidentally, as petty as that might sound, $180 in 1831 would be equivalent to $8,994.35 in today’s money.
Johann Peter Zollinger, Jr. passed away in Sabillasville on November 4, 1842, at the age of 85, and was buried, along with his wife, Sabilla, in St. John’s United Church of Christ Cemetery in Sabillasville.
