6 Oct 1912, Jacob K. ZIMMERMAN died at The Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, Mo., age about 70. He died leaving neither widow nor will but an estate worth more than a million dollars. It read like a serial in the Kansas City Star as people sent their family trees in hopes of proving they were a legitimate heir. In all, there were twenty-seven heirs, one of them was my gg grandfather, John Hancock MARTIN, a tailor in Kansas City and "nephew of the half-blood" to Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Also on the list of nieces and nephews was Laura HODGINS but no address was published. Jacob K. ZIMMERMAN had three sisters - whose names I don't know - and I presume Laura to have been one of their descendants.

Here is my family relationship to Jacob K. ZIMMERMAN: Jacob's mother was Hannah (Clark) MARTIN (1798-1875), widow of Thomas D. MARTIN; Hannah and Thomas MARTIN had one son who lived to adulthood: William Davison MARTIN (29 Jul 1820-2 Mar 1896) father of John Hancock MARTIN. Hannah was widowed in 1823 and was remarried (date unknown) to John ZIMMERMAN and Jacob K. was born about 1841. The MARTIN family, and allied lines, are to be found in Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties of Pennsylvania. A newspaper article places Jacob ZIMMERMAN's burial at "his old home in Hanover, Pa." Assuming the reference is to the town rather than several small townships, this would be York County.

I hope to locate a HODGINS descendant who knows more of our common history as well as the story of the inheritance. I have collected newspaper articles and am glad to share what I know.