Zerby Family

The Zerby family has been traced back to Martin Zerbe (1640-1694) in Kettenbach, Nassau, Hessen (Germany).  Below givis a very high overview of the genealogyy of the Zerby family. Additional information is available by going to the links at the left.

In 1710 Martin's son, Johann Martin migrated with his family to Columbia County in the province of New York. In 1723 Martin migrated to the Tulpehocken region of northwestern Berks County, PA where many of his neighbors had moved to years earlier. The next four generations of the Zerbe’s remained in Pennsylvania, probably living as farmers.

John Zerby (1808) - John lived for twenty years or more in Allensville, Mifflin County, PA, where he was engaged in wool manufacturing. He then migrated to near Concord, Morgan County, IL with his family of eight children sometime around1852. His son, Lewis E., remained in Illinois in the Springfield area.

John H Zerby was raised in Springfield, IL and moved to Carrollton, MO, where in 1883 he met and married Nancy Brandom. They moved to Supply, OK.

Percy B. Zerby worked in the Bank of Supply where he met and married Ora Million whose family owned the bank.  After the bank failed in 1931 he went to worked for the Oklahma State Highway Dept in Perry until he retired.  He spent his final years in Oklahoma City where his daughter lived.

NOTE:
A good amount of the information that I have about the Zerby family is a result of Dr. John F. Vallentine’s efforts to document his family. This information was published in 1980 in his Vallentine Family History. I have included the information with his permission.

I found a letter from Mr. Vallentine in Mother's things when I cleaned the house out. He was seeking information on the Zerby family and enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope (using a 4¢ stamp). Since I collect stamps I knew it had to be from the 50's or the early 60's. I found a John Vallentine on the Internet and assumed it was his son. I called and discovered that John was still living and that his great-great-grandmother was the sister of my great-great-great-grandfather. He had written to my Mother in 1962. He has been very helpful and sent me a book that he published in 1980 on the Vallentine family. There is a chapter in this book on the Zerbe family. I knew he had been a professor at BYU but did not realize that he was also a professional genealogist until his second letter. Sometimes we just get lucky.

Also I have found a website that has a good amount of information on Martin Zerbe and his descendants. It is very well documentd. http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/z/e/r/Mark-D-Zerbe/GENE1-0001.html . To find a particular individual go to down to the links section and select My RoootsWeb Site. Click on advance search and enter Zerby and then enter the first name, such as Percy.

Ed