Peter Zimmerman, as well as other families by the same name, came to Upper Canada from New Jersey, USA in 1794. Peter and two of his brothers settled near Beamsville on the Niagara Penninsula. About 1804 two of Peter's sons, Peter Jr. and Mathias, decided to relocate to Halton County were land was becoming available. Peter Jr. chose land on Appleby Line while Mathias, the subject of this genealogy, settled in the village of Wellington Square, now known as Burlington, Ontario.