Posted By:
Tom HuffordThat's a story that supposedly Jake Atz told, but I've never found anything to back up his claim that he was born Zimmerman.
Atz's grandparents, John and Catherine Atz, came to the US from Wurttemburg (Germany) in 1857 and settled in Philadelphia, where John was a tailor. Their son, Jacob, came with them, and is listed in the 1870 Philadelphia census as a baker. Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Jacob married Annie, born in Virginia of Irish parents, and moved to Washington DC. A daughter, Margaret "Maggie" was born in July 1875 in Pennsylvania, and their son Jacob (who would end up as a T206'er) was born July 1, 1879 in Washington, DC.
Young Jacob is listed in the 1900 census as "ball player" and his widowed father was still a baker. If Jake the ball player's family was originally named Zimmerman, they must have changed it to Atz prior to 1860, not as a result of Jake being last in line when the ballplayers were paid!