Sarah Summers, daughter of Elizabeth (née Summers) and Jacob Summers, was born probably around 1805 to 1815 in Washington County, Maryland. Sarah's parents were married in 1803 in Washington County, and enumerated there in 1810, 1820, and 1830. In the 1830 U.S. Census, Jacob Summers was recorded on the same page as Michael Zittle, senior, of Zittlestown, father of John Zittle, Sarah's future husband.

Sarah Summers and John Zittle were married on 19 June 1833 in Washington County. The couple are known to have two daughters: Elizabeth Ann and Mary Ellen. Sarah predeceased her husband, but her date of death is unknown. John Zittle remarried in 1845, and is known to have predeceased his father, who died on 7 January 1850.

Burial

"There is a John and Sarah Zittle buried in the older section of the Boonsboro Cemetery. Most likely it is this couple." (Elizabeth Jayne Blair and Leona Miller Hart, The Descendants of Michael Zittle, Sr. (Anchorage, Alaska: n.p., 1995), p. 144.)

Notes

Connection of the Summers and Zittle families. "Michael Zittle [senior] purchased his first tract or parcel of land called 'Foxes Last Shift' on South Mountain on April 1, 1811, from Peter Summers and his wife Margaret and Jacob Summers and his wife Elizabeth. [...] These parcels of land are significant in the settlement of the children of Michael Zittle and the establishment of Zittlestown." (Blair and Hart, p. 3.)

A Washington County, Maryland, Equity Court Abstract identifies the parents and relations of Sarah Zittle (née Summers). According to Catherine Summers vs. Elie Summers and Others, Settlement of Estate, filed 10 May 1853, Jacob Summers, who died in summer 1838, and his widow Elizabeth, who died in April 1853, were the parents of seven children. These included Sarah, wife of John Zittle, both deceased, who were the parents of two minor children: Elizabeth Ann Zittle, age 18, and Mary Ellen Zittle, age 14. (Equity #1243. Book 5, 196-206.)(https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc6000/sc6016/county/washington/equity.htm)

"Summers Sarah | [page] 162 | John 'Little' | 6-19-1833 | [minister:] Reck" (Clerk of the Circuit Court, Washington County, Maryland, Index Marriage Licenses, 1799 to 1860, Washington County, n.p. [image 248/299].

• John's brother Peter H. also married in 1833, also indexed as "Little."

1830 U.S. Census, District 6 (Boonsboro Dist.), Washington Co., Maryland, p. 105 (written).

[13.] Summers, Jacob.

• Household of 11 persons, including a female 15 thru 19, and a female 20 thru 19.

• Same page, 9th line, "Sittle" (Zittle), Michael, father of John Zittle. (Sittle, Michael, jr. on 22nd line.)

1850 U.S. Census, District 1, Washington Co., Maryland; dwelling 1303, family 1361, lines 28-31, p. 210 (printed), 13 Aug 1850.

28. Elizabeth Summers, 73, Md,, cannot read or write.

29. Cath. -----, 43, Md.

30. Mary E. Zittle, 11, Md. attended school.

31. Jas. K. P. Summers, 5, Md. [James Knox Polk Summers]

• Elizabeth Summers with unmarried daughter Catherine, and orphaned grandchildren Mary (Sarah's daughter) and James.

The 1912 Maryland death certificate of daughter Elizabeth Ann Alexander (née Zittle) identifies her parents as Sallie Summers and John Zittle, both born in Maryland.

Reviewed 14 March 2024.