Casper Zürn Sr., also spelled Sain, was born in the Palatinate (Germany) and immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1749. Zürn later made his way to Rowan County, North Carolina, where he may have served as a commissioner in 1776 when that body indicted Toney, an enslaved African American man, for arson and assault. Zürn died in present-day Davie County, North Carolina in about 1812.

*Due to the poor quality handwriting sample and lack of other available documents, it is difficult to know for sure whether the signer was in fact Zürn. This assessment is merely an educated guess based on the people known to be present in Rowan County at the time through other available records.