Biography of John Zimmerman, pages 330/331/332/333.  History 
of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 
Indianapolis, 1914.



The character of a community is determined in a large 
measure by the lives of a comparatively few of its members. 
If its moral and intellectual status be good, if in social 
way it is a pleasant place in which to reside, if its 
reputation for the integrity of its citizens has extended 
into other localities, it will be found that the standards 
set by the leading men have been high and their influence 
such as to mold the charters and shape the lives of those 
with whom they mingle.  In placing John  Zimmerman in the 
front rank of such men, justice is rendered a biographical 
fact universally recognized throughout the locality which is 
honored by his citizenship. Although a quiet and unassuming 
man, with no ambition for public position or leadership,  he 
has contributed much to the material, civic and moral 
advancement of this community, while his admirable qualities 
of head and heart and the straightforward course of his 
daily life have won for him the esteem and confidence of the 
circles in which he moves.  John Zimmerman was born at Leo, 
Allen county, Indiana, on January 17, 1868, and he is the 
son of Elias and Mary (Bittenger) Zimmerman, who are 
represented elsewhere in this work. In the fall of 1875 the 
family removed to Auburn, where the subject has since 
resided.  He secured his education in the public schools, 
though from the age of nine years he began to work in the 
Zimmerman factory, when not in school. After completing the 
high school course at Auburn, Mr. Zimmerman received 
preparation for this future career by attending a business 
college at Ft. Wayne. In April, 1886, he permanently 
identified himself with the factory, in the affairs of which 
he has since been a prominent figure.  At the age of twelve 
years he had been placed in charge of the engine room, where 
he had worked hard, a part of his duties consisting of 
firing the boiler with green saw-dust. In 1886 he went into 
the office and took charge of the books, really acting as 
secretary, though not officially elected to that position 
until 1889, when he had reached his majority. He has 
continued to act as secretary, and for many years has also 
served as treasurer. In 1910, upon the death of his brother, 
Franklin T., he was made general manager, and he is now 
discharging the multitudinous duties of these several 
office, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.  The 
Zimmerman Mfg. Co., has had an interesting and successful 
career. In 1873 Franklin T. Zimmerman and a partner named 
Watson started a planing mill, in which they intended to 
manufacture building material. The following year Watson  
withdrew from the firm, selling his interest to George B. 
Zimmerman, a brother of Franklin R.   About 1876 their 
father, Elias Zimmerman, bought the interests of George B., 
and the business was operated under the name of Zimmerman 
Company until December,  1886, when the Zimmerman Mfg. Co. 
was incorporated, with the following officers: President, 
John W. Baxter; secretary, Elias Zimmerman; Treasurer, 
Albert Robbins; general manager, F. T. Zimmerman. The 
planing mill was devoted to the manufacture of church 
furniture for a few years, but about 1882 they began the 
making of wind mills and tanks, in which they continued to 
be successfully engaged until 1908, when these features of 
the business were sold to the Celina Mfg. Co.,  of Celina, 
Ohio. In 1890 the Zimmerman Mfg. Co., began the making of 
buggies, an industry that has been eminently successful and 
which has steadily grown in volume and importance, the 
output amounting to about two thousand five hundred vehicles 
a year. In 1907 the company began the manufacture of 
automobile, in which also they have met with pronounced 
success. The original building owned by the company was 
about sixty feet by eighty feet in size, but the rapid and 
continuous increase in the business has necessitated a 
number of additions and improvement. In 1908 the first half 
of the present factory building was erected, it being a 
substantial concrete structure, and in 1909 the other part 
was built, as well as two other three-story buildings. The 
main building it two hundred and eighty feet by sixty feet 
in size, and, with the other buildings, provides about 
seventy-five thousand square feet of floor space. About 
eighty men are constantly employed, most of whom are experts 
in their individual lines. In the manufacture of 
automobiles, the company has turned out a few very light 
cars, though the greater part of their output has been of 
the four-cylinder type; they are now making a six-cylinder 
car,  ranging in price from sixteen hundred to twenty-three 
hundred dollars and which is the equal of any similar-priced 
car on the market.  Though the automobile branch of the 
business has assumed extensive proportions, the buggy branch 
of the business has not been allowed to languish, but is 
looked after carefully, both in the manufacture and sale. 
The present officers of the Zimmerman Mfg. Co. are as 
follows: President Elias Zimmerman; vice-president C. C. 
Schlatter, of Fort Wayne; secretary-treasurer and general 
manager, John Zimmerman. In the splendid success which has 
characterized this company, John Zimmerman has been an 
important factor, for he is a man of acknowledged business 
ability, sagacity and far-sightedness, who has won and 
retains the confidence and respect of all who have had 
dealings with him.  In the civic life of the community Mr. 
Zimmerman has taken an intelligent interest and has 
contributed in a definite measure to the advancement and 
improvement of the city. In1898 he was elected a member of 
the town board, while in 1900 he was elected a member of the 
city council and was re-elected in 1902, thus serving six 
years. During this period many important improvements were 
made, including the electric light, water works and the 
sewer system, while the paving of the streets was begun. Mr. 
Zimmerman is a member of the Commercial Cub and has been 
active in the work within its province.  On May 20, 1891, 
Mr. Zimmerman was united in marriage to Clara E. Altenburg, 
the daughter of Henry Altenburg, and they are the parents of 
three children, namely: Nellie, who graduated from the  
Auburn high school in 1911; Joseph, now a student in high 
school, and Lois, who is also in the public school. 
Religiously, Mr. Zimmerman and his family are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Zimmerman was 
superintendent of the Sunday school for thirteen years, or 
until his resignation in 1910. He and his family are popular 
in the social life of the community, and to the son Joe 
belongs the distinction of having originated the slogan now 
used by the Commercial Club. The club offered a prize in the 
spring of 1912 for the best slogan for Auburn, and the one 
suggested by Joe Zimmerman, “Auburn Forever, with Honest 
Endeavor,” was awarded the prize and on March 26, 1912, was 
adopted as the slogan of the club. Personally, John 
Zimmerman is a man of genial and kindly impulses, who easily 
makes friend, whom he always retains. He holds worthy 
prestige in business and industrial circles, being regarded 
as distinctively a man of affairs and wielding a potent 
influence among those with whom he associates.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com