Peter F. Zeimet, state labor union official and railroad employee, was born in Dane, Wisconsin, on November 1, 1873. At the age of twelve he moved with his parents, Joseph and Hannah Zeimet, to Madison. After working for a local butcher, during the late 1890's he joined the army and served as a corporal with the Fifth Cavalry during the Spanish-American War. After military service he returned to Madison and in 1900 began working as a brakeman for the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad (C.,M.&St.P.R.R.). He married Julia Kelley (1877-1947) in 1904, and they had two children, Agnes Zeimet Hill and Helen Zeimet Weiss. Zeimet remained with the C.,M.&St.P.R.R. for sixty-two years, becoming a yard switchman in 1908, yard foreman in 1918, assistant yardmaster in 1920, and yardmaster in 1925. He retired as yardmaster in 1950 but continued as a foreman until 1962.
Zeimet joined the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) in August 1901 as a founding member of a local union, Mendota Lodge No. 606, Madison. During his union career he held office on three of the four levels of the BRT organizational structure, which was made up of local lodges, general committees, state legislative boards, and the Grand Lodge. He participated actively in the affairs of Mendota Lodge No. 606 from its inception, serving as journal agent and grievance committee member in 1901-1902; president, 1914-1917; and financier (treasurer), 1918-1919.
Zeimet's participation in the middle level of the BRT hierarchy is less well documented, and this account of his activities as a member of the General Committee of the C.,M.&St.P.R.R. (Eastern Lines) and the Wisconsin Legislative Board has been taken from a variety of sources, including newspaper obituaries and contacts with his family. He reportedly first served on the General Committee of the C.,M.&St.P.R.R., which represented Mendota Lodge No. 606, in 1911 and intermittently thereafter for a thirteen-year period. General committees of the BRT were formed on railroad systems which were represented by three or more local lodges, and they exercised broad authority as the link between local unions and the Grand Lodge. Their duties included the supervision of grievance proceedings between BRT members and railroads, and, acting jointly, they served as an advisory body to the Grand Lodge.
Zeimet reportedly served as the BRT's Legislative Representative for Wisconsin for several years, and his 1925 term is well documented in the collection. State legislative boards were formed from among the legislative representatives of local lodges, and the boards' representative served as a salaried lobbyist during the annual session of the state legislature. Zeimet's activities as Wisconsin Legislative Representative included drafting proposed legislation, promoting support for pro-union legislation among legislators and other state government officials, consulting with state and local BRT leaders, cooperating with officials of related labor organizations, and keeping rank-and-file BRT members informed of union issues on the state level.
The collection suggests that Zeimet did not participate actively in the affairs of the BRT after 1930. He died on March 7, 1964.
