Biography/History

James Garfield Zimmerman was born on December 7, 1878 in Wisconsin. His father, Charles F. Zimmerman, was born circa 1849 in Prussia. His mother, Elizabeth, was born in Wisconsin in 1849. Charles and Elizabeth were married in Milwaukee and had six children: Flora E. (b. 1872), Oliver B. (b. 1874), Viola M. (b. 1877), James G., Clarence I. (b. 1879), and Lilian H. (b. 1883).

James attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1899 to 1904, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electro-Chemical Engineering. He returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1912-1913 and earned a second degree in Electrical Engineering. He taught classes at the School of Automotive Electricity in Milwaukee in 1921-1922, where he was also the secretary of the Society of Automotive Electricity.

Sometime after 1917, James Zimmerman married Fannie Otjen. She died during childbirth soon after they married, along with the twins she was carrying. In 1923, he married Katharine Hall. They had one child, born in 1924, named James (Jimmy) Hall Zimmerman.

Zimmerman had various engineering and research and development jobs throughout his life, including jobs at the Mechanical Appliance Company in Milwaukee working with electric motors and generators; Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in West Allis working with electrical and mechanical machinery; Splitdorf Electrical Company in Chicago working with magnetos, spark plugs, and electrical appliances; and the Burgess Battery Company in Madison working with dry batteries and mufflers.

James was an inventor, and spent much of his time creating and promoting his various inventions. This required considerable time and money; often he received loans from his wife, Katharine, and his mother-in-law, Josephine, which caused some strain in the family. The inventions that James spent the most time on included a dry cell storage battery and a color photographic process. Other inventions of note include a Shadograf machine, an automatic pencil eraser, and various inventions related to the automobile. He held numerous patents, although none of them ever brought much, if any, success. He was also involved in helping to sell and promote the inventions of his friends, and was heavily invested in the Lawrence Engine Cycle, invented by P.A. Lawrence. James died while in Gentry, Arkansas of an abscessed burst appendix on April 20, 1939.

List of patents owned by James G. Zimmerman (list not exhaustive):

Patent #	Date (filed; approved)	Description
1,023,543	1911; 1912	Resistance element
1,055,963	1912; 1913	Current collecting device for dynamo-electric machines
1,178,772	1911; 1916	Electrical measuring instrument
1,187,796	1910; 1916	Fluid pressure governor
1,200,687	1913; 1916	Potential starter
1,223,549	1912; 1917	Circuit-protecting apparatus
1,231,109	1913; 1917	Automatic synchronizer
1,579,464	1918; 1926	Method and means for producing colored photographs
1,583,381	1918; 1926	Film Pack
1,741,802	1923; 1929	Rheostatic circuit
1,746,330	1926; 1930	Color photography
1,892,691	1929; 1933	Coating Composition for Dry Cells
1,892,692	1929; 1933	Dry Cell
1,916,709	1927; 1933	Dry Battery
1,972,123	1931; 1934	Shadow Projector
2,075,492	1932; 1937	Storage battery plate