US Congressman. He was born on a farm near the village of Glenallen, Missouri, and was educated at local public schools, before entering the Mayfield-Smith Academy in Marble Hill, Missouri. He later attended and graduated from the Southeast Missouri State College in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1904, and then found work as the principal of the Dexter High School in Dexter, Missouri, from 1904 to 1908. He then attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, where he studied in the law department eventually graduating from there in 1911. He was admitted to the bar and he commenced to practicing after moving to Kennett, Missouri, that same year. At the outbreak of the First World War, he put his law career on hold and joined the United States Army with the rank of Private in 1918. Following the war, he returned to Missouri and resumed his law practice. In 1919, he married Adah G. Hemphill and the two had a son named Joe Adlai Zimmerman who was born two years later. He later became a strong proponent of education reform and went on to serve as a Member of the Board of Education for the city of Kennett, Missouri, from 1926 to 1938, and was also a Member of the board of regents for the Southeast Missouri State College from 1933 to 1948. During this time he took an interest in politics and ran for a seat in the United States Congress and won. A Democrat, he then served Missouri's 10th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1935 to 1948. He passed away suddenly from a heart-related issue on April 7, 1948, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 67, while still in office. Following his death, he was succeeded in office by Missouri Representative Paul C. Jones. His funeral, which was a sad, but grand event was held a few days after his death at the Baldwin Funeral Home in Baldwin, Missouri, and at a local armoury. An estimated 1300 people came to pay their respects inside the building while another few hundred waited on the street outside but was never able to get in. The flowers for the funeral was also the largest amount of floral arrangements ever seen at a funeral in Southeast Missouri. His burial service though was only attended by family members and a few friends. Following his death, he was succeeded in office by Missouri Representative Paul C. Jones. He was also a longtime member of the Knight Templars, Freemasons, and the American Legion.