Alvis Clayton Zimmerman, M. D. Having survived all his contemporaries, Doctor Zimmerman may be justly called the pioneer physician and surgeon at Perry, where he established himself in practice twenty years ago and where his skill and ability have brought him a commendable place professionally and in the social and civic life of that community.
Doctor Zimmerman was born in Jefferson County, Kansas, April 9, 1874, and represents a very early pioneer and territorial family in this section of Kansas. He is a son of the venerable Mathias Coffman Zimmerman, who is still living at Oskaloosa, Kansas, retired, past four score years of age. The Zimmerman ancestry is traced back to Holland, and from there it was brought to Pennsylvania in Colonial times. Doctor Zimmerman’s grandfather was born in Pennsylvania in 1790, and on going west as a pioneer located in Ray County, Missouri, where he followed farming and where he died about 1840, long before that country was well settled up.
It was in Ray County, Missouri, that Mathias C. Zimmerman was born in 1836. He grew up and married in that community, became a farmer, and was a very successful stock raiser and handled hogs and cattle for many years. In 1857, at the age of twenty-one, he came to the Territory of Kansas and bought a farm in Jefferson County. That farm consists of 160 acres and is situated near Oskaloosa. He had owned it for sixty years, and its development and improvement have followed in response to his efforts and management. The venerable Mr. Zimmerman is a republican and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Matilda Devol Phillip, who was born at Rolla, Missouri, in 1846. Their children, four in number, are: Theresa, wife of James Carter, a farmer at Malball, Oklahoma; Lara, wife of Charles Pipher, a farmer near Oskaloosa; Doctor Zimmerman; and Maude, wife of Thomas Hackott, their home being the old farm of her father.
Doctor Zimmerman began his education in the country, afterward attended the graded schools at Oskaloosa and also the high school. For his professional education he studied in the University Medical College at Kansas City, Missouri, where he was graduated M. D. in 1897. He at once opened his office and began practice at Perry, and had long enjoyed a large medical and surgical practice along general lines. Doctor Zimmerman is a member of the Jefferson County and the State Medical societics and the American Medical Association. His offices are on Front Street, and he owne his residence on Elm Street. Doctor Zimmerman is affiliated with Perry Lodge No. 415, Anejent Free and Accepted Masons, and is active in the Perry Commercial Club.
He first married, in 1900, Maidee Raines, daughter of Mr. J. L. Raines, the well known Perry banker. She died at Perry in 1902, with no children to survive her. In 1911, at Perry, Doctor Zimmerman married Miss Faye Payne, daughter of J. H. and Ella (Whan) Payne. Her father, who died at Perry in 1917, was a painter and decorator. Her mother is still living at Perry. Doctor and Mrs. Zimmerman have two children: Alvis C., Jr., born October 26, 1912, and Regina Claire, born February 24, 1914.