Joseph Henry Zumbalen, professor of law in the Washington University was born in St. Louis, July 4, 1861, a son of Henry and Augusta (Wurtz) Zumbalen, the former a native of Oldenburg, Germany, while the latter was born in Emmerich, in the Rhine province of Germany. The father came to the new world in young manhood, and the mother crossed the Atlantic with her parents when a maiden of twelve summers. Both settled in St. Louis where they were subsequently married and-continued to reside until- called to the home beyond.
Joseph Henry Zumbalen was educated in the Lutheran parochial school and in the public schools of St. Louis, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. He afterward attended the Washington University from which he received his LL. B. degree in 1887. He later entered upon the practice of law in partnership with Clinton Rowell and Franklin Ferriss, the latter being subsequently a member of the state supreme court. Mr. Rowell died about 1908 and Mr. Zumbalen continued his partnership with Judge Ferriss, but in 1916 gave up the active work of the courts to accept the professorship in law in the Washington University. He has since been identified with this prominent institution and has displayed superior ability in the educational fields.
Mr. Zumbalen is a member of the St. Louis, the Missouri State and the American Bar Associations and enjoys the highest respect and good will of his professional colleagues and. contemporaries. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but he has never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and his energies upon his professional interests. His knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence is comprehensive and exact and he imparts with clearness and forcefulness the knowledge which he has acquired. His exposition of a legal principle is always cogent and impressive and he is regarded as one of the leading representatives of the faculty of the law department of Washington University.