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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York published by John M. Gresham & Co. in 1891.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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WILLIAM L. HIMEBAUGH. The term German-American is usually synonymous with success. William L. Himebaugh began life with nothing, and today, although less than forty years of age, is at the head of a manufacturing business employing not less than twenty-five men. He was born in Venango, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Susan (Sherrard) Himebaugh. The ancestors of W. L. Himebaugh were all of sturdy German stock, his grandparents emigrating to this country from the fatherland. The paternal grandfather was the parent of three children: Polly, Jacob and Joseph. These children were born in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania, near Erie. Joseph, the father of William L., died at Venango, Pa., where, up to the time of his death, he was a farmer and carpenter, and also filled the office of justice of the peace for many years. He was a popular man in his locality, had recognized good judgment, and after once occupying the office the people continued to re-elect him to it, until advanced age compelled him to peremptorily decline to again serve. Like most of the Germans of his day he was an uncompromising democrat, but was also a deeply religious man and a communicant of the German Lutheran church. Susan Sherrard was Mr. Himebaugh’s second wife, and she bore him seven children; with a former wife, Matilda Grear, he had five children. They were: Jacob, David, Gusta, Delila and Sarah; and Matilda, now Mrs. Lesher, living at Venango, Pennsylvania; Almira, living at Edinboro, Erie county, Pennsylvania, is the wife of Alex. A. Torrey; Hiram, who married Orlina Hotchkiss, lives at Venango, Pa.; Joseph, whose wife was Anna Beystone, lives at Jamestown and is connected with William L. in the manufacture of woven-wire bed-springs, cots and spiral springs; John, also living at Venango, Pa, married to Lydia Hotchkiss; Ransom, married Emma Baker and moved to a point in Kansas near Shiloh; and William L.

William L. Himebaugh, like many of our best men, got his education in the public schools, and when grown to manhood began to toil as a day laborer in a saw-mill, alternating with farm work. This he continued for a while and then moved to the oil region, where for a season he continued to labor, but later took an interest in two wells while working by the day. This continued until 1886, when he came to Jamestown, and with his brother Joseph began the manufacture of bed-springs, in which they are still engaged. Politically Mr. Himebaugh is an unswerving prohibitionist, theoretically and practically, and also is a member of the Methodist church.

On the 22d of May, 1877, he married Henrietta Standish, daughter of Alonson and Lora Standish, who resided near Northeast, Pa. This union has been blest with three children: Bertha E., Neal and Henry.

William L. Himebaugh is still a young man, and the goods he manufactures are of recognized merit, so it may be expected that the business he has already made prominent may, in the future, become vast.

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This family biography is one of 658 biographies included in Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York published in 1891. 

View additional Chautauqua County, New York family biographies here: Chautauqua County, New York Biographies

View a map of 1897 Chautauqua County, New York here: Chautauqua County, New York Map

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