Source:
Centennial History of Coshocton  County, Ohio
By Wm Bahmer
Vols. I & II
Illustrated
- Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
1909

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Peter Harbold & Family	PETER HARBOLD.     In an analyzation of the character and life work of Peter Harbold we note many of the characteristics which have marked the German nation for many centuries, - the perseverance, reliability, energy and unconquerable determination to pursue a course that has been marked out.  It is these sterling qualities which have gained to Peter Harbold success in life and made him one of the substantial and valued citizens of Coshocton county.  He was born in Prussia, Feb. 28, 1852, a son of John and Elizabeth (Beer) Harbold, who were likewise natives of Prussia, whence they came to America in 1856, at which time they located in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where they made their home for a time but later came to Coshocton county, where the father passed away.  The mother, however, died in Missouri.  Their union was blessed with eight children: Jacob, of Tuscarawas county; Frederick and Elizabeth, who have departed this life; Catharine, who makes her home in Muskingum county; Peter, of this review; Adam and Caroline, who have passed away; and one who died in infancy.      Peter Harbold was a little lad of four years when he was brought by his parents from his native country to the Buckeye state.  He acquired a common-school education and remained at home until he reached man's estate, when he was married to Miss Josephine Rhodenstine, who was born in this state, a daughter of Charles and Gertrude Rhodenstine, whose family numbered eight children.  The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Harbold was blessed with six children, as follows:  Charles; Peter, Jr.; Fred; August, deceased; William, of Guernsey county, Ohio; and George, who has also departed this life.  The wife and mother died in 1884 and Mr. Harbold was again married, his second union being with Elma Heslip, who was born in Cochocton county, Mar. 21, 1867, a daughter of Joseph and Hester (Lovell) Heslip, who are mentioned below.  Mrs. Harbold has become the mother of eight children, of whom two died in infancy, those surviving being Henry T., Clarence A., Sarah E., Laura E. and Walter L.  Martha E. is also deceased.      Following his first marriage Mr. Harbold engaged in farming and through hard work, economy and determined purpose has prospered until he is today the owner of two hundred and ten acres, situated in Linton township.  He is engaged in general farming and follows the most practical and modern methods in his work, so that he is meeting with excellent success, each year adding to his financial resources.      Mr. Harbold gives his political support to the republican party but has never aspired to public office, feeling that his time is needed in his private affairs.  He and his wife are devoted members of the Methodist Protestant church.  They are estimable people who lead honest, upright lives and command uniform respect and regard in the community in which they make their home. Source: Centennial History of Coshocton County, Ohio - Vol. I - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. - 1909 - Page 414
W. A. Himebaugh	WILLIAM A. HIMEBAUGH.  No name in recent years has figured more prominently or honorably in connection with the rapid commercial and industrial development of Coshocton than has that of William A. Himebaugh.  At the same time he is recognized as one of the able lawyers at the bar of this district and, moreover, in his home city enjoys the friendship and kindly regard which are given him by reason of an unfailing courtesy and unassumed cordiality.  Always genial, he is ever willing to extend to any one the courtesy of an interview and at the same time, when business matters are under consideration, he is found as a most alert, energetic man, whose habits of thought and ready understanding enable him to place a correct valuation upon any business situation.      Mr. Himebaugh, never seeking in foreign fields the opportunities for advancement, confined his efforts to his native city with the result that while he has achieved notable success, Coshocton has also largely benefited by his efforts.  He was born here in the year 1857 and was about four years of age when his parents removed to a farm near Chili, this county.  There he was reared and rural surroundings in close communion with nature in her simpler forms, his preliminary education being acquired in the district schools, while in the school of experience he also learned many valuable lessons.  He afterward spent three years as a student in Mount Union  College and thus with good literary education to serve as a basis for professional knowledge, he took up the study of law in the offices of Nicholas & James, leading attorneys of Coshocton.  In 1885 he was admitted to the bar and has since remained a member of the profession in this city.  During the first five years of his practice he was associated with J. M. Compton and since that time has been alone.  His knowledge of the law is comprehensive and exact and he is rarely, if ever, at fault in the application of a legal principle.  He has figured as counsel for the prosecution or defense in many important cases that have appeared before the Coshocton courts but in more recent years he has confined his attention largely to the development of industrial and commercial enterprises.  In these the city  has been a large indirect beneficiary, the present material standing of Coshocton being attributable in no small degree to his efforts.  Among the various enterprises which owe a prosperous existence to him is the Coshocton Light, Heat & Power Company, of which he is now the president and general manager, with C. J. Bowen as vice president and J. D. Severns as secretary and treasurer.  This company is capitalized for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and has a perpetual franchise for doing an electric lighting business, at the same time holding a contract with the city for street lighting.  The heating department was installed in 1901, utilizing what is known as the Schott system of hot water heating. The energy and business insight of Mr. Himebaugh have largely been the factors which have placed this institution upon a substantial basis.  It is now recognized as one of the most important concerns of the city and its usefulness is continually increasing.      Another enterprise which is claiming the attention and energies of Mr. Himebaugh and will result in almost immeasurable benefit to the city is the development of Coshocton's water power.  In this age of electrical activity it has become a recognized fact that the most important element toward the generation of electric power is a fall of water. Electricity thus generated is much less expensive than that produced through fuel and scientists and capitalists are fully alive to the fact of the great advantages which can be secured where there is a natural water fall.  For some time Mr. Himebaugh has recognized Coshocton's possibilities in this direction, but the deterring factor was the old Ohio canal system.  In the early days the state had pre-empted the water rights for canal purposes but since the advent of rail transportation these have been idle and sluggish.  Private enterprise could not proceed, for the state had no fixed policy for its canals, but the legislature of904 settled the question on a basis which guarantees its adequate improvement and a permanent policy.  Under the new law the state board of public works commenced the improvement of the canal on a mammoth scale and where these improvements give commercial value to the water power made available, the state board is turning the asset to the advantage of the people through long time leases of the water rights.  This brought about Mr. Himebaugh's opportunity for utilizing the water power at Coshocton and although various delays have occurred, owing to the letting of contracts by the state, Himebaugh is now making extensive plans for furthering the interests of the Coshocton Heat, Light & Power Company through the water rights which he has secured.  Various corporate interests have benefited by the stimulus of his cooperation, including the Home Building & Savings Company, of which he is secretary, and the Coshocton National Bank, of which he is a director.  He is a stockholder in the Coshocton Glove Company; is vice president of the Vail Company; and is interested in other business enterprises, being a man of unusual executive ability and sound judgment.      On the 22d of December, 1886, occurred the marriage of Mr. Himebaugh and Miss Emma Markley, a daughter of David Markley of Canal Lewisville.  They have one son, known in the family as William III.  The Himebaugh residence is one of the most beautiful homes of Coshocton, located at the corner of Orange and Seventh streets and standing in the midst of a fine lawn.  It is, moreover, attractive by reason of its warm-hearted hospitality and is the scene of many delightful social functions.      Mr. Himebaugh is interested in everything pertaining to Coshocton's welfare, is serving as a member of the board of trustees of the public library and gives his active aid and cooperation to various movements which work for the city's upbuilding. In all of his public and business relations he has manifested an ability of seeing to the very center of things and from the center to the outmost circumference of their possibilities.  He has learned to correctly value life's contacts and experiences, to put a just estimate upon his own powers and to realize what may be accomplished through a combination of forces; but while preeminently a business man, his time largely occupied by his professional and industrial interests, he is a genial, companionable gentlemen, who always has a cordial word and warm hand grasp for his friends, the number of whom is almost coextensive with the number of his acquaintances. Source: Centennial History of Coshocton County, Ohio - Vol. II - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. - 1909 - Page 206
	WILLIAM SHERMAN HOOTMAN.     For twenty-one years a representative of public education in Ohio William Sherman Hootman is now occupying the position of principal of the Walnut street school in Coshocton.  He has thus served for five years, and throughout the entire period of his school work he has been actuated by that ideal, which should be the purpose of every instructor, to make his work a basis for character development and for business success - in other words, a preparation for life's responsible duties.      Mr. Hootman was born Nov. 12, 1868, at Plainfield, Ohio.  His father, Henry J. Hootman, a farmer by occupation, was born Dec. 9, 1824, and died July 29, 1899.  He wedded Mary Ferguson, whose birth occurred Feb. 11, 1833, and who is still living in Plainfield, Ohio.  Spending his boyhood under the parental roof of the home farm, William S. Hootman attended the district schools and completed a course in the village high school at Plainfield.  He has since taken work in the Chicago University, through the university extension system, and also at Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Since completing his high school course in 1887 he has devoted his life to educational work in connection with the public schools of Ohio, teaching first in the district schools and in 1892 securing a village school.  In 1900 he removed to Coshocton and has since been a factor in the educational progress of this city.  In 1902 he was elected principal of the Sycamore street school, and in 1903 was promoted to the Walnut street school, of which he has now been the principal for more than five years.  He has ever worked toward higher standards and more effective methods in teaching, and is inspiring both teachers and pupils with much of his own zeal and enthusiasm for the work.      On the 24th of December, 1895, Mr. Hootman was married to Miss Olivia May Wells, a daughter of Aaron D. and Anna A. Wells, of Plainfield, Ohio.  While interested in those questions that are of vital importance to the locality, the state and the nation, as features in the world's progress, Mr. Hootman has never sought nor held political office.  His social nature finds expression in his membership in Coshocton Lodge, No. 96, A. F. & A. M. and he is a charter member of the Wranglers, - men's literary club of Coshocton. Source: Centennial History of Coshocton County, Ohio - Vol. II - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. - 1909 - Page 342
	Z. T. HUMPHREY owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Tiverton township and follows farming, which has always been his life work.  He was born in Coshocton county, Nov. 10, 1846, a son of William and Elizabeth (McMan) Humphrey.  The paternal grandfather, William Humphrey, was a major in the Revolutionary war and lived in the east near Narraganset Bay.  His son, William, Jr., was born near Providence, Rhode Island, and was a sailor on the ocean between Narraganset Bay and the West Indies for twelve years.  After leaving the sea he came to Coshocton county and engaged in farming until the time of his death, Jan. 28, 1865.  He had three sons who served in the Civil war; John, who served three years and five months, being a member of company F, Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; George W., who was a member of Company G.  One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served two years and nine months; and J. M., who served more than two years, first enlisting in the Fifth Illinois Cavalry and later in Company M, Ninth Ohio Cavalry.  The mother of our subject was born in Butler county, Ohio, but was married in Coshocton county.  She became the mother of four children, two sons and two daughters:  Sarah, the wife of H. P. Russel, now living retired in Iowa; Z. T., of this review; Mary, the wife of Alonzo Spurgeon a farmer of Tiverton township; and Thomas, who has departed this life.  The mother passed away in 1903, having reached an advanced age, and her remains were buried in Tiverton cemetery.      Z. T. Humphrey, the eldest son and second member of the family, acquired his early education in the district schools of Tiverton township and afterward attended a select school at Spring Mountain.  He assisted his father in the operation of the home farm until the latter's death, after which he assumed the management of the farm for his mother, remaining with her until he was thirty-six years old.  He then engaged in farming on his own account, first in Perry township, operating rented land for four years.  He then purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Tiverton township, which constitutes his present place of residence.  He has made all the improvements here and has erected all of the buildings on the place, making it a valuable property, while its near appearance indicates his progressive and enterprising methods.  He is practical in his work and is meeting with a splendid measure of success.      Mr. Humphrey established a home of his own in 1873, when he wedded Miss Eliza J. Cooper, a resident of Coshocton county.  They have become the parents of six children but one of the number is deceased:  Hattie, the wife of Willis Worthman, who follows farming in Tiverton township; Carl and Edna, twins, the former a farmer of his township, and the latter deceased; W. C., a farmer of Orrville, Ohio; and Blanch and Bernice, twins, at home.      Mr. Humphrey gives his political support to the men and measures of the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Disciples church, of which his wife and family are also members, and of which he is an elder.  He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends.  He is always courteous, kindly and affable, and those who know him personally have for him warm regard.  His life is exemplary in all respects and the people of Coshocton county are proud to call him their own. Source: Centennial History of Coshocton County, Ohio - Vol. I - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. - 1909 - Page 334

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