Obituary: Winnebago County, Wisconsin: John W. HIMEBAUGH ************************************************************************ Submitted by Kathy Grace, June 2005 © All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ Daily Northwestern December 4, 1906 p. 1 Mr. Himebaugh Dead Prominent Lumberman of This City Expires Suddenly in Philadelphia Monday Evening Telegraphic advices from Philadelphia Monday evening, brought the sad announcement of the sudden death of John W. Himebaugh of this city, a pioneer lumberman and vice president of the Paine Lumber company of Oshkosh. Mr. Himebaugh died at the Continental hotel in Philadelphia at about seven o'clock Monday evening, death coming with practically no warning. While the exact cause of his demise is not known, it is believed that the immediate cause was a severe illness which visited him in 1904 leaving effects of a lasting nature. He was subject to a nervous disease, and this may in a measure have contributed to his death. Early in November, Mr. Himebaugh left Oshkosh for a business trip in the east. On his way home he was staying at Philadelphia for a short time and he had intended making a visit at Cleveland, O., before coming to this city. The announcement of his death comes as a great shock to his relatives and to his many friends in Oshkosh, with which city he had been identified for forty years. Mrs. Himebaugh is at present in San Diego, Cal., where she had gone to spend the winter. She is expected to arrive in the city this week. Mr. and Mrs. Himebaugh spent last winter in San Diego, and the deceased had intended to go there about the middle of January. John Wesley Himebaugh was born in Wattsburg, Pa., July 13, 1848, and was therefore fifty-eight years of age. He was the son of Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Matthias Himebaugh, the former a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and a man now over ninety years old. Mr. Himebaugh's early life was passed in Appleton, where he attended Lawrence university for a time. When he was fourteen years old he enlisted as a fifer in the volunteer troops at Appleton, and went to the front with a company, serving in the civil war and being given an honorable discharge. Upon his return from the army he was engaged as a clerk in a shoe store in Oshkosh owned by William R. Stickney, at present the secretary of the local board of trade. Later he worked for an uncle in Sheboygan, being a clerk there. From Sheboygan, Mr. Himebaugh came to Oshkosh about forty years ago. He entered the employ of the firm of C.N. Paine & Co., as bookkeeper. He continued with this establishment until its reorganization under the name of the Paine Lumber company and ever since that time he has been identified with the same firm. Mr. Himebaugh became a director and secretary in the firm in 1883 when the Paine Lumber company limited was organized. On the death of Charles N. Paine in 1885 he became vice president of the company, an office which he held at the time of his death. The deceased was man of extensive travel and broad information. He was a courteous and genial gentleman and possessed of a remarkable memory, having a rich store of anecdote and a happy faculty of reminiscence which endeared him to his friends. Deceased was a thorough business man, and was an important factor in the building up of the present business of the Paine Lumber company in the manufacture of sash, doors and other lumber products. His connection with this company for a continuous period of forty years attests his experience. In the business world, particularly in the line of the manufacture of woodwork, he was one of the most prominent in the United States. He was considered by his business associates as one of the soundest authorities on questions pertaining to this particular line. Mr. Himebaugh was a member of the Union League club of Chicago. He was not a member of any church, but was an attendant at the First Congregational church of this city for many years. Mr. Himebaugh married Miss Margaret Ellen Downes of Providence, R.I. at her home, October 19, 1892. In addition to the widow, there are surviving him his father, Rev. Matthias Himebaugh of this city, a brother Frank Himebaugh of Omro, Wis., and one son, Clinton M. Himebaugh, who is a man of middle age living in Chicago. The remains are expected to arrive here Thursday evening. The arrangements for the funeral are not yet completed, but the services will be held at the late residence on West Algoma street at the corner of High street Monday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Interment will be at Riverside cemetery.