F. E. Harman
F. E. Harman, one of the leading business men of Lima, where he has been established since 1877, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1857, and was about 10 years old when he moved with his parents to Ohio.
The boyhood and school days of out subject was spent at Lima, and until 1877 he made himself useful to his father in the latter's general merchandise store, which the elder Mr. Harman carried on for a number of years. In that year he became bookkeeper and general manager for J. R. Hughes, who conducted a large business in the line of house furnishing goods. In 1886 Mr. Harman bought an interest in the business and the firm name became Hughes & Harman, which continued for three years, when Mr. Harman sold his interest and established his present line, in association with his brother-in-law, under the firm style of Harman & Bell.
In 1894 Mr. Harman purchased Mr. Bell's interest in the business and has since continued to conduct it individually. Its original main feature was crockery and house furnishings generally, and to this Mr. Harman has added a fine line of furniture and carpets, pushing his business into the front ranks and enlarging his quarters to accommodate its expansion. He is now using 40,000 square feet of floor space and transacts a business which reaches annually into many thousands of dollars. Mr. Harman is also a member of the directing board of The Ohio National Bank.
In 1883 Mr. Harman was married to Clara M. Bell, who is a daughter of William Bell, a pioneer of this section. They are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Harman belongs to the Masonic fraternity.