William Himrod was born on 19 May 1791 in Turbot Township, Pennsylvania and died 21 June 1873 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Himrod was a pioneer of the iron industry in Erie. He is interred at Erie Cemetery. Himrod was a partner in the firm of , an Erie ironworks that developed in the wake of the Panic of 1837. The company was renamed in 1841 when he joined B. B. Vincent in business in 1841. They operated the first blast furnace in Erie County at the company's Twelfth Street and French Street facility beginning in 1843. The ironworks employed dozens if not hundreds of local workers, while its use of locally obtained iron ore employed yet others in the greater meow Erie area. The company was renamed several times, including the . In 1876 it became the joint stock company , which was also known as