The road to opportunity is always open to the individual who will be recognize it, and it has been in following this path that Charles W. Loos has advanced from a humble position in the business world to a place where he now ranks among the leading and prosperous residents of Coshocton. He is conducting a real-estate and insurance office here and has a large clientage in both lines, building up a business which has come as the result of his close application, earnest purpose and unfaltering diligence.

He was born in Plainfield, this county, February 28, 1868, his parents being Martin H. and Anna J. (Wiggins) Loos. The father was born in the old log house in which his son Charles was reared. The structure is still standing but has since been weatherboarded. The paternal grandfather was a native of Germany and was one of the first settlers in Plainfield on that section of the county, aiding in transforming a wild and unimproved region into a district of rich fertility. Martin H. Loos continued to cultivate the old home farm for many years or until his retirement from active business life, when he removed to Coshocton, where both he and his wife passed away. Mrs. Loos was also born in the vicinity of Plainfield and represented one of the early families there.

Charles W. Loos spent his boyhood under the parental roof and attended the public schools, but as early as his fourteenth year entered upon an apprenticeship to the house painter's trade. After completing his term of indenture he was connected with the business in Coshocton for eighteen years and for fifteen years of that time was a contracting painter, employing at times as many as fifteen men. He built up a business of large magnitude, becoming one of the most prominent contracting painters of the county. He also executed many contracts in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and other cities, for his ability and business enterprise made him widely known and brought to him a most gratifying business. In 1901, however, he withdrew from the field of activity in which he had spent so many years and has since given his attention to the real-estate and insurance business. He is known to some extent as a speculative builder, having erected many residence properties for sale in his city, his operations in this line being more extensive during the past five years than those of any other one man.

In 1890 Mr. Loos was married to Miss Ella Marshall, of Coshocton, and they have two sons, Walter and Arthur, both at home. Mr. Loos belongs to Coshocton Lodge, No. 376, B. P. O. E., Fidelity Lodge, No 135, K. P., and to the Methodist Episcopal church -- associations which indicate much of his character and the rules which govern his life. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, yet he has never been an office seeker. His patrimony when he started in life was sixty dollars and he is truly a self-made man, who has worked for opportunities which other boys secure through inheritance. He has always been a man of action rather than theory, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. Honored and respected by all, he occupies an enviable position in business circles, not only by reason of the success he has achieved but also owing to the honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed. Perhaps no biography given in this volume illustrates more clearly the value of character and the ready utilization of opportunity than does this of Charles W. Loos.

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