| Notes |
- Peter Frederick Erb was born on the family farm in Utica Township, Winona County, Minnesota, about 2-3/4 miles straight south of the town of Lewiston, to Peter Frederick (Sr.) and Catherine Mary (née FERCIOT) ERB.
He was the eighth of eleven children, and moved with his family, first to New Richland Township, in south-eastern Waseca County, Minnesota, in 1878, and then on to Dows Township in northwestern Cass County in the state of North Dakota, in 1882.
On 15 March 1898, at the age of 30, he married Annie Elizabeth Sterner Robertson in Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota.
After their marriage Annie and Peter traveled to the Golden area of the Okanogan Valley of North-Central Washington, along with Peter's older sister, Edna (1863-1954), and her husband, Aden Stevens PRATT (1865-1926), who was running a hotel there. Peter was giving mining a try.
Annie soon became homesick and pregnant and returned to Fargo and moved back in with her parents (John Robert Robertson and Amanda née Sterner) while Peter stayed in Golden with his boss, Edward Brown. (Peter managed to make it on to two 1900 U.S. Federal Census forms, one for Fargo and one for Golden Precinct.)
Peter soon decided he was not going to strike it rich, but with a stake he returned to North Dakota, and the family moved to the town of Ryder, in Ward County. Along with his younger brother (of five years) Jacob Edward (1872-1927), the two sold farm implements to other neighboring farmers. Peter also spent some of the money on building a new house.
Jacob and Peter soon gave up selling farm equipment, for the most part. Jacob did invent an attachment for disk harrows that was used for scraping and pulverizing, he filled for and received U.S. Patent 1,032,998.
While Jacob started farming near Ryder, Peter moved south to McLean County. He filed a Federal Land Patent for 160 acres on 28 MAR 1912 (NE 1/4 -- Section 17 -- Township 149-N -- Range 86-W) in McLean County. The farm was four miles north and two miles west of the town of Emmet-just southwest of Blue Hill.
He liked the house that he built (and paid for) so much he put it on two large wagons and hauled it the 13 miles south to the new farm. Peter later added an additional 40 acres on 11 NOV 1922 (NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 17 -- Township 149-N -- Range 86-W).
In 1924, the family sold their farm and moved the blue-collar community of Milltown, Montana, just east of Missoula. Milltown was a "company town" established by the Western Lumber Company.
With the stock market crash of 1929 and the onslaught of the Great Depression, the lumber mill ground to halt, and unemployment in Milltown soared.
In 1934 the family left Milltown to try ranching in the Bitter Root Valley. But, when Peter and Annie's heath began to decline, they moved to Missoula in July of 1941. Annie died nine months after that and Peter followed her a year and a half later.
After Annie died Peter went to live with his oldest son, Donald, and family in Portland. Peter died while living at 4134 North Kerby Avenue Portland, Oregon (97217), and a service was held at Little Chapel of the Chimes, 430 North Killingsworth Avenue.
Father of:
Hallie Rose - (1899-1976; ~ Jesse W. SHAFER)
Donald Robertson - (1899-1992; ~ Lena FREDERICKS)
Grace Elizabeth - (1902-1968; ~ John T. FRANZEN)
Robert Frederick - (1907-1984; ~ 1st: Doris MILLER; 2nd Dorine MILLER [yes they were sisters, twins!])
Philip Sterner - (1909-1990; ~ 1st: Venita ROBERTS; 2nd: Dorothy Ann TOWNSEND)
Elsie Louise - (1911-1999; ~ 1st: Oscar J. BAKKE; 2nd: Donald NEWTON)
Fannie May - (1914-1980; Jay Harvey CLYDE)
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1867 - 1943 (76 years)
