John Lamb was born November 1847 in Tyrone, Ireland.
The 1870 United States census showed John Lamb (age 24, born in Ireland, farmer) living with his parents Owen (age 55, born in Ireland, farmer) and Eliza (age 53, born in Ireland) in Greensburg Township, Knox County, Missouri. His other siblings were Patrick (age 22, born in Ireland, farmer), Michael (age 18, born in New Hampshire, farm laborer), William (age 15, born in Connecticut, farm laborer), Eugene (age 12, born in Connecticut), Peter (age 10, born in Connecticut), and Mary (age 10, born in Connecticut).
Lamb Bros. Clay County, Moorhead, Brick Yard, Livery, Feed & Sale Stables, Nativity: Ireland, Came to Minnesota: 1870. (A Comprehensive Index to A. T. Andreas’ Illustrated Historical Atlas of Minnesota, 1874, Page 175)
The 1875 Minnesota census showed John Lamb (age 30, born in Ireland) living with P. H. Lamb (age 28, born in Ireland) and M. (Michael) C. Lamb (age 25, born in Ireland) in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The 1880 United States census showed John Lamb (age 32, born in Ireland, brick manufacturer) married to Mary (age 24, born in Ohio) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota. A brother, Michael (age 26, born in Ireland, livery keeper), also lived with the couple.
The 1885 Minnesota census showed John Lamb (age 36, born in Ireland) married to Mary (age 26, born in Ohio) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota. Children Johnie (age 4, born in Minnesota) and Lizzie (age 2, born in Minnesota) also lived with the couple.
The 1895 Minnesota census showed John Lamb (age 47, born in Ireland, farmer) married to Mary (age 37, born in Ohio) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota. Children Johnie (age 14, born in Minnesota), Lizzie (age 12, born in Minnesota), Mary L. (age 9, born in Minnesota), Annie (age 7, born in Minnesota), and Francis (age 5, born in Minnesota) also lived with the couple.
The 1900 United States census showed John Lamb (age 52, born in November 1847 in Ireland, farmer) married to Mary (age 44, born in August 1858 in Ohio) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota. Children John T. (age 19, born in March 1881 in Minnesota), Elizabeth E. (age 17, born in March 1883 in Minnesota), Mary L. (age 15, born in October 1884 in Minnesota), Annie (age 12, born in January 1888 in Minnesota), and Francis (age 10, born in June 1890 in Minnesota) also lived with the couple.
The 1905 Minnesota census showed John Lamb (age 60, born in Ireland, coal and wood dealer) married to Mary F. (age 49, born in Ohio) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota. Children John Jr. (age 24, born in Minnesota), Elizabeth (age 22, born in Minnesota), Mary (age 19, born in Minnesota), Anna (age 17, born in Minnesota), and Francis (age 14, born in Minnesota) also lived with the couple.
The 1910 United States census showed John Lamb (age 64, born in Ireland, wood dealer) married to Mary (age 52, born in Ohio) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota. Children John (age 29, born in Minnesota), Elizabeth (age 27, born in Minnesota), Mary L. (age 24, born in Minnesota), Anne (age 22, born in Minnesota), and Francis (age 19, born in Minnesota) also lived with the couple.
John Lamb died March 21, 1910, Clay County, Minnesota.
John Lamb died January 4, 1913, in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Page 322. The history of Minnesota and Clay county would be incomplete without extended and detailed mention of the Lamb brothers, John, Patrick Henry, and Michael C. They were the sons of Owen Lamb, who emigrated from Ireland in 1849 and with his family located in New Hampshire and later in Connecticut, in which states his sons received their primary education and training which was to fit them for their later life as progressive factors in the history of the northwest. Owen Lamb moved to Missouri and took up farming there. His sons engaged in farming with him and also in brickmaking. In 1872 they came west and worked on the Northern Pacific Railroad, which was being built from Moorhead to Bismarck, North Dakota. Later they ran a freight line from Moorhead to Winnipeg, Canada, and were very successful. Subsequently they established the first brickyard in Moorhead and also one of the first livery stables. Most of the brick used in the construction of buildings in Moorhead came from the yards of these enterprising and industrious brothers, who became dominant factors in the growth of Moorhead and Clay county.
Patrick Henry Lamb was president of the Moorhead National Bank and guided the affairs of that institution until his death on January 10, 1923. He served as mayor of Moorhead from 1889 to 1892 and was a member of the Library board for a number of years. He was a factor in and director of the Moorhead Manufacturing Company’s mill, the Moorhead Gas & Fuel Company, the Moorhead Ferry Company, the Moorhead Street Railway Company, and similar enterprises. John Lamb was president of the First National Bank of Moorhead when his brother, Patrick Henry, was president of the Moorhead National Bank, and there have been few projects uppermost in the growth of Moorhead that have not found the Lamb brothers associated with them as officers or directors. The livery stable in time was changed to a warehouse and is now Lamb’s Coal Yard. The brothers, jointly and individually, purchased much land in Minnesota and North Dakota for farming purposes and their estates have large farms and the finest cattle in the Red River Valley Michael died in 1893. He was unmarried and left his estate to his mother. Patrick Henry, whose death occurred in 1923, was married in 1882 to Miss Catherine Herrick. He left no children. His estate was left in trust to his nephews, John T. Lamb and Avan M. Lamb, the sons of his brothers John and Peter, respectively, for the use of Mrs. Patrick Henry during her life and at her death to be divided among her husband’s relatives bearing the name of Lamb. John Lamb, like his brother, Patrick Henry, also served as alderman, mayor, member of the school board, etc. He married Miss Mary Bresnan of Edina, Missouri, and the following children were born to their union: John T., of whom further mention is made below; Elizabeth E.; Mary L. who is the wife of John D. Gillis, president of the John T. Milliken Pharmacy Company of St. Louis, Missouri, and they have two children: Anna,
Page 323. who is director of the National Dairy Council, and a talented young woman, served in France with the American Relief Corps during World war; and Frances A., who is a professor in the North Dakota Agricultural College. John Lamb, the father of these children, died in 1914. (Minnesota and Its People, Volume IV, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1924)