Patrick Henry Lamb was born March 17, 1848, in Tyrone, Ireland.
The 1870 United States census showed Patrick Lamb (age 22, 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 John (age 24, 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 P. H. Lamb (age 28, born in Ireland) living with his brothers John (age 30, born in Ireland) and M. C. (age 25, born in Ireland) in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The 1880 United States census showed Patrick H. Lamb (age 30, born in Ireland, brick manufacturer) living with his brother William (age 24, born in Connecticut, brick manufacturer) in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The 1885 Minnesota census showed Patrick H. Lamb (age 38, born in Ireland) married to Kate (age 23, born in Canada) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Page 219. Patrick H. Lamb, mayor of Moorhead, and one of the firm of Lamb Bros., is a native of the County Tyrone, Ireland; born March 17, 1847, he was the son of Owen and Elizabeth Lamb, also natives of Ireland. By trade the father was a butcher, which he followed in his native land. He came to America with his family in 1849, settling in New Hampshire, where he remained three years, engaged in farming; from there he went to Connecticut, engaging in the same occupation; thence he went to Missouri, where he again went to farming, raising grain and stock, remaining until 1880. He then moved five miles north of Moorhead, Clay county, Minnesota, where he purchased a farm and where he died two months after his settlement. He had a family of eight children, seven now living – John, Patrick, Michael, William, Owen, Peter and Mary. Our subject was educated in the common schools of Connecticut, and when a young man he first worked in a cotton factory at Baltic, that State. He then again engaged in farming and brick-making for seven years, in Missouri, and in 1872 he came to Moorhead, Minnesota, where he first engaged in railroading and helped construct the Northern Pacific to Bismark (Bismarck), in Dakota, after which he engaged in freighting from Moorhead to Winnipeg and Manitoba, in which he continued two years, having a number of teams there with him; then, with his brother, they started a feed and sale stable in Moorhead, which they still continue; also carried on the manufacturing of brick since 1874, in which they employ a number of hands, and still are engaged in farming and stock-raising. He has 400 head of native and blooded
Page 220. stock, including a fine lot of Polled Angus cattle. He farms in all 1,500 acres in Minnesota. He is also engaged in the fuel business, wood and coal, having his business house on the corner of Fifth and Main streets, Moorhead. The Lamb Block he rents for stores and offices. Mr. Lamb was married in 1882 to Miss Catharine Herrick, the daughter of Michael Herrick, of Moorhead. In politics Mr. Lamb is a democrat, and has held many offices of trust, and has always taken an active part in building up the city and surrounding county. He has held the office of trustee, also alderman of the Second Ward, and been mayor of the city since 1886. He has built the Lamb Block and other business houses, and in many other ways has done his full share in aiding in the growth and development of the locality in which he lives. Liberal and enterprising, no man stands higher in the esteem of those who know him, and him uniform integrity in business matters has made his word as good as a bond. (Illustrated Album of Biography of the Famous Valley of the Red River of the North and the Park Regions, Alden, Ogle & Company, Chicago, 1889)
The 1895 Minnesota census showed Patrick H. Lamb (age 45, born in Ireland, wood and coal) married to Katherine (age 31, born in Canada) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Page 64. P. H. Lamb came to Moorhead in 1872 from Knox County, Missouri. He did teaming, conducted a brick yard and built several buildings. In 1877 he began to operate his farm in Oakport township, but always resided in Moor-
Page 65. head. He has always been looking for the new things in agriculture and was ever one of the first to test anything that promised improvement. He has rented the larger part of his farm and is now practicing intensified farming on 65 acres. He has raised alfalfa for the past five years and considers it one of the most valuable crops the farmers can raise. He grows several acres of sweet corn each year for the Remington Packing Company of Moorhead. One of the illustrations shows seed corn drying on the front of Mr. Lamb’s granary – it tested 96 per cent. Mr. Lamb has been president of the Moorhead National Bank since 1893. He was one of the incorporators of the Dilworth State Bank and has been its only president. (Clay County Illustrated, D. W. Meeker, Moorhead, Minnesota, March 1896)
The 1900 United States census showed P. H. Lamb (age 54, born in March 1846 in Ireland, banker) married to Catherine (age 38, born in July 1861 in Canada) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The 1905 Minnesota census showed P. H. Lamb (age 54, born in Ireland, bank president) married to Catherine H. (age 44, born in Canada) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The 1910 United States census showed Patrick H. Lamb (age 62, born in Ireland, bank president) married to Catherine (age 46, born in Canada) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Page 861. PATRICK H. LAMB. Economic conditions in the Emerald Isle in past years were among the most potent causes which influenced the vast tide of immigration from that country to the United States, the people flocking in thousands in and about the year that saw Owen and Elizabeth Lamb land on the hospitable shores of this country, bringing with them their infant son, Patrick H. Lamb, the subject of this sketch. Patrick H. Lamb was born in Ireland in 1848, known in that country as the famine year; he is a son of Owen and Elizabeth Lamb, natives also of Ireland, and who immigrated to this country in 1850, locating in New England, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Patrick H. Lamb was educated in the public schools of New England, in the state of Connecticut, and continued to reside there for some years. In 1872 he moved to Moorhead and in that year and the one following he worked a team, hauling freight between Moorhead and Winnipeg, Canada. During the succeeding twenty years he acted as manager of a brick factory, he holding a partnership in the firm of Lamb Brothers. Mr. Lamb became interested in land and at the present time his attention is devoted to agricultural pursuits. In 1895, the year after the Moorhead National Bank was organized, he was elected president of that institution and has since been the active head of the bank, its success being in no small measure due to his business capacity and foresightedness. In addition to his land and bank interests Mr. Lamb has organized and is president of the following undertakings: The National Loan and Improvement Company
Page 862. of Moorhead, the Clay County Building Association at Moorhead, and the Dilworth State Bank, and in these institutions he takes a warm interest, bringing a ripe intelligence and sound business principles to bear on their operation. In 1883 Patrick H. Lamb was united in marriage to Catherine Herrick. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb take a warm interest in the general social activities of their home city, assisting in all efforts calculated to serve the people at large. Mr. Lamb is a member of the Catholic church and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, in which latter organization he has shown a deep interest. He was one of the original trustees of the village of Moorhead, and has served the city in all for seventeen years, for three terms being the occupant of the office of mayor. He is now the senior member of the board of education, having served on that body for twelve years, and during his long residence in Moorhead no worthy public purpose has missed his support. (A History of Clay and Norman Counties, Minnesota, Volume II, B. F. Bowen and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1918)
The 1920 United States census showed Patrick H. Lamb (age 71, born in Ireland, banker) married to Catherine (age 56, born in Canada) and living in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Patrick Henry Lamb died January 10, 1923, in Clay County, 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)