Past Residents
Ira Erb, a Union Army Civil War veteran.[1] Born in Pennsylvania. Having spent time in Illinois and Ohio,[2] Erb arrived in the Salem area sometime before 1871, when he appears as a cabinet maker in the Salem City Directory, boarding with a Mrs. Harrison at the SE corner of High and State Streets.[3] He married Mrs. Jane Ledford in 1872,[4] and Harriet (Hattie) Myers in 1880.[5]
In 1890, Erb leased H. Stapleton’s Sash and Door factory on Front Street in Salem.[6] By 1899, he was out of the business[7] and operated as a contractor and builder.[8] Some of his notable projects include the Polk County Courthouse in Dallas[9] and the Eastern Oregon Normal School in Weston.[10]
Ira Erb died in Salem on May 25, 1915, and was buried in City View Cemetery.[11] His wife, Hattie, remained in the house until her death on November 21, 1941. [12] After several owners, it was sold to Lloyd Chapman in 1978. Mr. Chapman has compiled a complete history of the house. (SESNA)[13]
Documenting the House
While the historic name assigned to the house in a 1981 Survey of the neighborhood,[14] we could not uncover documentation of W.H. Wild having built or resided in this house beyond the name attribution. The land on which the house stands was part of a subdivision created by William H. Wild and Plutarch S. Knight and their wives in 1891. See Marion County Surveyor’s records and plat map accessible here: https://secure.co.marion.or.us/weblink/DocView.aspx?id=4075995.
There are multiple dates assigned for the building of the house in various sources. Historic Inventory forms from the State Historic Preservation Office compiled by Mark Siegel & Paul Hehn in 1981[15] give a build date of 1903, giving sources of Salem City Directories, Marion County Assessor’s Records , Union Title co. records. However, current (2021) indexing at Marion County Assessor’s office gives a build date of 1895 (digital database: https://mcasr.co.marion.or.us/PropertySummary.aspx?pid=R68571). Despite this early date, the house does not appear on the 1895 Sanborn Map of the City of Salem. A tantalizing clue comes from an article published in the Oregon Statesman 13 March 1896 which reads:
New Residences –
Ira Erb has begun the erection of a nice residence at Nineteenth and Bellevue streets in the Capital Park Addition, and work is progressing rapidly.
While it seems very possible this description is meaning the house at 573 19th street, the description of the house location is a bit vague, and today, one might describe the house as closer to the intersection of 19th and Oak Streets. Similarly, Erb was involved in real estate deals[16] for many different lots within the Capital Park Addition, so it is harder to pin it down if this reference is for the house at 573 or another in the general vicinity.
Notation on House Numbering
Several published articles about Ira Erb’s final illness and death states he died at home at 575 19th Street.[17] If this is a typo by the newspaper, it is a very consistent one.
Information updated 2021.
Citations
[1] Lang, H.O. History of the Willamette Valley. Portland: G. H. Himes, 1885, pg 867. Available for free online at the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/historyofwillam00lang/page/866/mode/2up.
Meyers, Jane. “Honor Roll of the Oregon Grand Army of the Republic 1881-1935. Death’s Reported in Oregon of Members of the GAR, extracted from proceedings of the annual encampments of the Department of Oregon Grand Army of the Republic. Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, 1980. WHC Collections 2013.045.0002 — Erb, Ira. Co. B. 46th Ill. Inf.
[2] Lang, H.O. History of the Willamette Valley. Portland: G. H. Himes, 1885, pg 867. Available for free online at the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/historyofwillam00lang/page/866/mode/2up.
[3] See Salem City Directory, 1871. N.B. Erb does not appear in the 1867 business directory for the city, further suggesting he arrived sometime after 1867 and before 1871. Confirmation that he was here by 1871 appears also in news article listing names of members of the Capital Engine Company in the Weekly Oregon Statesman, dated 16 Aug 1871, pg 4.
[4] “Another Marriage.” Weekly Oregon Statesman. 24 Sept 1872 pg 3; Marion County Marriage Records.
[5] See Marion County Marriage Records.
[6] “Chronology: Happenings the Past Year.” Oregon Statesman 01 Jan 1891 pg 2. See notation under February 17th. Backed up by Advertisements like that found in the Oregon Statesman 20 April 1890 pg 2, describing it as on Front Street, next to the foundry.
[7] “Newly Fitted Up.” Oregon Statesman 01 Jan 1899 pg 30. Reads: “The sash and door factory in the big brick building on Front Street formerly run by Ira Erb and later by McFadden and Pennebaker….”
[8] Advertisement. Oregon Statesman. 01 Jan 1908 pg 10.
[9] “New Court Houses: Three of them being erected by Salem Contractors.” Capital Journal 04 Apr 1899 pg 1.
[10] Notation. Capital Journal. 25 Jun 1901 pg 3. “Ira Erb has gone to Weston, where he has the contract for the erection of the buildings for the Eastern Oregon Normal School.”
[11] See headstone on Find-a-grave for confirmation: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50914309/harriet-a-erb
[12] See headstone on Find-a-grave for confirmation: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50914309/harriet-a-erb
See also. “Erb” Capital Journal 22 Nov 1941 pg 10. Describes death “at the residence, 573 South 19th Street, Friday November 21 at the age of 84 years.”
[13] This attribution was in original article. Not sure what it is referencing beyond the Southeast Salem Neighborhood Association.
[14] See SESNA Inventory, 1981. WHC Collections: See copy in WHC Collections 2006.082.0001 Number 6. See also
[15] See copy in WHC Collections 2006.082.0001 Number 6.
[16] Erb bought lot 11 (one lot north of current address’s lots 8-10) from W. H. Wild in 1892. See “Real Estate” Oregon Statesman 14 May 1892 pg 4. Erb and wife bough from W.H. Wild Block 10 in September of 1892. See Oregon Statesman 13 Sept 1892 pg 2. Block nine was purchased in December of 1892. See Weekly Oregon Statesman 09 Dec 1892 pg 7.
[17] See: “Mr. Erb Very Low” Oregon Statesman 25 May 1915 page 5.; “Funeral Today.” Oregon Statesman 27 May 1915 pg 5.