Philip was born to Susan Estella Brown Huber and Milton Milo Huber on March 31, 1901. His sister, Charlotte (my grandmother) was born in 1903. In 1905, their mother died at age 28. Milton remarried to Jessie Wilcox in 1908, but Charlotte was primarily raised by her grandmother, Ann Bottomley Brown. It is unclear whether Philip remained with Milton or lived with "Grandma Brown" and Charlotte. He is shown in the household of Milton and Jessie in the 1910 and 1920 censuses.
According to his obituary, Philip left home at age 19, and spent a year in the army at Camp Lewis in Tacoma, Washington, receiving an honorable discharge in 1921. By 1930, Philip was living in Riverside, California. He was a boarder in the home of Willard Martin, and his occupation was listed as "trucker." He is also listed as a military veteran. He reportedly moved to Arkansas in 1933. On October 11, 1935, he married Thelma Taylor Wells in Carroll County, Arkansas. Thelma had married Frank Wells in 1924, and had three daughters by him, Mildred, Marjorie, and Mary Ellen. I have assumed that Frank died between 1930, when he and Thelma were living in Searcy County, and 1935 when Thelma married Philip. I was unable to confirm this, although there is a Frank Wells listed in Arkansas death records who died in 1934 in Jackson County.
One year after their marriage, Philip, Thelma and the 3 girls moved to Yakima, Washington. Thelma died in a fire on the day they arrived in Yakima. According to the newspaper clipping I found at the Historical Museum in Winnebago, Minnesota, Thelma was was cleaning clothes with gasoline in the upper story of the tourist camp home they were staying in when the fire started. She was able to get her children out, but she died in the fire.
According to Philip's obituary, he found work in Yakima, and cared for the girls himself for two years. He then left them with a family to be cared for, and returned to Winnebago alone.
On September 13, 1940, his stepdaughter, Mildred, died unexpectedly in Washington. On September 15, 1940 at 11:00 am, Philip suffered a compound fracture of his skull in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident. He died on September 19, 1940 from those injuries.
As of now, I have not found the cause of death for Mildred or been able to trace what happened to Marjorie and Mary Ellen. I am looking forward to the 1940 census being released, hoping I can find the family that they were living with in the census.
