ELMER E. ERD MAN, undertaker at Catasauqua, was born Feb. 24, 18741 at Hatfield, in Montgomery county. He was obliged to quit school when nine years old and after working on a farm four years, he secured work in a cigar factory at Quakertown and continued there five years, and afterward he was employed as a cigar-maker in the factory of his brother-in-law, John Sack, until 1902. Having then become inclined to follow the undertaking business, he took a special course in the study of anatomy, and after assisting Charles Snyder, undertaker, for several months, he purchased the business from him in 1902 and has since carried it on in a most successful manner at No. 143 Front street, Catasauqua. During this time he conducted 1,122 funerals. He has affiliated himself with the Modem Woodmen, P. O. S. of A., Odd Fellows, and Phoenix Fire Company.

Mr. Erdman was married to Ida Grace Eberhard, daughter of Wm. and Caroline (Hunsicker) Eherhard, of Catasauqua, and they have five children: William; Grace; Marie; Helen; and Ellsworth, who died in infancy in 1905.