Phoebe Kribs (maiden name: Cramer) was born around 1817 in Ontario, Canada. She married William Kribs, and they had at least five children: William, born around 1841; Mary, born around 1844; Charles, born around December 1847; Paul, born around 1852; and Martha, born around 1854. They immigrated to America in the 1840s and settled in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Her husband worked as a carpenter, and by 1850, they owned $1,100 of real estate. The family moved to Trempealeau, Wisconsin, in the 1850s, and by 1870, they owned $800 of real estate and $300 of personal property. She died in the 1870s.