William Emrich, a prosperous farmer of Winslow Township, was born in Centre County, Pa., May 26, 1843. His father, Peter Emrich, was perhaps born in the same county, where his grandfather, John Emrich, was a pioneer settler, being a farmer and blacksmith by trade. The latter died, and his son Peter grew to manhood there, marrying a native of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1845 Peter, his wife and three children, started for Illinois with a pair of horses and a wagon. Three other families in the immediate vicinity came along with the Emrichs, but they accomplished but a portion of their journey that year, for upon reaching Ohio they remained there until the spring of 1846. Again hitching up their rude wagon they departed for Illinois, landing at Rock Grove, Stephenson County, April 1, 1846. Peter Emrich at once entered 160 acres of Government land in Rock Grove Township, where he constructed a log house and proceeded to breaking the prairie and placing the land in a state of cultivation. This was no easy matter when we take into consideration the fact that the nearest market was at the mines of Galena and the city of Chicago, but Mr. Emrich surmounted every obstacle and soon had the pleasure of knowing that his farm had become productive. Here he remained for about twenty years, when he purchased an adjoining farm, renting out the old homestead. He lived on the new location for two years when he traded his farm for a store and a stock of goods in the village of Rock Grove, and engaged in the mercantile business until his death, which occurred Dec. 18, 1879. The maiden name of the wife of Peter Emrich and the mother of the subject of this sketch was Sarah Albright, who was born in Pennsylvania, and died in Rock Grove Village, March 18, 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Emrich were the parents of six children, five now living.

The subject of this sketch, William Emrich, was the third child. He was reared on the farm and the only education he ever received was that obtained from attending the district schools. However, he made the best of the opportunities offered and laid the ground-work of a farmer's practical education. He remained at his childhood's home until he had grown to be a hardy young man, when he moved to Green County, Wis., and there resided in the house with his father-in-law. On Aug. 20, 1864, at the tap of the recruiting officer's drum, William Emrich enlisted in the United States service, and was attached to Co. H., 38th Wis. Vol. Inf., at the city of Madison, Wis. The regiment was soon afterward sent to the seat of war in the State of Virginia, being attached to the Army of the Potomac and serving in the Eastern Division until the close of the war. In the battle before Petersburg on the 2d of April, 1865, Private William Emrich, whilst in the midst of the conflict, was wounded by a minie ball in the thigh. He was conveyed to the hospital at Alexandria, and after a sufficient recovery to be moved he was honorably discharged from service, and in May, 1865, was mustered out at the city of Washington. He immediately started for his home in the West, which he reached June 3, where he resided on the farm in Green County until June, 1866. He then removed to Buckeye Township, Stephenson County, and rented a farm for the term of one year, when he again returned to Green County, and rented a farm for two years. In 1870 he removed to Orangeville, and together with his brother engaged in business for one year; then, selling out, he made a trip to Iowa, but was not sufficiently satisfied to settle there. Returning to Illinois he settled in Winslow Township, where he has since resided with the exception of one year spent at Rock Grove. He is a member of Porter Stiles Post No. 498, G. A. R.

The wife of Mr. William Emrich was a Miss Henrietta Fauver, whom he married Oct. 4, 1863. She first saw the light on the 25th of February, 1845. Her father, William Fauver, was born in Lebanon County, Pa., his father being John Fauver, who was also a native of that county, where he died. William Fauver, the father of Mrs. Emrich, resided with his parents until attaining the age of seventeen when, in 1839, he removed to Illinois. He married in Cedarville, in April, 1843, Miss Susanna Ruggle. He rented land on section 4, in Buckeye Township, afterward entering forty acres, to which he added by purchase some time later eighty acres more and improved the same. Afterward Mr. Fauver removed to Cedarville and kept a hotel for four years, then returning to the farm in the same township, he resided there until 1863. The family now determined to try Wisconsin as a home, and they settled in Green County, where they bought land and a sawmill, and Mr. Fauver divided his time between farming and operating the mill until 1866, when he disposed of his property and returned to Stephenson County, and there remained for two years, at the end of which time he purchased a farm in Winslow Township and gave it his attention until the year 1884, in the month of April, when he died.

Mrs. William Fauver, the mother of Mrs. Emrich, was born in Centre County, Pa., in 1838, her father, Daniel Ruggle, being a native of Berks County in the Keystone State. He settled in Centre County, and lived there until 1838, when he sought a home in Illinois, settling in Buckeye Township, where he lived the remainder of his life. His wife resided with her parents in Pennsylvania until her marriage. There were six children in Mr. and Mrs. Fauver's family, viz, three boys and three girls; the brothers are all dead. His sisters are Mrs. Fauver, Mrs. Mary A. Campbell and Mrs. Howe.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. William Emrich are two in number, to wit: Martin P. W. and George G., who are of great promise. They have been well educated in the public schools of Stephenson County, and Martin also attended two terms at the Aurora College, after which he secured a position in a drug-store, being also Assistant Postmaster. At present, however, he is in the Black Hills country in Dakota for his health. The remaining son, George, is at home with his parents.

Contributed by Carol Parrish from Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888), p. 606