HENRY EMICH

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Mr. Henry Emich and Mrs. Henry Emich

Although for the past two years Henry Emrich has lived retired, he still makes his home in a beautiful residence on his farm in Cass township, Cedar county, but for many years was closely, actively and successfully connected with agricultural interests in this section. A native of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, he was born August 19, 1833, and in both the paternal and maternal lines comes of German ancestry although the families have been represented in the Keystone state through several generations. His parents, William and Catherine (Barger) Emrich, spent their entire lives in Schuylkill county and there reared a family numbering eight children, as follows: Mrs. Elizabeth Statemeyer; William; Joseph; Mrs. Catherine Zerbe; Jacob, who died in Cedar county; Mrs. Lydia Richards, of Lisbon, Iowa; Henry, of this review; and Mrs. Susan Weik, of Pennsylvania. With the exception of the three last named, all have been called to their final rest.

The old home in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, was the playground of Henry Emrich in his boyhood days and the schools of that section afforded him his training for business life. Remaining in the Keystone state until his nineteenth year, he then started out to seek a home in the middle west, believing that this new and undeveloped country offered good opportunities to the ambitious young man. In 1852 he made the journey, traveling by steamboat to Muscatine and from that city on foot to Cedar county. He chose Tipton as his place of abode, his first employment there being in a brickyard. Later he worked at the carpenter’s trade and eventually was employed at the butcher’s trade, working at anything that would yield him an honest living. During the first year of his residence in Cedar county he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land near Mason’s Grove but never lived on the place. He later bought eighty acres more and for some time bought and sold land, thereby making a good profit. His possessions at length aggregated fifteen hundred acres, of which five hundred acres was inherited by his wife from her people. Mr. Emrich has given much of his land to his children but he still owns six hundred and five acres, all in one body. It is located on sections 1, 2 and 12, Cass township, extending from the village of Buchanan to the Cedar river and covering an area of two miles. His residence stands on section 2. For many years Mr. Emrich was actively identified with the work of the farm but for the past two years he has lived retired and rents his land. When he settled in Cedar county he was a poor boy, among strangers, but his wise use of opportunities has gained him the position of wealth that he today enjoys. He has speculated in Missouri, Nebraska and Dakota lands and in this venture has also been very successful.

On the 11th of June, 1864, Mr. Emrich was united in marriage to Miss Mary Cochran, who was born in Portage county, Ohio, December 20, 1833, a daughter of David and Martha (McKeldey) Cochran. The father was born in West Virginia, August 5, 1803, while the mother’s birth occurred in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1803. They accompanied their respective parents to Portage county, Ohio, in their childhood days, and it was there that they were reared and married. In 1839 they sought a home in Cedar county, Iowa, and Mr. Cochran bought a preemption claim of George Miller in Cass township. This tract comprised five hundred and sixty acres, on which the father built a log house and barn and otherwise improved the place. This property is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Emrich. In 1846 Mr. Cochran made a trip to Oregon and spent several years in the west. He then returned to his home in Cedar county but after four years removed to Nebraska, where his death occurred in 1885. The mother died in Cedar county in 1889. They had four children. Cyrus Austin went to California during the gold excitement in 1849 and later located in Oregon, where he secured a good farm that formerly belonged to his father. He has not been heard from for many years. Mary, now Mrs. Emrich, was the next in order of birth. Urania died at the age of fifteen months, soon after the removal of the family to Cedar county. Libbie died while pursuing a course in Cornell College at Mount Vernon.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Emrich has been blessed with three daughters and two sons, but one daughter died in infancy March 2, 1871. Libbie, the eldest, was a graduate of Coe College at Cedar Rapids, after which she engaged in teaching for a number of years. She likewise possessed much talent as an artist and was a highly accomplished young lady. Her death occurred when she was twenty-six years of age. William Austin, the second in order of birth, is married and has two children. His son, Marion Clifton, spent two years in the Iowa State University, while his daughter, Ethel Gladys, was graduated from the Newkirk (Okla.) high school with the class of 1910. He makes his home in Buchanan, Cedar county. Frank Ward, a resident of Tipton, is married and has one son, Orville. Mary Arta is the wife of M. Y. Bealer, a resident of Cedar Valley. She is the mother of three children, Erroll Myron, Lois Audrie and Maurice Irving. Mr. and Mrs. Emrich are interested in education and have given to their children liberal advantages in this direction. Mrs. Emrich was a student at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, for two or three years and for several years prior to her marriage engaged in teaching.

At the age of eighteen Mr. Emrich united with the Presbyterian church but there being no church of that denomination in Tipton upon his arrival here he became identified with the Lutheran church. For many years he served as elder in the English Evangelical church and is now a member of the Union church at Buchanan. He has been deeply interested in the moral development of the county and has given generously toward the building of five churches in this section. On national issues he votes the democratic ticket, but at local elections supports the men best qualified for office regardless of party ties. He has never been an office seeker. Although he has acquired wealth, this has not been the sole aim and end of his ambition. He has ever been deeply interested in the welfare of the community in which he has lived for almost six decades, witnessing much of its growth and development and taking active part in all that pertains to its progress. Starting out in life for himself in a strange country, working at anything that would bring him an honest living, his diligence and energy have enabled him to attain prosperity , and with a handsome competence he put aside business cares and he and his estimable wife are now enjoying in retirement the accumulation of profitable, successful and honorable careers.