EMERICH, DAVID WILLIAM, proprietor of a saw mill of considerable importance to his neighborhood, is one of the substantial men of Cass County. He was born in the northwestern part of Cass County, September 30, 1874, a son of John and Emeline (Shafer) Emerich, the former born in Van Buren County, Iowa, November 29, 1839, and the latter in Cass County, Ill., April 18, 1844. the grandparents on the paternal side were William and Abigail (Henderson) Emerich, natives of Morgan County, Ill., while the grandparents on the mother's side were Christopher and Rachel (Emerich) Shafer, natives of Rockbridge County, Va., and Morgan County, Ill., respectively. The parents of David W. Emerich married in Cass County, Ill., and then located in Hickory Township, where the father farmed from 1863 until March, 1914, when he left the farm to live with his son, David W., the mother dying March 14, 1914. their children were: Elizabeth, who is deceased; Alonzo M., who resides at Peoria; John Franklin, who is deceased; Rose H., who is Mrs,. Alonzo Pope, of Oklahoma; Mary H., who lives on the home farm; David W.; Jeanette G., who is on the home farm; and Oliver Dewitt, who resides at Chandlerville, Ill.

David W. Emerich resided on the home farm with his brother Oliver until 1900, when they bought a threshing machine outfit and operated it together for two years, and then David W. bought out his brother's interest and continued until 1911, when he sold. In the meanwhile, about 1902, he had gone into a sawmill business and dealt in lumber for two years, and now has a custom sawmill, which is operated by a traction engine, and he gives employment to five men the year round.

On December 20, 1911, Mr. Emerich married Anna Margaret Nollsch, born on section 70,m a daughter of Gottlieb and Catherine (Hobig) Nollsch. The father, born in Hesse Darmstadt in 1822, died in Cass County, north of Virginia. the mother was born in 1837 and died in 1912. The maternal grandparents, John P. and Anna Margaret Nollsch, came to Cass County in 1842. the maternal grandparents were John and Anna Gertrude Hobig, who came to St. Louis, Mo., in 1847. He was born in 1799 and was a nurseryman and gardener, and died in 1887. Mrs. Hobig was born in 1801 and died in 1848. All these pioneers settled in the woods of Cass County and took up land.