Joseph Gabriel Ulrich was born in Alsace, France July 4, 1849. He served in the French army as a young man and was held a prisoner for seven months in Germany. While there he learned the shoemakers trade as well as the language of his captors and could speak French, German and Latin when he came to this country in 1870. Joseph settled in LaSalle county, Illinois where he worked at the shoemaker's trade for three years and where he met and married Josephine Dondanville.

The couple was married January 25, 1873 in St. John the Baptist Church, Somonauk, Illinois. All eight of their children were born in Illinois. In 1893, the family moved to Webster county, Iowa and settled on a farm near Clare. In 1915, the couple moved to 1320 Third Ave. south in Fort Dodge, Iowa where they remained for the rest of their lives.

Joseph was an avid gardener and kept the neighbors and local priests well supplied with home-made wine. The couple was able to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.

Joseph Gabriel Ulrich died June 19, 1939 and is buried in Corpus Christi cemetery, Fort Dodge, IA.