From "Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company", published 1886, Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, IL:

 

Prominent among the self-made men of Knox County, who started with nothing except their own indomitable perseverance and energy, and who have made a financial success in life, and who were born in the great Empire of Germany, is the gentleman whose name heads this biographical sketch, who is living on his farm on section 12, Sparta Township.  Mr. Gehring was born Feb. 9, 1825, his parents being Bennet and Elizabeth (Closman) Gehring, likewise natives of the "Faderland."  His father was a farmer in the old country, and there raised a family of nine children, five of whom are living, namely, Joseph, Anthony, Xaver, Barbara and Caroline.  Joseph and Barbara yet continue to reside in their native land, and there the father died in 1857, and the mother in 1842.  Xaver Gehring was an inmate of the parental household until he was 18, having in the meantime received an education in the common schools.  On leaving home he worked out for two years, when he was drafted into the German army and served his country for three and a half years.

 

In 1849, Mr. Gehring, hoping to better his financial condition, set sail for the United States, arriving in safety at New York.  In the latter State, for four and a half years, he worked out by the month at whatever labor he could procure that would bring him in a fair remuneration.  In 1854, he came to this State and settled on the identical place on which he at present resides.  He purchased, on coming to the county, 815 acres of land, and has followed the vocation of a farmer until the present time, meeting with success.

 

Mr. Gehring was married in 1853, just prior to his coming to this county, to Miss Elizabeth Hemminger, and their family circle has been blest by the birth of three children -- Joseph, Henry and Amelia.  The wife and mother died in 1878, and Mr. Gehring formed a second matrimonial alliance in 1879, at which time Mrs. Mary Stephenson, the accomplished daughter of William Leighton, became the wife.  She had a family of five children by her former marriage -- William, George, James, Isabell and Helen.  Politically, Mr. Gehring is a Republican.  He has held the office of School Director for 15 years, and is one of the large land-owners, successful farmers, and honored and respected citizens of Knox County.

     Another version of Xaver's biography was included in the biography of his son, Henry, in "The Historical Encyclopedia of IL": 1899 (Knox County):

 

In part reads:

 

       "Henry Gehring, is the son of Zavier and Elizabeth (Heminger) Gehring, both natives of Germany, the former having been born near Baden, February 9, 1825.  Zavier Gehring was one of a family of nine children, and his parents were Bennet and Elizabeth (Closman) Gehring.  He received an education in the common schools of his native land, and left home to work out when he was eighteen years old.  He continued in this position two years, when he was drafted into the German army and served three and one-half years.  In 1850, when he was twenty-five years old, he came to the United States, landing in New York City with only one dollar in his pocket.  There he worked as a coachman and in other positions four years, and there, in 1853, he married Elizabeth Heminger.  In 1854, he came to Knox County and began farming, buying thirty acres of land on which he now resides.  He was a good farmer and stockman, one of the most successful in the county, and increased his holdings to about eight hundred acres of land, which he partially divided among his three children.  He has been School Director, and has taken a great interest in education.  He has lived an honest and upright life, and is an example to his posterity.  His first wife died July 2, 1878.  Afterwards he married Mrs. Mary A. (Leighton) Stevenson...."