Louis Ulrich was born in New York City on November  24, 1862. Ulrich moved to North Carolina around 1900. For the next few decades, he lived in various North Carolina towns, including High Point, New Bern, Concord, and Wilkesboro, working as a machinist then as a factory supervisor. He moved to North Wilkesboro in 1907 to take a job as supervisor at the Oaks Furniture Factory. By 1940, Ulrich had retired and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He died in Rutherford, New Jersey, on August 24, 1942.