Henry married Anna Franzen, from Prussia, in 1837, and they had eight children. The Fischer family prospered as farmers and leaders in the township. Conrad and Louisa Fischer donated land for a schoolhouse which his brother Henry Fischer built in 1851. The school taught English language to German immigrant children. Henry was an elected supervisor, and was Justice of the Peace from 1854 until his death in 1868, at the age of only 53 years.
The construction of the Fischer windmill, on Grand Avenue in front of Mount Emblem Cemetery, was begun in 1847. A well known cabinet maker, Henry Korthauer, helped build the mechanism, while men from Holland assisted with the three year construction period. The mill ground corn and wheat until 1916, and housed the Edward Ehlers family, after the Fischers sold the mill and moved to Oregon.