Carroll County IN Archives Biographies.....Roach, William A. 1874 - 
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Author: John C. Odell (1916)

WILLIAM A. ROACH.

   No man in the ninth congressional district is better known to the people of
this district than William A. Roach, familiarly called "Deacon," and no man is
more popular. A lawyer by profession and a native of Carroll county, he was
scarcely out of his teens before he had turned his attention to politics. Having
served as city attorney of Delphi for five years and as secretary of the
Republican county central committee during the campaigns of 1902 and 1904, he
was elected chairman of the committee in 1910 and served throughout the campaign
of that year and in the campaign of 1912. In 1912 he was also elected Republican
chairman of the ninth congressional district and still holds this position as
the responsible head of the party in this district. Popular as he is with the
people of the ninth district, especially the rank and tile of the Republican
party, honored and admired by men of all parties, he is looked upon as a logical
candidate for one of the highest offices within the gift of the people of the
ninth district if ever he should seek political honors from his party.

   The senior member of the firm of Roach & Roach, real estate and loan agents,
William A. Roach was born in Delphi, Indiana, December 24, 1874. He is the son
of William and Anna (Morgan) Roach, the former of whom was born in Canada, and
the latter born in the Wrest Indies, while her parents were en route from
England to America. William Roach, Sr., was reared near Toronto, Canada, and,
after having received a liberal education in the Dominion schools, came to the
United States at the age of nineteen, in 1865, and located at Delphi, this
county, where he has ever since resided. Soon after coming to Delphi he engaged
in the ice business, in which he continued for fourteen years. Afterward he
farmed for four years and then engaged in the milling business with the firm of
Montman & Company, which is now Roach & Rothenberger. His wife died several
years ago. To them were born four children, Lillie J., the wife of Edgar L. Cox,
of Ockley, Indiana; William A., the subject of this sketch; and two who died in
infancy.

   The paternal grandparents of William A. Roach were natives of Scotland. His
paternal grandfather was Patrick Roach, who married a Miss Head, and immigrated
to Canada in pioneer times. In 1865 ne settled in Delphi, where both he and his
wife died at advanced ages. He was a teamster and lived to rear a family of nine
children, four others dying in infancy. Those who grew to maturity were, John,
Mary Ann, William, Sarah, James, Elizabeth, Edmond, Robert C. and George A. The
maternal grandparents of Mr. Roach were natives of England, who left London for
America and who, after reaching America, settled in White county, Indiana. Later
they moved to Delphi, the grandmother dying at the age of ninety-nine years. The
grandfather was killed when past sixty years old in a runaway. He was a farmer
by occupation and had a large family of children, mong [sic] whom were William,
Anna, Rachel, George, Allen, Thomas, Naomi and Mary.

   William A. Roach was reared in the city where he now resides and which has
always been his home. Having attended the public schools of Delphi, he entered
the Indiana Law School and was graduated with the class of 1897, being admitted
at once to the Carroll county bar, state and federal courts. For nine years Mr.
Roach was engaged in the practice of law at Delphi in the office of Michael A.
Ryan, now the senior member of the firm of Ryan & Ruckelshaus, of Indianapolis.

   Mr. Roach was married on October 6, 1897, a short time after his graduation
from the law school, to Georgia Newell, the daughter of Henry M. and Julia (Van
Gundy) Newell, of Chicago, but formerly of Rockfield, Carroll county, Indiana.
Georgia Newell was born at Rockfield, October 10, 1876. Her father was a native
of Pennsylvania and her mother of Rockfield, Carroll county. Her mother is
deceased but her father is still living. They were the parents of three
children, Georgia, Homer M. and a daughter who died in infancy. Mrs. Roach's
paternal grandparents were John and Phoebe Newell, who were the parents of three
children, Mrs. Harriet E. Stansel, Henry M. and Dr. J. W., of Denver, Indiana.
The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Roach was Adam Van Gundy, a very early settler
in Carroll county, Indiana, and one of the prominent citizens of the county
during his day and generation, and lived to be a very old man. Of his children,
Nelson W. served as sheriff of Carroll county for two terms. The other children
were Willard and Julia. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Roach have no children. 

   A director of the Delphi State Bank, of Delphi, William A. Roach is also
secretary and treasurer of the Ockley Lumber & Supply Company, of Ockley,
Indiana. Fraternally, he is a member of Mt. Olive Lodge No. 48, Free and
Accepted Masons; the Delphi Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Delphi Commandery
No. 40, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Murat Temple, Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. Mr. Roach is now serving as chancellor commander
of Delphi Lodge No. 80, Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the uniform rank
of this lodge. He is a member of the State Bar Association. Mrs. Roach is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Roach has served as president
of the Methodist Brotherhood of Delphi.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
of

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY INDIANA

ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS
BY
JOHN C ODELL
With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and
Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families

ILLUSTRATED
1916
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc.
Indianapolis, Indiana


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