Davidson-Lincoln County TN Archives Biographies.....Roach, Joe J. 1870 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com October 26, 2005, 8:52 pm

Author: Will T. Hale

   JOE J. ROACH. For the past ten years Mr. Roach has been clerk of the

Tennessee supreme court, and ex-officio clerk of the state court of criminal

appeals. His record as an official, has been characterized by the fairness of

performance, and obliging courtesy to all who used his office, and he is one of

the most popular in the state capitol at Nashville.



   Mr. Roach represents a family which has long been identified with Tennessee.

He, himself, was born on his father's farm in Lincoln county, this state, on the

15th of September, 1870. His parents were Benjamin Thurston and Nancy Adelaid

(Luna) Roach. The paternal grandfather was named John Roach, and his parents,

who were Scotch-Irish, his mother bearing the maiden name of Thurston, early in

the last century crossed the ocean to America, and settled in Tennessee.



   Benjamin Thurston Roach, the father, was born in Lincoln county, and when

seventeen years of age enlisted in the Confederate army, giving four years of

hard service to the cause of the South. At the Battle of Franklin he was

wounded, and carried the effects of that wound with him until death. After the

war he took up farming, and for many years was engaged in the quiet duties of

that occupation in Lincoln county. It was his home until his death. Nancy A.

Roach, the mother, was born in Marshall county, this state, and was a daughter

of Jackson and Nancy (Tanner) Luna. Her grandfather was a surveyor by

profession, and it was his distinction to have helped in the surveying of the

first public road leading out of Nashville into Marshall county.



   Joe J. Roach, who was one of the two sons, and daughters comprising the

family of his parents, was reared on a farm and secured his education in the

public schools. Then after a short time spent in business, he prepared himself

for a greater responsibility by taking a course in the Collegiate Institute at

Fayetteville, where he was a student for three years. For a similar period he

was engaged in teaching in his native county, and at the same time was

diligently pursuing his studies in law. It was his ambition to become a lawyer,

and to that end he was licensed to practice in 1897.



   However, about the same time that he was admitted to the bar he had become so

active in Democratic politics that his services were required in public affairs

rather than in the duties of the practice as a lawyer. Therefore in 1897 he took

a place in the state comptrollers' office, and remained there for six years. His

record in that office called him to his next promotion, which came in 1893 when

he was appointed •clerk of the supreme court, and by virtue of that position,

also clerk of the state court of criminal appeals. His term of office was for

six years, and in 1909 he was reappointed as his own successor. He has been able

to expedite the work of the court, and has proved an accommodating official to

all who have business with the clerk's office.



   Mr. Roach is also regarded as one of the leading Democrats of Tennesee, and

during his residence at Nashville for the past fifteen years, has been

associated with and gained the friendship of a large proportion of the leading

Democrats of this state.



   In 1894 Mr. Roach married Miss Victoria James of Fayetteville, where her

father C. C. James was a well known banker, but who has now been deceased for

many years. Mr. and Mrs. Roach are the parents of one son, Joe Conley Roach,

aged 14. Fraternally Mr. Roach is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and

with the Elks, and his church is the Baptist.



Additional Comments:
From:



A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in

commerce, industry and modern activities

by Will T. Hale

Chicago:  Lewis Pub. Co.,  1913



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