Roach, Lewis P. and Edwin

WANAMAKER, WIRE, FARNSWORTH

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 1/16/2010 at 09:53:48

Bremer county finds unusually able and progressive representatives of its business interests in Lewis P. and Edwin Roach, who comprise the firm of Roach Brothers, controlling one of the largest grain elevators in this section of the state. Upon a foundation laid by their father they have built up a great business concern run along modern business lines, and steadily expanding to meet the demands of modern conditions. Both are representative, resourceful and progressive business men and are recognized as such in business circles of the county.

The brothers were born in Plainfield, this county, Lewis P. in 1874 and Edwin in 1876, sons of John Roach and May (Wanamaker) Roach, the former a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, and the latter of Wisconsin. The grandfather, Peter Roach, was also a native of Kilkenny and came to America in 1853, making his home first in New York and later in Chicago, where he had some brothers engaged in building steamboats for the lake trade. Peter Roach invested in this business, which, however, eventually failed, causing an estrangement between the partners. Peter Roach's wife died soon afterward and their son John, father of the subject of this review, was adopted by an English family named Ainsworth, under whose care he acquired a limited education. He remained with them until he was fifteen years of age and then enlisted in Company B., Eighth Illinois Cavalry, and after participating in many of the most important engagements of the Civil war was wounded in a skirmish at Rector, Virginia. He served faithfully until the close of hostilities and was honorably discharged June 5, 1865. After the war he went to Illinois and settled in McHenry county, where he remained until 1866, when he removed to Waverly, Iowa, where he resided for four years. At the end of that time he moved to Plainfield and engaged in the grain and general produce business, establishing an enterprise of which the present business conducted by his sons is an outgrowth. John Roach married on Novemeber 27, 1873, Miss May Wanamaker, a native of Wisconsin, who died January 30, 1880, leaving two children, Lewis P. and Edwin, of this review. After the death of his first wife, John Roach married Miss Dora Wire, also a native of Wisconsin, and they became the parents of two children. The father continued in the grain elevator business for many years, beginning with a small warehouse and later buying an elevator. He died March 4, 1905, and his passing was widely and deeply regretted, as he had won recognition as a progressive and practical business man and a public-spirited and useful citizen.

Lewis P. and Edwin Roach were educated in the public schools of Plainfield and after laying aside their books joined their father in the grain business under the name of John Roach & Sons. Since John Roach's death the brothers have had full control of the enterprise and they manage it capably, their success being evident in a business which is constantly increasing in volume and importance. In 1912 they added to their plant by building a new elevator with a capacity of twenty-five thousand bushels of grain, and they still retain the old one, the combined capactiy being forty thousand bushels. In 1910 they bought the elevator at Irma and conduct the same at present. The elevators in Plainfield are well located along the line of the Illinois Central Railroad and the business draws from a large territory, so that Plainfield has now the reputation of being a central grain market, a result which has been brought about in a no small measure through the energy, enterprise and aggressive business methods of the Roach Brothers. They own in addition to their plant five farms in Bremer county, all of which are well improved and highly cultivated.

In August, 1897, Edwin Roach married Miss Addie Farnsworth, a daughter of D. Farnsworth, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Roach have three children: Howard, Pauline and Robert. The family occupy the Roach homestead on Main street, a fine modern residence set in the midst of a beautiful lawn. Lewis P. Roach has just completed the erection of a two-story French-roofed home on the property adjoining his brother's and both are well known in social circles of the city. Edwin is more or less active in political affairs, serving as a member of the school board and as a member of the city council. Both young men are widely and favorably known in Bremer county, where their enterprise and progressiveness have influenced commercial and industrial activity.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914