My Genealogy Hound

Peter W. Roche, editor and publisher of the Mt. Vernon “Democrat,” was born October 14, 1867, in the city of Evansville. His father was John D. Roche, who served as city treasurer of Evansville one term. His grandfather, Peter W. Roche, was a pioneer who settled in Point township and was a large land owner. He was a resident of Ireland and came to America in his early days, after one of the numerous insurrections in that country. He was educated for a Catholic priest and taught school after coming here. He died in 1844. Dr. Moses Wining was the maternal grandfather of Mr. Roche. He died in 1875. He was born in 1790 and came to this section in the ‘20s. He was one of the earliest doctors in Posey county and blazed the trail to make many calls in his practice. Peter Roche has been in charge of the “Democrat” since September, 1907, when he purchased his brother’s interest in the paper. April 15, 1891, he was married to Miss Letitia Pugh at Paducah, Ky., a daughter of Captain Phineas Pugh, one of the noted river men of the war times. He was pilot of many boats that transported soldiers during the war. Mr. Roche has served as Democratic county chairman and been on the Posey county executive committee for twenty years. He served three years as a member of the Mt. Vernon school board, two years being president of that body. At the session of the Indiana State Senate in 1913 he served as chief clerk of the engraving department, a very responsible position.