My Genealogy Hound

Joseph B. Roe, who has been a resident of Michigan since 1852, and is now one of the substantial farmers of Independence township, Oakland County, where he owns a fine farm of 136 acres in sections 10 and 11, was born in the village of Warwick, Orange County, New York, October 24, 1833. He is a son of Joseph and Emaline (Parmer) Roe, and a grandson of Joseph Roe, who was born in New York of Holland ancestry. The grandfather had four children, viz: Joseph; Jacob; Pollos, a sailor, and Mrs. Mary Pelser.

Joseph Roe, father of our subject, was born in Orange County, New York, where he learned the trade of chairmaker. This trade he followed and combined with it speculating in horses, later becoming interested in a livery business. Finally he gratified a desire he had long expressed by coming West, locating in Michigan, where he died February 18, 1886, aged 85 years. He married Emeline Parmer, who was also a native of New York, and a daughter of Abner Parmer. A family of eight children were born to them, namely: William Henry, deceased; Mrs. Anna Eliza Peidmore, a widow, of Orion, Oakland County; John T., who resides with our subject; Joseph B.; of this sketch; Mrs. Susan E. Coon, a widow, of Orion, Oakland County; Mrs. Mary Bailey of Orion, Oakland County; and Ann Eliza (1st) and George W., who are deceased.

Joseph B. Roe was three years old when his parents removed from Orange County, New York, to Sussex County, New Jersey, where they lived until 1851, when the family returned to Orange County, New York, and in the following year came to Michigan. Settlement was made on the present farm of Mr. Roe, which has continued to be his home ever since. He materially assisted in its development and has improved and cultivated it, making it a very valuable and productive property.

In 1865 Mr. Roe enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering Company K, 10th Reg., Michigan Vol. Cav., under Colonel Trowbridge, and saw service in the Army of the Tennessee, doing much guard duty at Knoxville and Corinth. In November, 1865, he was honorably discharged. In his early manhood he supported the Democratic party, but the events leading up to the Civil War led him to vote for President Lincoln, and he was identified with the Republican party until the campaign which resulted in the election of that Democratic statesman, Grover Cleveland. Mr. Roe is now affiliated with the Prohibition party, seeing in its supremacy a cure for many of the evils which undermine the principles of good government.

On October 7, 1863, Mr. Roe was married to Sarah E. Ogden, who was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, January 28, 1844, and is a daughter of Lewis C. and Phoebe (Harding) Ogden, the former of New York and the latter of New Jersey. Mrs. Roe’s maternal grandfather, John Harding, was born in England, but was one of the patriot soldiers in the Revolutionary War. His military record, as certified by the Adjutant General of New Jersey, is as follows: “John Harding served as a Private, Minute Man, in the Sussex County, New Jersey, Militia; enlisted May, 1776, for one year, as Private, Captain Peter Dickerson’s Company, Third Battalion, First Establishment, New Jersey Continental Line; discharged therefrom upon expiration of term of service; re-enlisted as Private, for the war, in Captain John Mott’s Company, Third Battalion, Second Establishment, New Jersey Continental Line, February 14, 1777; took part in the battles of Brandywine, Delaware, September 11, 1777; White Horse Tavern, near Philadelphia, Pa., September 27, 1777; Germantown, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1777; Crosswick’s Bridge, New Jersey, June 27, 1778, and Monmouth, New Jersey, June 28, 1778; served with the Regiment in Major-General John Sullivan’s expedition against the Six Nations in Western Pennsylvania and Western New York, May 11 to November 5, 1779; took part in the battles of Newtown and Chemung, New York, August 29, 1779, and in the battle of Springfield, New Jersey, June 23, 1780; transferred to First Regiment, New Jersey Continental Line, January 1, 1781; Private, Captain Joseph I. Anderson’s Company, First Regiment; served in a detachment commanded by Lieutenant John Reed in Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Barber’s Light Infantry Battalion, New Jersey Continental Line, Brigadier-General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade, Major-General Lafayette’s Division, during the Virginia campaign and the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, April to October, 1781; took part in the battle of Yorktown, October 6 to 19, 1781, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, October 19, 1781, — during the Revolutionary War.”

Mr. and Mrs. Roe have four children namely: Agnes, a student at the University of Chicago; Mrs. Mary F. Ullrich, of Evanston, Illinois, who has two children, — Alma F. and Doris S.; Phoebe Ellen, wife of Professor Goodfellow, principal of the Belleville (Michigan) schools; and Anna Eliza, who is living at home.

Mr. Roe has long been a leading member and substantial supporter of the Methodist Church. He belongs to the G. A. R., and has long been connected with the local Grange. The family is one of noted intellectual and social prominence in Independence township, where all its members are held in high esteem.