Biography - Joseph Roller
JOSEPH ROLLER is a typical farmer whose practical knowledge of
agriculture and business-like methods in managing his affairs have placed
him among the foremost men of his class in Penn Township, where he owns a
large and well conducted farm that is considered one of the finest in the
county.
Mr. Roller was born near Little York, York County, Pa., September 3, 1830.
His father, whose given name was John, is also supposed to have been a
native of the same county where he passed his early life, and where he was
married. He was a distiller by trade in his young days, but removing to
Centre County, Pa., in 1840, he bought a farm on Buffalo Run and devoted his
remaining years to agricultural pursuits, dying there in 1874 at the ripe
age of seventy-one years. His wife, the mother of our subject, preceded him
in death many years, her demise occurring on the old farm in 1852.
He of whom we write was reared to the life of a farmer, receiving a careful
training in all that pertains to agriculture, so that by the time he
attained manhood he was well versed in the calling that was to be his life
work. He continued to live with his father until he was thirty-one years of
age, affording him valuable aid in the management of his farm, he then
rented land in Centre County a few years. Wisely thinking that on the
fertile soil of the Prairie State he could make more headway in his calling,
he left his native commonwealth in 1865 to avail himself of the superior
advantages offered to skillful and wide-awake farmers in Shelby County. He
made a judicious selection of two hundred and forty acres of wild prairie
land in Penn Township which is now included in his pleasant farm. The price
of it was $9 an acre and he went into debt for the greater part of the
purchase money.
At the time of his settlement here this part of the county was but little
developed and Mr. Roller had to do a great deal of pioneer work in bringing
his farm to its present fine and highly unproved condition. His labors have
been well rewarded, however, as his homestead is a valuable piece of
property, supplied with ample and well-arranged buildings, and its carefully
tilled fields and rich pastures yield a good income, he has also bought
other land at different tunes and now his farm comprises four hundred and
forty acres. Mr. Roller is well liked in this community as he is a just and
fair man, kindly of heart and honest of purpose, and has shown himself in
every respect to be a worthy addition to the citizenship of this place since
he took up his residence here more than a quarter of a century ago. His wife
also shares with him the regard in which he is held and both are among the
most worthy members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he sides with
the Democrats.
Mr. Roller has been three times married. His first wife, to whom he was
united in 1853, was Matilda Ross, who was a native of Centre County, Pa.,
and a daughter of William and Mary Ross. She died in 1873 leaving these six
children; John W., Laura J., Sally J., Joseph R., Ida and Robert H. Laura
married Charles Lutz; Sally is the wife of M. W. Marshall; and Ida is the
wife of Tom Gedes. Our subject's second marriage, which took place in 1876,
was with Isabella Hunter, a native of Centre County, Pa., and a daughter of
Robert Hunter. She departed this life May 18, 1885. In 1887 Mr. Roller was
wedded to Miss Annie Dale, his present wife, a native of Pennsylvania, born
in Centre County, and a daughter of Felix and Lucy Dale.
Extracted 12 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 399-400.
