Mayor John A. Roche Biography (original) (raw)

Mayor of Chicago, 1887-1889

Republican Party
Elected 30th mayor of Chicago April 5, 1887; defeated Robert S. Nelson (Union Labor) and Joseph L. Whitlock (Prohibition)
Inauguration: April 18, 1887
- Inaugural address

Born August 12, 1844 in Utica, N.Y.
In 1871, married Miss Emma Howard of Chicago; together they had four children.
Elected to Illinois State House in 1873
Before mayoral term, worked as machinery dealer first in the partnership James, Roche & Spencer, and later with J.A. Fay & Co.
After mayoral term, worked in the business sector as superintendent of Crane Works and managing director of Otis Elevator
Became a trustee of the Lewis Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) in 1894 and later became board president
Died February 10, 1904 in Chicago
Buried in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago

Andreas, A.T. History of Chicago: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. A.T. Andreas, 1884–86.
"Ex-Mayor Roche Dies Suddenly." Chicago Daily Tribune, February 11, 1904, p. 4.
Grossman, James R., Ann Durkin Keating and Janice L. Reiff, editors. Encyclopedia of Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 2004.