It is official!!
The Moses Roach house has officially been named to The National Registry of Historic Buildings by The National Park Service. TIME TO CELEBRATE! Only three years in the making. So now the City and Historical Society, boasts three structures on the Registry. The Congregational Church, The Grange (where the Historical Society is now), and now, The Moses Roach House. Congratulations to all who worked on it, especially Andy Tomko, Laurie Sasala Facsina Kraska, Kent State University, and others.
Moses & Minerva Roach House
9044 Church Street
The profile below was built using the Twinsburg Green book and public records found on Ancestry.com. And, reference books on Twinsburg and Summit County history.
Moses N Roach, mechanic and farmer. Born in Hebron, Washington County, New York. His ancestors came from Ireland. At the age of 16, Moses left home and learned the blacksmith’s trade. The Roach family came to Twinsburg, Summit County, Ohio in 1836 with $5 in their pocket. He purchased lot No. 1. Moses was a carpenter and joiner by day and spent his evenings clearing his land. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church where he became superintendent of the Sunday school. Besides blacksmithing, carpentry, and joiner work he also rented 180 acres on the west side of Twinsburg, Summit County, Ohio and farmed. He was also an active Mason. Before the Civil War, Moses and Minerva took in a young German orphan named Elizabeth Hart. His apprentice, George Gaylord enlisted in the Army but became ill and died shortly after returning home.
MOSES NELSON ROACH 1832-1886
Moses was the son of James and Mary Roach of New York. Moses was four when his family moved to Twinsburg in 1836. Moses was one of five children of James and Mary. James arrived in Twinsburg with five dollars in his pocket. He and worked as a carpenter to buy land. James did carpentry during the day, cut trees in the evenings and his young sons trimmed the fallen trees during the day.
1847 – The Roach family were Methodist. James Roach was a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was one of the nine trustees whose names were on the deed when the property was purchased. The Church was built the following year and dedicated in January 1849.
1848 – At the age of 16, Moses left home to learn the blacksmith trade. Moses also learned carpentry from his father. Later in life, Moses became a farmer and rented 180 acres of land on the west side of the township. He also became the Sunday school Superintendent of the M.E. Church and an active member of the Masonic Lodge.
1852 – Post office established at Macedonia Depot.
1853 – Moses marries Minerva Belden of Aurora.
On August 3rd. 1854, Moses N Roach became the 3rd. postmaster of Macedonia.
On November 5th, 1859 – Hattie, their 3-year-old daughter died from being scalded and is buried in Locust Grove.
In March 1860, Mary Roach dies of palsy. The term medical term palsy in the 1860s could include conditions arising from spinal injuries and stroke as well as conditions such as Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy. Shaking palsy is Parkinson’s disease.
Sometime after his first wife died, James Roach married Diantha Torrence-Franklin, a widow and mother of seven from Bedford.
1862– Moses was a democrat and attended the Copperheads Convention in Akron. Copperheads were a faction of Democrats in the Northern States who opposed the Civil War. They wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. After the fall of Atlanta in September 1864, Union military success seemed assured and Copperheadism collapsed.
1867 – James Roach, father of Moses is named to the building committee to construct a Civil War Monument on the Square. The monument was dedicated on July 4th, 1867 during Twinsburg’s 50th anniversary celebration.
1873 – At the age of 41, Moses and Minerva build a home on 9044 Church Street.
1886 – Moses died at the age of 53 and is buried in Locust Grove.
1891 – Moses step mother, Diantha died and was buried in Bedford with her first husband, Alonzo Franklin.
1895 – The wife of Moses, Minerva died at the age of 64 and is buried in Locust Grove.
1933 – The great granddaughter of Moses Roach, Alma Roach, won the 1933 United States spelling Bee.
1998 – Twinsburg Council purchases the Moses Roach house and begins the restoration. Over the previous decades the property was used as a residence, boarding house, apartments, and commercial rental. The Roach house was going to be razed by its owners for a new building when the City saved it.
